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Editorial: High (hurdle) expectations
Op-Ed · June 23, 2016
West Branch track teams finished another “wow” year in 2016, earning its second consecutive state title in an event, along with a slew of other accomplishments by the boys and girls teams.
In 2015, the girls shuttle hurdle relay took a state title. This year the boys earned one in the 110m high hurdles when senior Hunter Wargo took first place with a time of 14.46.
Several athletes received academic recognition, broke several school records and earned all-conference and all-state awards.
Six boys and seven girls qualified for the state tournament. Among the girls track team state qualifiers were Haley Poula, Allyson Simpson and Trystin Luneckas, who also went to state in basketball and volleyball, making the trio three-sport state qualifiers, a very rare accomplishment.
The boys team earned an average 3.62 GPA, earning them a Distinguished Academic Achievement Award. School records for the boys long jump, 200m dash, 110m high hurdles and shuttle hurdle relay all fell in 2016.
West Branch boys took second at the RVC meet and third at the district meet. The girls placed fourth at the RVC meet and were the top finisher in the South RVC division.
The boys took sixth place as a team at the state meet with 34 points. With Wargo’s first-place finish, Cooper Koenig took second in the long jump with 23-05.00 and earned Elite All-State honors. The shuttle hurdle team — Wargo, Cooper Kabela, Matt Shawver and Koenig — took second as well, with a time of 57.44.
The girls shuttle hurdles relay team — Paige Miller, Trystin Luneckas, Tatum Koenig and Abby Knoop — took fourth place in the state finals with 1:08.3. Poula became the first West Branch Bear discus thrower to score at state, entered the field seeded 12th and finished eighth with a distance of 116-11.
These are just some of the many accomplishments of the boys and girls track team in 2016.
We congratulate the coaches — Scott Kelly, Carol Lumpa and Taylor Larson — for challenging and pushing these athletes to realize their potential both on the field and in the classroom.
We hope the team members will take those lessons with them to understand the benefits of hard work wherever they go.
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