The Saint Mary-of-the-Woods men's and women's track and field teams have athletes in a variety of events contending for championships and all-conference accolades Friday and Saturday at the RSC Championships.
One athlete, freshman Sierra Hurtado, is the top seed in three events. Hurtado set a school record in the discus last week at Rose-Hulman with a mark of 37.94 meters (124-feet-6).
Hurtado's amount of improvement since high school at Tell City (Ind.) has been surprising.
"I was super shocked. Since high school, I've PR'd by a lot. Discus I threw 109 and today I threw 124," Hurtado said.
Hurtado has also made a six feet improvement in shot put, throwing 11.81m (38-9) at the Gibson Invitational two weeks ago at Indiana State.
Hurtado has even picked up a new event. The hammer throw, which is not a high school event at all, is something she's taken to quickly. Her trow of 42.51 meters is a school record and also leads the RSC this season.
Which of the three is her favorite?
"Hammer for sure. Hammer's so fun. It's very fun," Hurtado said.
Throws coach Gage Rayman has been impressed with what his young thrower has been able to accomplish already. She's fought through some
She has the ability to be coachable and take criticism and critiques the positive way and build off it," Rayman said. "She's PR'd by six feet in shot put and by 20 feet in discus. She's picked up new events in hammer and weight and set school records in both. To have a freshman come in and pick up on that event (hammer) right away is pretty awesome."
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Hurtado is not the only Pomeroy thrower looking to contend for points at the RSC meet.
Hannah Ellis is seeded fourth in the hammer throw with her season-best throw of 40.32m.
Preston Mitchell is seeded second in the hammer throw with a mark of 45.40m (148-11).
Alden Fuller is sixth in the javelin with a 50.04m throw in early April.
Rayman has a small group -- freshman Carley Balas would have been a factor in discus if not injured – but it's a group that works hard.
"We've got a pretty solid group all-around. We're carrying some good momentum going into conference next week. Everybody's sitting pretty high. Would love to be able to walk away with a couple of conference champions," Rayman said.
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The Pomeroys are set up to contend for conference titles in other disciplines.
Hope McGuire leads a strong sprinter group as the favorite in the 100 and 200 meters. She's also running on the top-seeded 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

• Abbigael Coyle has one of the top times in the 800 at 2:25.49.
• Emily Truax is in the mix for a top-3 finish in the 1,500.
• Kayla Coryea has the fastest time in the 5,000 (19:29.67), with freshman Quinlan Teague not far behind (19:39.54).
• Truax and Zoe Trausch are in the mix in the 3,000 steeplechase.
• Lara Skaggs is a long jump contender.
• Krislynn Bailey is third in the women's pole vault with her school-record leap of 3.35m.
• On the men's side, Xavier Rahe and Jazaiah Douglas will compete in the fastest heat of the 400 meters looking to score.
• Thomas Chapman could be poised to be a factor in the 1,500.
• Michael Miller is just outside the top 5 in both hurdles events.
• Luke Frey could need to improve on his mark of 6.48 meters in long jump to contend.