Panthers heal, head to first meet

A combination of factors lead to the Saratoga Middle/High School track team not competing in the Glen Legler Invite March 19 in Casper.

This wasn’t a huge surprise to coach Rex Hohnholt. Hohnholt said that “we’ve always tried to go,” but “about once every three years we make it (to Glen Legler) because of numbers or depending on how spring break falls.”

The team would have been missing many of its junior and senior members, who were going to Washington D.C. that weekend for an educational trip to the capitol organized by the nonprofit group “Close-Up Foundation.”

An additional six members of the team were busy with a Future Business Leaders of America event, further limiting who could have attended the invite.

The last straw came Thursday, March 17. With a large part of the team suffering illnesses and unsure whether or not they would be recovered by the firing of the starting gun Saturday morning, Hohnholt decided it would be best for the Panthers to stay home. Those who were able still attended a team practice held Friday morning March 18.

Hohnholt was confident his team will have much deeper ranks for this weekend’s meet held in Wheatland 10 a.m. Saturday morning. He predicted around 25 of the Panthers’ 33 athletes would be available to compete.

“Sometimes we make it, sometimes we don’t to that first one (Glen Legler). But we’re looking forward to this week, down to Wheatland,” he said. The Panthers may have started slow, but they plan on going the distance