(Harlan, IA) – The Harlan Cyclones are swirling into the outdoor track season after two indoor meets at Central College and the University of South Dakota where they’ve already seen improvements from last year. Fortunately for Harlan, they’ve been able to get outdoors to practice heading into the outdoor season.
Harlan brings on 30 total girls this season for track and field. Head Coach Jenny Hamilton is relying on her seniors Taylor Bieker, Dani Smith, Lauren Wingert, Kami Stork, and Samantha Ineson to set the model for the younger athletes to follow. The Cyclones also return state qualifier Lindsey Sonderman who already broke the school record in the 3,000m run and continues to keep up the competitive nature that has made the Harlan culture so significant in the Hawkeye Ten Conference.
Coach Hamilton is continuing to push her athletes to work on more speed training exercises while relying on knee-high training to increase that speed. While the physical aspect of track and field is important, Coach Hamilton also recognizes the importance of the holistic approach to training her athletes. This takes into account the mental aspect of pushing your body to its physical limit and pushes athletes to keep moving forward.
Confidence is key when it comes to both the individual and the team. Harlan is a team that works together as they continue to push themselves for one another by being leaders on and off the track. This teamwork and confidence in one another is just one aspect that Coach Hamilton loves about this group of girls.
While the outdoor season should’ve started almost a week ago, the weather got in the way of seeing the Cyclones on the oval. In light of this, the Cyclones will get their first bit of competition on Thursday, March 28th at Audubon.
Harlan will go against local schools Atlantic, CAM, AHSTW, Treynor, and 11 others in tomorrow’s opening outdoor meet. You’ll be able to find all the results right here following the meet on Western Iowa Today. The meet will start at 4:30 p.m.
(Click below to listen to this article)
