(Oakland) The Riverside girls track team brought home a third place team trophy from state last year. Their success at the 2023 state meet could hinge on how things go for them at the State Qualifying Meet in Guthrie Center on Thrusday.
Coach Jared Hoffman says he’s pleased with the lineup they’ve put together. “It’s always kind of difficult to know what other teams are going to be doing. There are a lot of talented teams out there with some great individuals. We are just trying to find a way to give ourselves the best chance going into state. First we have to make sure we are ready for Districts and we do what we need to, because we have a pretty strong District.”
He lists Nodaway Valley and Audubon as a couple of the teams with strong competition at ACGC. Hoffman will be looking for consistently strong performances each and every time his team takes the track the rest of the season. “I think just making sure that the athletes are always ready. We try to walk them through it. A couple of years ago we had a stellar two days and then the third day was our low point. We just weren’t mentally ready to compete that hard for three days. Last year we were able to bring it all together.” Hoffman says it’s been a building process the past 7-8 seasons. “They’ve had some really good success over the last couple of years.”
Riverside enters the meet with top seven relay times for Class 1A in the 4X100, 4X200, 4X400, Sprint Medley, and Distance Medley. The 4X200 and 4X400 are each #1 in the state. Veronica Andrusyshyn ranks #1 in the 100 meter dash and 5th in the 100 meter hurdles, Lydia Erickson is 9th in the 200.
KSOM will have reports from the State Qualifying Meet at ACGC on Thursday evening.
Riverside coach Jared Hoffman:
