(Harlan) Numbers are up for the Harlan girls track team.
Coach Jenny Hamilton reports that practice has gotten off to a strong start. “It’s been a good first week and a half of practice. We’ve been able to get outside a little bit, so that’s always nice to says in late February and early March. We’ve had really good attitudes and efforts. We have five seniors coming back this year and really good leadership across the board.” The five seniors are Haley Bladt, Jenna Gessert, Lauren McLaughlin, Ella Plagman, and Cameron Springman.
Coach Hamilton says the seniors have set the tone. “We’ve been really happy with their leadership so far. Just approaching practice with a positive mindset. We are here to have fun and enjoy each other, but also here to get a workout in and train and be competitive. We’ve been really happy with what we’ve seen.”
The Cyclones have over 30 athletes on the roster which should help as they try to reach some of their main goals. “We want to compete in all 19 events and have somebody that can score or place top three and maybe get two people competing in each event. That’s something we’ve talked about from last year to this year is increasing our depth. We’ve got better numbers this year. We are in the mid-30’s so we are happy about that. We want to be competitive in all 19 events.”
Coach Hamilton comments on how they expanded their roster. “We rely on the experience of people who did it last year. A coach is always trying to get people to go out for their sport, but it doesn’t mean as much coming from a coach as it does from the girls themselves. We just hope to make it a positive experience so it sells itself and you don’t have to beg, borrow, or steal to get people on your team. So I think our girls have done a good job of just encouraging others.”
Harlan will compete March 18th at the Northwest Missouri State Indoor Meet and on March 28th at South Dakota.
Harlan coach Jenny Hamilton:
