(Guthrie Center) ACGC girls track coach Colin Shawgo has bullish expectations heading into Thursday’s State Qualifying Meet.
The Chargers are one of a dozen teams at a strong Class 2A qualifier in Treynor. “I think we have seven events right now that we are going to load up and try to get there. As long as everything turns out alright I think we have a good shot in all of those events.”
Rylee Sloss in the distance races, mid-distance runner Jorja Hoover, and high jumper Chloe Largent have been among the standouts for ACGC. “Rylee Sloss in the 3000 is ranked up there pretty good and she hasn’t even run her best time yet. She’s been running them pretty strategic. She had a really good 1500 so that one’s definitely in play. Jorja Hoover had a really, really good conference meet so she gives us a good shot in a few events, and then of course Chloe Largent in the high jump is another one that is a pretty big shoe in for us. We have a few others that we are going to keep close to our chest for a little bit until it’s really time to go.”
The team has seen a lot of improvement late in the season. “We’ve been pleasantly surprised by how well we have progressed throughout the season. We have a very young team, I think we have 18 freshmen and sophomores. They’ve really grown throughout the season. Every meet we’ve had at least 15 PR’s. That trend has continued. I really thought that might taper off, especially as we stopped doing new events for different girls. Every meet we keep getting better.”
Coach Shawgo is confident their training will allow the athletes to peak at the right time. “We do a lot of hard work in March and April to get us ready.” Shawgo recalls older coaches telling him by this time of year all the hay should be in the barn, it’s up to the kids to go out and perform. “We really focus on confidence boosting and getting their self esteem up there. The training we’ve done up to that point should take care of itself.”
The list of teams ACGC will compete against includes AHSTW, Clarinda, Kuemper Catholic, Missouri Valley, MVAOCOU, Panorama, Red Oak, Shenandoah, Treynor, Underwood, and West Central Valley.
