The Southwest boys and girls track and field teams start their seasons on Thursday, taking aim at state qualification after a record year for the boys.
Steve Voyak, Southwest track coach, said like most sports, track builds to the end.
“All athletes in track want to be peaking at conference, district, sectional and state,” he said. “I tell the athletes daily, you either get better or worse, every day — you don’t stay the same. Our goal is to get as many athletes as possible to sectional and then try to qualify for state. We are a fairly young team and could be a year away.”
Voyak said three boys and seven girls return to this year’s teams, with junior Robert Humphries bringing the most experience. Other returners include junior Ezra Sprowes and sophomore Braydan Eggleston.
“Humphries was part of the 4×800 relay team that finished fourth in the state last season,” Voyak said. “He plans to focus on the 800, mile and 4×400 relay this year. He made it to state in cross country this season. Sprowes ran cross country and played basketball this year to work on endurance and hopes to improve his times in the 100 and 200, and he hopes to be part of the 4×400 relay. He also plans to long jump. He was part of the 4×200 relay that qualified for state a year ago.
“Eggleston had a spectacular freshman season and has boundless potential.”
Returners on the girls side include: seniors Cally Bowyer and Kaydee Gabbard; juniors Abi Floyd, Jr., Juliaunna Sierra and Vivica Villegas; and sophomores Makaila Anderson and Kali Jones.
“Bowyer qualified for sectional last season in the mile but has decided to change her focus to sprints and middle distance and relays,” Voyak said. “Floyd has also changed from sprints to middle distance and relays. Floyd, Jones, Sierra, Anderson. Petermann and Villegas are all battling for relay spots and have improved times from last year. Bowyer, Jones, Floyd and Villegas have already hit personal records in the 800 but need to improve their times even more to be competitive at the conference and district level.”
Overall, middle distance and sprints were pegged as strengths for the boys, and middle distance as a strength for the girls.
Voyak said both teams have strong leadership, and for the girls, changing events can be a challenge.
“Robert and Ezra lead by example,” he said. “They work hard every day, and the others notice they take practice seriously. Both have been to state and understand high stakes competition.
“[For the Lady Trojans], it’s difficult to retrain yourself from distance back to sprints, but Cally has worked on it diligently. She also plans to anchor a few relays, so she will get to see where she stands in terms of time early in the season.”
Key newcomers include junior Julika Petermann for the girls and freshmen Case Jennings, Vic Tellez and Ivan Suchowski for the boys. Gone from teh squad to graduation are All-State runners Caden Uthe, Christian Long and Otis Rainer.
The first meet for the Trojans and Lady Trojans is on Thursday at McDonald County.
