Twelve letterwinners will lead small Indian girls track ‘n field squad in ‘05

The Waukon girls track and field squad will build around a strong nucleus of letterwinners during the 2005 season. Overall, numbers are low with only 34 athletes out for the spring season.

“This is probably one of the smallest squads we’ve had in the last couple years,” said Waukon head coach Don Steffens. “We still have 34 kids, but we’d been running in the 50s in the last few years.”

Contributing to the low turnout is the fact that several letterwinners decided not to participate in track during their senior year. “We did have a few talented girls decide they didn’t want to run their last year,” Steffens said. “To say that’s not disappointing to me is not accurate.”

Another decorated senior had her final season taken away due to injury. Jordan Snitker will miss her senior year after damaging her knee early in the recent basketball season. “It’s extremely disappointing that one of the top sprinters, hurdlers, and long jumpers in the state was injured. Jordan has been a very good leader for us and it’s too bad she won’t be returning this year. She was a Drake and state meet qualifier and we’ll miss her,” Steffens remarked.

Not choosing to dwell on the negatives, the coach quickly moves on to discuss the talented athletes that are on this spring’s lineup. The Tribe’s dozen returning letterwinners have a good balance of distance and sprint experience with a few boasting know-how in the field events, too.

In the distance races, Waukon has several athletes that were part of 2004’s cross country Tribe that finished third at the state meet. “All our cross country girls are back from a great season last year and that should help us from the 800 to 3000,” Steffens noted.

In track’s longest event, senior Ashley Waters and sophomore Leanna Hammel will likely compete well. “Ashley will hopefully move up to the 3000 on occasion and Leanna was a state qualifier in that event last spring,” the coach noted.

State placewinner Sarah Hammel should be a threat again this year in the 1500. The junior took sixth as the event in Des Moines last year.

Sophomore Alex Langland may also compete in the 1500, but she’ll likely make a great impact in the 800, where she’s the current school record holder.

Langland, Waters, and Sarah Hammel all return with state experience in the 4x800. “We’ve got three back from our state 4x800 team. We’ll probably combine them with (junior) Ruth Rolling and we should be pretty decent by the end of the year,” the coach continued.

Rolling, also a cross country athlete, would be moving up after gaining state experience with her efforts at 400 meters.

In the sprint events, Waukon returns three talented seniors: Vannessa Herman, Jessie Ryan, and Leah Nichols. “Those three together could very well give us a good relay or two,” Steffens stated.

Herman, the school’s record-holder at 100 meters, has had three fantastic years on the oval for Waukon. “Last year was not as good a year for Vannessa after dealing with an illness, but she’s now in very good shape. She will hopefully run strong in the 100, 200, and maybe 400,” added Steffens.

Ryan and Nichols were both state qualifiers and key relay runners in 2004 and should bring more of the same this year. “Jessie ran well in many relays and Leah was an individual state qualifier in the 400 hurdles,” Steffens noted.

Junior letterwinner Crystal Meyer also gave the Indians an advantage as a relay runner and is expected to help there once again.

Field events will be a critical point in 2005, although several Indians return with successful showings in the field.

Depth in the jumping events may be a sticking point. Langland is the only veteran high jumper. She posted a break out year last spring in her freshman campaign.

In the long jump, Herman and Ryan have experience and could be leaders for the Tribe this spring.

The throwing events are in need of a new leader with the loss of state champion shot putter Tami Magner. Senior letterwinner Ashley Johnson looks to contribute in the shot and discus rings with senior Stephanie Snitker possibly working into the lineup in either event.

“Ashley was really coming on for us in the discus last year. She’s been working very hard and should help us a great deal in the shot and discus,” Steffens noted.

Snitker, he added, enjoyed success in the field and on the track early in her career before a back injury caused her to step away from the sport. “Stephanie ran some good quarter-miles as a freshman and also tossed the discus well before she was injured. Hopefully, she’ll fill in where we need her,” the coach said.

About a third of the squad consists of freshmen athletes. Steffens is looking for some of these girls to step up and contribute at the varsity level. “We have a lot of freshmen, sophomores, and juniors that we just have to wait and see what they do. Hopefully they will fill in the holes where we were strong last year,” the coach added.

Steffens hopes to have several athletes make the trip to the state meet in Des Moines. This year, the season finale will have a new format. Boys and girls will compete in a coed, three-day meet May 19-21.

“It will be totally different for us, but Wisconsin and other states run their boys and girls together and it seems to work our fairly well. It will be interesting, but I do have some misgivings since it’s the first time they’ve run the meets together,” the coach pointed out. “There won’t be the pageantry that the girls meet has had, and that’s too bad. But, they just can’t do it because there’s simply not enough time.”

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In the Northeast Iowa Conference race, Steffens thinks Decorah is likely to win the crown. “Decorah has got to be among the leaders. They ran strong last year and have a great cross country program and good sprints, too.”

Charles City and Waverly-Shell Rock are also good contenders. “Charles City always runs strong. They had a good group of eighth graders last year and they could make an impact this year as freshmen. And Waverly always has a strong track program.”

With so many holes in the Tribe’s lineup, Steffens said he’s not sure where Waukon will fit into the mix.