KSEN/K96 Bozeman Trophy Athlete of the Week

(Undated) – KSEN/K96—Bozeman Trophy Athlete’s of the Week are making headlines early in the new Track & Field season.

Our female Athlete of the Week, Sunburst Sophomore Claire Bucklin caught the attention of local fans and possibly the whole state when she stretched out a 16-foot, 3.75” long jump at the Snow Bird meet in Fort Benton.  That jump broke a Sunburst school record that had been in place since 1979 when Kristie Hesla jumped 16’1”.

It’s early, but Bucklin’s jump is so far the best among Class C competitors and just inches away from the top ten in the State. But that wasn’t all there was, she also won the 200m dash and took a second place in both the 100 and 300m hurdles.

The 36 points from Bucklin along with teammate Nikki Nau’s win in the 1600 and 2^nd in the 3200 gave the Lady Refiners a 3^rd place team finish.  Claire, you may recall, already set a school record in Basketball when she hit for 35 points in a District Tournament game this season.

Our Male Athlete of the Week has been among the elite runners in State A track competition for the past two years.  Sr. Jeremy Bockus of Browning had the 3^rd best 800 meters in Class A at the State meet last year and was a top 10 finisher in the 1600.  He started off the 2022 season with 3 solid wins at the Cut Bank Booster Invitational in the 400, 800 and 1600.  This past weekend in the very competitive meet at Frenchtown, in winter-like conditions he pulled off a 2^nd in the 400 with a personal best 53.19 and a 2^nd in the 1600m.

Browning Coach Bob miller quoted in the Glacier Reporter said with the competition there it was like a Divisional meet, wth a number of State Cross Country Champions so, in his words, “it was a good gage of where we’re at.”

Congratulations to our KSEN/K96 – Bozeman Trophy Athlete’s of the Week, So. Claire Bucklin of Sunburst and Sr. Jeremy Bockus of Browning.  The Athlete of the Week is sponsored locally by McDonald’s in Cut Bank. McDonald’s honors our Athlete’s with two free value meals.

We encourage fans, parents and coaches to nominate Athlete’s when they have had an outstanding performance in sports.  E-mail markdaniels@townsquaremedia.com.