By Becky Walz,
A core of six returning letter winners will be the nucleus for the South Winn girls’ track team in 2022, including four state participants from a year ago.
Putting the pieces together is Kevin Kearney, who is assisted by boys’ coach Scott Conway, as well as Jason Ohrt, Ethan Adams and Darcy Einck.
A core of six returning letter winners will be the nucleus for the South Winn girls’ track team in 2022, including four state participants from a year ago.
Putting the pieces together is Kevin Kearney, who is assisted by boys’ coach Scott Conway, as well as Jason Ohrt, Ethan Adams and Darcy Einck.
A great year on the oval
Five letter winners led the Warriors into the 2021 season and built a successful season from there.
At the Upper Iowa Conference meet, the Warriors finished fourth overall with 97 points. South Winn ended the meet without a gold; however, the squad had five runner-up finishes. Billie Wagner took silver in both the 1500-meter (5:18.84) and 3,000-meter runs (11:18.80); Emma Houdek was second in the long jump with a distance 15 feet, 8.5 inches, while Emmaleigh Ohrt claimed silver in the discus with a throw of 117 feet even. Also, runner-up was the 4×800 relay of Megan Hageman, Josie Tieskoetter, Becca Wagner and Morgan Kriener in 11:30.29.
Competing at the state qualifier, South Winn finished fifth with 72 points and qualified seven events for state. With a winning throw of 123 feet 11 inches, Ohrt earned her state debut, while Wagner punched her ticket in the distance races — 1500-meter and 3000-meter runs. Hageman also qualified for state in the 1500-meter run, while Eryn Sabelka earned a trip to state in the 800-meter run. Emma Houdek also reigned in a state ticket in the long jupm. The only relay for the three-day state meet was the 4×800 quartet of Hageman, Tieskoetter, Wagner and Sabelka.
Ohrt concluded her high school career as the Class 1A state runner-up in the discus at 126 feet, 1 inch. Wagner also earned points for the Warriors in the 3000-meter, crossing the finish line fifth. Sabelka capped off a stellar junior campaign in eighth place in the 800-meter run, while the 4×800 was just out of medal contention in ninth place. Wagner was oh-so-close to a medal in the 1500-meter in ninth place, while Hageman was 15th. Houdek finished the long jump in 14th place.
Leading the team
With nearly 30 athletes out for the squad this season, Kearney again has lots of faces to turn to. However, at the top of his list are six battle-tested stars — Billie Wagner, Eryn Sabelka, Megan Hageman, Josie Tieskoetter, Anna Dietzenbach and Ella Willey.
These six have competed at a high level the past couple of years for the Warriors, including winning the Class 1A state cross country title.
“Our strongest area will be in our middle distance and distance events with a great deal of experience in those areas. This group is talented, dedicated and determined,” said Coach Kearney.
In addition, senior Carly Meyer will be the Warriors’ most experienced thrower and there is a large freshman group and some upperclassmen out for the sport for the first time.
“It will be fun to see what they add and bring to our team over the course of the season,” Kearney added.
Ready to start
With so much promise and veterans peppering the line-up, Coach Kearney has every reason to be excited for the weather to turn and spring meets to get under way.
“We will have some key areas to fill in. In particular, we lost some key contributors in our field events,” noted Coach Kearney. “We will need people to step up in our throws, jumps and hurdles. I think we have the kids who can do it, but it will take some time. We also lost some key leaders on our team and will need people to fill those roles as well.”
Kearney sees North Fayette Valley, Central, Kee High and Turkey Valley bringing a mixture of depth and talent to the Upper Iowa Conference and believes the top four or five teams will be highly competitive. However, he has high hopes for where the SW team can finish.
“We are optimistic that we have a good mix of experience, talent and work ethic, as well as a good group of newcomers. It will likely take us some time to find where everyone fits, but we should be able to gradually improve over the season and field a competitive team at the end of the year when it counts,” concluded the veteran coach.
The Warriors open the outdoor season Tuesday, March 29, at Sumner-Fredericksburg.
Submit A Comment
Fill out the form to submit a comment. All comments require approval by our staff before it is displayed on the website.