Local roller derby team showing big improvements

Though their most recent bout ended with a loss, the local Heart Mountain Wreck on Wheels roller derby team has been on something of a roll this season.

After failing to win a bout all of last season, the team  of women from Powell, Cody, Deaver and Greybull has already won three matches in 2015.

“We have had tons of improvement in all of our ladies,” said Siina Swanson of Powell, one of the team's founders as well as the vice president and bout coordinator.

Jammer Alisha Oneyear of Casper’s A’Salt Creek Roller Girls (at left) works to slip past Heart Mountain Wreck of Wheels’ Dr. Daggers (a.k.a. Dagny Revilla), while she and Rose E. Bottoms (a.k.a. Crystal Rose, in red helmet) battle with Casper’s Doppleganger (Katie Buffington, center) during Saturday's bout. Cody News Co. photo by CJ Baker

Casper’s A’Salt Creek Roller Girls beat the local derby team 169-58 on Saturday, “but they made sure we earned every point,” the A’Salt Creek team later posted on Facebook.

Saturday’s bout was played at Cody’s Riley Arena and Community Events Center — the Heart Mountain Wreck on Wheels’ home turf.

The loss put Heart Mountain Wreck on Wheels' record at 3-5 on the year. Their season, which runs from roughly March to November, has included two wins at home and another at the Wyoming Roller Derby Cup in Rock Springs.

Eleven women are currently eligible to skate for the Heart Mountain team, with another three who are “fresh meat” (that is, beginniners), Swanson said. In addition, five other men and women help the organization by serving as coaches, as a head non-skating official and as a referee, she said.

Heart Mountain Wreck on Wheels’ “Ruhroh” (real name Shayna Swanson) flies into the air after knocking Casper A’Salt Creek jammer Lehammer (a.k.a. Kelly Calloway-Lehan) out of bounds, while referee Tera Bites (Tera Cowles) monitors the action. Cody News Co. photo by CJ Baker

Heart Mountain Wreck on Wheels’ last home event for the year is an Aug. 22 “Battle in the Basin Mixer.”

“A mixer is where you take girls from all over the area and mix them onto different teams to play each other,” Swanson explained. It will consist of two bouts: one with a theme of DC versus Marvel comics and another with a theme of Star Wars versus Star Trek.

Swanson expects some 60 girls from various teams to participate.

As for the Heart Mountain Wreck on Wheels, their team’s next bout is set for Sept. 26 in Casper, where they’ll face the Casper Deadly Ghosts.

The local team is a non-profit organization. A portion of the proceeds from Saturday's bout went to SHACK, a Greybull youth center.
 
For more information about Heart Mountain Wreck on Wheels, visit www.hmwow.org or find the team on Facebook.

~By CJ Baker

by CJ Baker, sports