Plains Trotters unveil 2015 State Track Championship banner
<p>The members of the Plains track team for the last three years gather to celebrate their third state championship in a row during a Plains basketball game. The celebration also included the unveiling of the new 2015 state championship banner.</p>
PLAINS – The Plains Trotters celebrated their 2015 state track championship Saturday as they unveiled their newest championship banner to hang in the Plains High School gym, marking their third win in a row.
Between basketball games, the track team members from the last three years were called onto the court. After a brief description of the team’s accomplishments in the championships, they all took a chord as the crowd counted down and pulled a cover from the wall, revealing the 2015 track championship banner for Class B.
During the unveiling ceremony, it was noted the Trotters have secured 14 individual state wins over the last three years. Kayla Holmes has a shot put championship, Leah Thompson won the discus championship twice and Carley VonHeeder is a two-time javelin throwing champion.
Hailey Phillips has also collected a total of nine championships over the course of four events; the events include the two hurdle races as well as the 200 and 400-meter runs.
The Trotters also have a relay state championship thanks to Nicole Rehbein, Phillips, Holmes and Kelsey Beagley.
Phillips has been part of the track team all three years they won the state championship, having graduated this last spring. She said the team members all contributed to the wins and they accomplished what they wanted to. She recalled it was very close, in 2015, between Plains and Bigfork but they rallied their efforts to bring about another championship win.
“Everyone performed super well at the state level and we came together and pulled it off,” she said. “Last year was probably the best.”
The graduate said she wishes the team luck for 2016. Since Plains moved to Class C this year, it will be a different competition; she was confident, though, that the girls could pull through another win.
Many of the girls were also offered a place on the All State tack team. Demi Horton, Corle Morefield, Shannon Dimond, Kimberly Earhart and Analisa Loberg qualified for the All State. Many of them plan to come back to the track team this year to try for the 2016 Class C State meet in the spring.
Phillips and Holmes wanted to stress that the girls still on the team should not limit their perceived expectations, just because they are from a small town. Phillips said they should still dream big and work hard to reach the top. Holmes added that one key to success was to practice more than is expected in regular sessions.
“We definitely did more than what was expected at practice,” said Phillips. “A lot of hours, easily like 20 more hours a week.”
They also wanted to give a special thanks to all the coaches at the school as well as the teachers. She felt, without them, the team could not have succeeded as well as they did.