By Becky Walz,
With a large contingent of athletes back with state experience in both track and cross country, the South Winn girls track team has every reason to be optimistic about the season ahead.
Putting the team together is head coach Kevin Kearney, who will be assisted by boys head coach Scott Conway, along with Ethan Adams, Darcy Einck and Jason Ohrt.
The Warriors return 10 seniors, seven athletes with state experience and a host of freshmen pushing for a chance to make the varsity line-up.
“We have a good group of freshmen and sophomores who should be able to step in and fill some roles this year,” said Coach Kearney. “The girls have a great attitude and are willing to work hard.”
Headed to state
The Warriors of 2022 had six letter winners – all who had competed at state either in track or cross country.
The regular season culminated in the Upper Iowa Conference meet, where the Warriors placed fifth in the team standings. The lone gold medal event for the SW girls was the 4×800 relay of Megan Hageman, Ivey Franzen, Josie Tieskoetter and Ella Willey.
At the state-qualifying meet, the Warriors finished seventh, sending seven events to state. The highlight of the state meet was the 4×800 relay finishing second in 9:55.93. Members of the relay included Billie Wagner, M. Hageman, Tieskoetter and Eryn Sabelka. B. Wagner also scored points individually for the Warriors in the 3000-meter run, finished seventh in 11:14.57 and finished 13th in the 1500-meter run. Also competing for South Winn at state were Abby Wagner were Abby Wagner, 10th in the high jump, Sabelka, 10th in the 800-meter run, the distance medley of Kriener, Tollefsrud, Tieskoetter and Sabelka was 14th and the 4×400 was 24th.
The Warriors lost several seniors to graduation last year, including Sabelka, Ashley Elsbernd and Carly Meyer.
Who to turn to
For the 2023 season, Kearney has 15 returning letter winners at his disposal. At the top of his list are seniors Billie Wagner, Megan Hageman, Morgan Kriener, Ella Willey, Anna Dietzenbach, Josie Hageman, Gabby Becker, Quinn Kruckman, Hailey Riehle and Kalissa Schmelzer.
They are joined by fellow letter winners Josie Tollefsrud, Allison Hageman, Katie Shimek, Izzy Kuboushek, Britney Hageman, Kelsey Timp, Abby Wagner and Josie Tieskoetter.
Rounding out the team are Cloey Zweibohmer, Adele Conway, Ivey Franzen, Alyssa Holthaus, Maddy Jansen, Ellie Knutson, Rachel Meyer, Tessa Phillips, Autumn Schmitt, Alyssa Timp, Dhalia Trujilo, Karissa Wenthold and Aubrey Willey.
“We should be strongest in the middle-distance, distance and relays,” noted Coach Kearney. “We return some experienced, hardworking and talented individuals in those areas. Abby (Wagner) helps to give us solid points in the jumps.”
While the Warriors also have good depth in the sprints and hurdles, the Coach Kearney will need to see some improvement and find athletes to step up in the shorter sprints, hurdles and throws.
This season
The Warriors have one meet under their belt at the UIC indoor held last week and saw how strong the conference will be this season.
“Central and North Fayette Valley are always very competitive. In addition, many teams have strong individuals and areas of strength. Hopefully our depth and improvement over the season will give us an opportunity to compete in the top three by the end of the year,” concluded Coach Kearney.
Submit A Comment
Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.