Team Of The Week: NG Cowboys Track And Field

I scheduled a meeting with Coach Corey Hatch and the North Gem track team for 5:30 to gather information for this story.  As I pulled up to the school in Bancroft I found the team patiently awaiting my arrival and they appeared to be done with practice.  This caught me off guard a little due to the fact that most athletic teams tend to practice for a full two hours after school.  Coach Hatch stated, “I generally pick intensity over duration. We have intense practices and we’re usually done in about an hour.”  Intense is a good word to describe Coach Hatch himself.  When you look at him and watch him coach he can come off as a little gruff and demanding.  He himself would agree with this saying, “I’m hard nosed.  I realize everybody gets nicked up.  But unless you're going to the doctor or have a bone sticking out of your leg I don't want to hear about it.”  In other words, rub some dirt on it and get back to work.  If you are able to look past his gruffness you will see a coach that truly cares about his athletes and wants them to see their own potential.  “I hope they will all realize that they can achieve something they've personally never done before.  I hope they will all set PR’s.”  

You will hear the term PR a lot in track.  It stands for personal record.  For most athletes in track, that is a seasonal or weekly goal to obtain their own personal record.  To get PR’s it takes a lot of motivation and willingness to take on the extra work to get there.  That is something Coach Hatch knows something about as well.  Not only is he the track coach but he is also the head football coach, assistant basketball coach and transportation supervisor for North Gem.  It is not uncommon in a small school district for the employees to take on multiple tasks.  In Coach Hatch’s case he does so willingly.  You can feel how big of a fan of the kids he is and there is no doubt that he is proud to represent the North Gem School.  “We have kids that are three sport athletes in their high school careers and I like seeing them get out there and work like that.”  

I got to talk to some of those multi sport athletes and asked them how they felt track differed from other sports.  Maycen Jenkins responded, “There’s a lot more accountability.  Your times follow you.”  Isaac Yost added, “Everybody gets their time in the spotlight.”  I asked a few of the athletes what their goals for the season are.  I was met with answers like “make it to state” and “place at districts.”  Others have slightly different motivations.  Rustin Hatch responded, “I just want to take some points from Grace and Rockland and get ready for football.”  

Track and field is one of the sports that does combine some of the classifications pitting local schools North Gem and Grace against one another at the district meet.  Whatever their motivations are one thing is for certain.  When it comes to the Cowboy athletes they have had a work ethic and never quit mentality instilled in them by Coach Hatch.  Coach Hatch stated, “The community needs to know that we’ve got a group of kids here willing to work.”

Work is just what the Cowboys did as they attended their second meet of the year in Malad last Thursday.  Several of the Cowboy athletes came away with either PR’s or at the very least improvements on their week one performances.  North Gem entered the meet as they often do as the smallest school there as they joined 2A fifth district opponents West Side, Bear Lake, and host team Malad.  This did not prevent the Cowboys from putting forth a good effort.  The girls would have six compete in the 200 meter race with two getting PR’s and Indyana Hatch would have the teams fastest time in her 200 debut.  Mariah O’Brien would improve her 400 meter time by a full second and Shalyn Thompson would PR in the 800 meters.  The team of Sadie Daniels, Shalyn Thompson, Indyana Hatch and Kaylin Jenkins would post the teams first 4x200 relay time of the year.  Alex Curtis would shine for the men's sprinters as he would PR in both the 100 and 200 meter races.  Haydn Frandsen would score team points with his PR in the 800 meter race.  Three of the four Cowboy throwers would PR in the shot put led by Rusten Hatch while Evan O’Brien would grab a PR in the discus clearing 100’.  The Cowboys will be back in action on March 27th when they travel to Malta to take part in the Raft River Spring Break meet.