(Griswold) A former Griswold Tiger standout is returning to coach at her alma mater.
Rachel (Northrup) Larsen is on board as head girls track coach for the upcoming school year. “I’m super excited to be back. I’ve always known that I wanted to coach and I really did see myself coming back to Griswold to coach. Just having grown up in Griswold, I’m super excited about it.”
For Larsen, a lot of moving pieces aligned just right for her to jump at the opportunity. “It all happened really fast and I really think it all happened for a reason. The 1st Grade position opened up then the Head Girls Track Coach position opened up at the same time. My husband (Heath Larsen) is now the strength and conditioning coach and so our family is getting back into it and our boys go to school in Griswold, so we are really trying to get invested in the school and the kids.”
A priority upon getting to meet the team will be growing the participation. “Get more girls out and win some meets. I just want them to have fun and get more participation and see what they can do. I think the program is going in the right direction so I’m excited to see what the girls can do.”
From her experience on some of Griswold’s championship teams in the past, it only takes a couple of great leaders to get the ball rolling. “It starts with a couple girls. If we can get some of them motivated and show them that it is possible and they can do great things. I think that’s what happened when we were in high school. We had a few super motivated athletes that pushed the other girls. We need some strong leaders to come out and show everybody they can do it. I’m excited. I think in a couple years they’ll see success can be had.”
Larsen is a 2011 graduate of Griswold and went on to compete in both track and volleyball at Central College.
