This week's Five on the Rise is a little bit different. This week, we're highlighting five track and field athletes who've made big strides (or leaps or throws or whatever) in the week before regionals, including some you probably know and some you might not:

1. Kevin Brough, Star Valley: At the BYU Invitational in Provo, Brough ran the first sub-50-second 400 meters by anyone in Wyoming this season. Barely. His time of 49.96 seconds was good enough for sixth place in a stacked field.

2. Nicole Peterson, Rock Springs: Speaking of the BYU Invitational, it was there that Peterson ran a time of 11:19.44 in the 3200, in the process shaving 24 seconds off the best 4A time so far this season. Read that again -- 24 full seconds off the previous best time. That's impressive. Also tied for the No. 2 spot are Mountain View's Amber Henry and Cokeville's Celinda Teichert, and for the same reason. Running in the small-school division at Provo, Henry ran a time of 12:44.39, more than 16 seconds off the previous best in Class 2A, while Teichert's time of 12:12.50 chopped almost eight seconds off the previous best in 1A.

3. Taylor Johnson, Lusk: After an early high jump of 6 feet, 4 inches, Johnson plateued this year. That is, until Saturday's SEWAC meet, where Johnson cleared 6-5 1/4. No one else in 2A has cleared anything higher than 5-11 so far this year.

4. Carson Hessenthaler, Lovell, and Kenny Smith, Powell: Racing against each other at the Lovell Invitational, Hessenthaler and Smith set the stage for both the 3A West Regional meet and the 3A state meet in the sprints. In the 100, Hessenthaler's time of 10.87 seconds (a time that'd be good enough to tie the 3A state meet record) barely nosed out Smith's 11.08, the second-best mark in 3A behind Hessenthaler this year. In the 200, Hessenthaler won again with a time of 22.43 seconds, well off his season best of 21.74 but just ahead of Smith at 22.52 -- again, the second-best time in 3A this year behind Hessenthaler.

5. Beth Bappe, Wind River: Bappe's fourth-place finish in the triple jump at the Shane Brock Invitational in Lander might not look like all that much on first glance. But the jump that got her there -- 33 feet, 0.75 inches -- was the best jump in 2A thus far this year. It was the first time a 2A girl cleared the 33-foot barrier, and it's a good sign for her heading into regionals.

There they are, five athletes to watch for at regionals and beyond. Of course, they're not the only ones. Who else had a fantastic first weekend in May? Post your thoughts below via the cool comment feature.

Posted by patrick.schmiedt@trib.com