(Anita) The CAM boys track team is slated to start the season Tuesday at Bedford.
Drew Ticknor is the new head coach for the Cougars following Todd Russell’s retirement. Ticknor has a strong crew to start off with. “We’ve got a good core of seniors and juniors returning from last year. We sent a lot of events to Des Moines last year and are hoping to do the same this year. We’ve got a good shuttle hurdle team that we are looking for big things from this year. Lane Spieker in the sprints and the long jump. We have a freshman in Kegan Croghan that I’m hoping to see some progress in the long jump and compete at every meet there. Cade Ticknor in the discus and Nolan Hensley is throwing the shot pretty well.”
The Shuttle Hurdle Relay returns Sam Foreman, Jack Follmann, and Cale Maas from last year’s 3rd place team at state, but they must replace their anchor Connor McKee. “Joe Kauffman was our next man in last year, so he’ll be running it this year. Gavin Clayton stepped in and is trying out some hurdling as well. We’ll see where we are at and hopefully we can hit the ground running like we were last year. Obviously losing Connor McKee is a huge loss for us, but hopefully we can find somebody to get in there and still run a good shuttle hurdle race and get back to Des Moines.”
Tuesday’s meet at Bedford is scheduled to start at 4:30 p.m. The Cougars won’t quite be at full strength given the fact that many of their athletes missed the last week of practice with a school trip, but they are looking forward to learning about their team. “We are going to stick some guys in events and see where we are at and what we are capable of.” Ticknor says, “Excited to get to a track meet and quit running on roads and the muddy cinder track.”
Lane Spieker finished 3rd at state in the long jump, 9th in the 100, and 13th in the 200. Cade Ticknor placed 15th in the discus. All four members are back from their state qualifying 4X400 meter relay.
CAM coach Drew Ticknor:
