As the weather starts to heat up, the times are already dropping for Great Bend High School senior Matt Moyd.
After Moyd finished third in the 110-meter hurdles during the Class 5A portion of the state track and field championships last May at Cessna Stadium in Wichita, he vowed that he would come back this spring and win it all.
Moyd, who clocked 15.03 seconds to win last year’s regional meet at Friends University in Wichita, took home the bronze medal in a time of 15.24.
It made for an offseason of discontent for Moyd, who has taken upon himself to get better and better every time out in preparing for his final season with the Panthers.
“I have been practicing really hard year-round,” Moyd said. “I was doing indoor track to try and keep my stamina up. I’ve been working on my flexibility to get ready for this season.
“I know that I’m going to go faster than last year. I know that I’m going to push harder than ever, so I can actually get to that first-place level. My best time last year would have won (state), but this season, I want to beat my old time and get down into the 14s and show up at state and win it.”
Moyd, considered the best all-around athlete at GBHS, already has a good start, a barometer to go by, if you will.
In the season opener last Friday at the Alex Francis Classic in Hays, held on the Fort Hays State University campus, Moyd clocked 15.11 to capture first place.
Today, Moyd and his GBHS teammates head to Junction City to take part in the Junction City Invitational at Al Simpler Stadium. It starts at 3.
One of Moyd’s goals entering today’s meet is to eclipse the sub-15-second plateau. He will be encountering the likes of several Class 6A competitors.
“Whenever I’m going up against bigger, taller and tougher opponents … physically tougher, not mentally, I know that I can push and try to go as hard as I can,” Moyd said. “I feel like I need to get that push, so that I can just get my fastest time that I’ve had, and I feel like it might be (today).”
Moyd doesn’t have a low-water mark in the 110 hurdles, other than establishing something under his career-best time.
“I’m not setting out, looking for a 14.8 or 14.9,” he said. “I don’t know what my time is going to be. All I want to do is be faster than last year … surprise myself on how much I’ve grown physically and how capable I am.”
Moyd also plans to run the 100 dash this season, along with running on some of the Panthers’ relay teams.
“Last year, my best time was 11.04, and I’m trying to get down to 10.9 or 10.8 or lower than that,” he said. “I know that the faster my 100 time gets, the faster I can get my hurdles, but I still have to work on my flexibility for the hurdles.”

Great Bend High School
2012 Track & Field schedule

Varsity/JV
Today — At Junction City, 3:30 p.m.
April 3  — At Ellinwood JV, 4 p.m.
April 10 — GREAT BEND INVITATIONAL, 3:30 p.m.   
April 13-14 — At KU Relays, TBA
April 17 — GREAT BEND JV INVITATIONAL, 3:30 p.m.
April 20  — At Buhler, 4 p.m.
April 23 — At Salina Central JV, 3:30 p.m.
April 27 — At Hutchinson, 3 p.m.
May 1 — At Garden City V/JV, 3 p.m.
May 4 — At Salina Central, 3:30 p.m.
May 10 — At WAC meet in Dodge City, 4 p.m.
May 18 — Class 5A regionals, TBA
May 25-26 — Class 5A state track & field meet, TBA

Great Bend High School

2012 Track & Field Roster

Name   
Apodaca, Gustavo  
Ball, Selam        
Bartlett, Caleb    
Bates, Summer   
Bieker, Natasha   
Black, Laura        
Brack, Jayce        
Bruner, Matthew   
Burley, Chris       
Burley, Greg        
Carrasco, Antonio 
Chavez, Chon      
Denney, Justin     
Elliott, Keaton      
Eye, Alexandrea    
Garcia, Cristian     
Gerdes, Nicholas  
Graham, Jacob     
Haines, Michael     
Harrison, Hunter    
Heilman, Alissa      
Helsel, Cody       
Henderson, Ethan   
Hinson, Blake        
Holden, Breanna     
Jackson, Cameron  
Jones, Raydell      
Juarez, Jeremy     
Kirmer, Kelli        
Knorr, Dykota       
Langer, Stephanie 
Lara, Richard       
Loera, Magdalena  
Lopez, Joshua      
McAfee, Sara       
McNett, Mickie      
Middleton, Hannah
Mitchell, Abby     
Montes, Sergio    
Moyd, Matthew    
Niederee, Sarah  
Nily, Stevee        
O Connor, Marissa
Orozco, Gerardo  
Popp, Trey         
Quade, Jacy       
Reed, Taylor        
Reynolds, Zac       
Ryan, Alaycia        
Schmeidler, Dallas 
Stein, Mariah     
Stiner, Kole       
Streiner, Daytona    
Suppes, Danielle      
Swigart, Elizabeth     
Thornburg, MacKenzie
Thornburg, Payden 
Tuey, Kaitlynn     
Urias, Alexander  
Uribe, Mauricio       
Valenzuela, Anthony
Verbeck, John   
Warren, Nick W 
Waterhouse, Shelby 
Westhoff, Lucas   
Williams, Mary  
Wondra, Hannah  
Yager, Darion  
Yager, Ty  
Zecha, Ryan 
 
Head coach — Bo Black
Assistants — Brian Vesta, Jackie Cook, Cindy Beck, Cliff Burt, Todd Kaiser, Jason Tatkenhorst and Brett Middleton