(Oakland) Riverside graduates only one senior from a team that placed 3rd last season at the Class 1A Girls State Track Meet.
The stage is set for another banner year for the Lady Dawgs after their breakout 2022 campaign. “Last year was really great for us. We had some big motivation from the year before. We didn’t know exactly what we were fully capable of. Coming out with that 3rd place trophy at state was a really great thing. It does propel us forward into this year. We only lost one senior in Izzy Bluml and we return a ton of depth plus we have a very large freshman group coming up. I’m pretty excited for what this year holds.”
Coach Jared Hoffman has a star studded cast returning. The group will be led by Veronica Andrusyshyn. “She is a 3-time individual medalist at state. Has been on a ton of relays for us at state that have medaled. She’s been a WIC champ for us. She’s one of the best sprinters in the state for 1A. She’s one of our big returners.”
And the list goes on. “Lydia Erickson has been an individual medalist a couple of times and was on that state championship 4X400. Macy Woods and Elly Henderson were both on that state champion 4X4. Emma Gordon also has been a part of a couple of really good relays. We just return a good group of mid-distance girls from our 4X800 including Carly Henderson and Veronica Schechinger. It’s a real good group. They have a lot of experience and a lot going forward into this season.”
Coach Hoffman admits Izzy Bluml is a big loss to graduation, but they’ve got some talented younger runners ready to step in and help out. “Bailey Richardson is a state qualifier from cross country. She could make a pretty big impact. Adaline Martens is a very athletic freshman for us. Madison Kelley should help in the throws a little bit. It’s a big group. We’ve got about ten of them that have come out. It’s the largest group for a whole roster that I’ve had since I’ve been here.”
There’s no doubt the program has risen to a different level over the last couple of years. “I think we surprised a lot of people by doing what we did at state. I don’t know if there is pressure, but there’s a standard that has been set. We want to continue working towards that. We aren’t changing much. We are going to do what we’ve done in the past and continue moving forward.”
The goals include winning a Western Iowa Conference championship, returning to Drake, and bringing home another state trophy. The Lady Dawgs will compete at Concordia on March 17th.
Riverside coach Jared Hoffman:
