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Editorial: Success in the field, track
Op-Ed · July 17, 2014
Excuse us if this seems a bit late, but we could not let another week go by — storms or no storms — without recognizing the fantastic efforts by our West Branch High School track and field athletes from the past season.
While each season brings different students into the competition, this year also brought new schools as well with the creation of the 13-team River Valley Conference, upping the level of competition for everyone.
The “small but mighty” girls track team certainly added to the intense race for points, with various highlights from this past season:
• Winning the Chad Gates Invitation by 2.75 points, after trailing by as many as 20 points before staging a comeback in the home team contest. “It’s really fun to be up in the stands and watch them compete,” Co-head Coach Scott Kelly noted.
• Sending six athletes to the state track competition to battle in five events. The team finished in 16th place with 16 points, setting two school records and five season-best times or throwing distances.
• Among those who went to state, Shannon Laing finished in 11th place in the discus. The fact that she made it at all is impressive since the senior had shoulder surgery in February and had to miss part of the season. At state, she also earned a season-best throw. This senior also helped coach the boys track team in throwing events.
• In the state sprint medley, West Branch entered seeded 23rd. The squad of Paige Miller, Taylor Jones, Abby Knoop and Maddie Russell cut that by more than half, finishing 11th while also earning their own season-best time of 1:55.18, cutting two seconds off their previous best.
• In the state shuttle hurdle relay, the team of Russell, Knoop, Miller and Megan Tadlock finished second overall, the best finish for the team. This crew also competed in the prestigious Drake Relays, so it was no surprise that their efforts at state also led to a new school record of 1:06.87.
• In the 4x200 at state, Miller, Jones, Knoop and Russell finished in sixth place, and all four of these girls are coming back to the team next year.
• Russell also finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles, setting a school record with 15.63. She returned with three state medals this year, upping her state medal collection to seven.
• The team also finished third in the RVC superconference.
The boys team struggled with wins this season, but like the girls’ team, they took home the gold in the Chad Gates home tournament, cranking out a season-high 128 points at the meet.
Their only athlete to earn a trip to state turned out to be a sophomore — Hunter Wargo — who competed in the 110m hurdles and finished in 18th place with 15.78 seconds, beating two of the four sophomores at state.
It is also worth noting that Wargo got to state by beating a Bellevue runner who had, up to that point, been unbeaten in the 110m hurdles. And, of course, Wargo can return next year.
So here’s to the successes of the high school track and field athletes. We commend your efforts and accomplishments and look forward to next season.
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