Riverside’s Vaidyn VanderPloeg Will Run Track at Rocky Mountain College

Riverside sprinter Vaidyn VanderPloeg has committed to Rocky Mountain College for track and field this fall.

The senior is a two-time state champion after victories in the Class 2A 100 and 200 meters at last year’s outdoor track state meet in Casper. VanderPloeg earned all-state thanks to those performances.

She won the 100 meters at a time of 12.85 seconds and the 200 meters at a time of 26.47 seconds.

VanderPloeg added a fifth-place finish in the long jump. She helped Riverside score 33 points and finish ninth out of 15 teams that scored team points in 2A.

She has just started her senior season of outdoor track and field and will compete at the Class 1A level in 2023.

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Vaidyn also qualified for the 2021 state championships in the same three events and placed in the top seven of all three. She didn’t get a chance to compete in the 2020 season, her freshman year, as it was canceled because of Covid-19.

In the winter, she ran indoor track for Lovell High School. VanderPloeg placed in the top eight at the indoor track state championships in the 200 meters.

A multi-sport athlete, VanderPloeg also played volleyball at Riverside High School. She was a three-time all-state and three-time all-conference selection for the Rebels. VanderPloeg helped the Rebels win the school’s first volleyball state championship in Class 1A last fall. Riverside was third in Class 2A in 2021 and runner-up in Class 2A in 2020.

Rocky Mountain College is in Billings, MT. The Battlin’ Bears compete in the Frontier Conference at the NAIA level of collegiate athletics.