Tracksters waiting for weather to cooperate

Though the starting pistol has remained silent, track season got underway two weeks ago and head coach Chad Ostenson is looking forward to the possibilities this season may have in store for his team. 
Though he lost a few and gained a few, of the 33 athletes out for the season there are several who have the potential to have a successful year on the track or field. 
As has been the trend for the last several years, boys outnumber the girls 25-8 however, there are more girls out this year than there were last season. 
Returning senior girls are Jaylen Ostenson and Lizzie Rushton. Ostenson sat out last season due to a stress fracture in her foot, however she is a returning state qualifier in the 100 and 300 Meter hurdles as well as the discus, and she placed eighth in the 100M Hurdles at the state meet her sophomore year.
Rushton throws the shot and discus and competes in the long jumps. In addition, when the team competes in South Dakota, she throws the javelin, and has set a couple of meet records in that event.
“It’s fun to have Jaylen back and I’m looking forward to seeing what she is able to do this year,” Ostenson smiled. “I’m also pretty excited to see what Lizzie can do in the javelin this year, and she also did some work in the weight room over the past year so I’m looking for good things from her in all her events.”
There are also two returning senior boys and they are Jacob Prell and Holden McConkey. McConkey is a sprinter while Prell throws the shot put and the discus. 
“Holden was sidelined last year with some injuries, but in his sophomore year he did some good things and qualified for the state meet,” Ostenson nodded. Jacob threw the shot pretty well last year and kept getting better and better with each meet. This year, he is bigger and stronger so I’m looking for some good things from him. We will look to all the seniors to provide leadership for the team this year.”
In addition to the four seniors, there are also six juniors out for track this season, including Colton Vanderpool Mobely who did some good things for the team last year in the sprints. However, the bulk of the team is young as they are sophomores and freshmen. 
There are two of the 14 sophomores who return having earned a state berth at last year’s culminating event. CJ Hardy qualified in the high jump while Sam Scribner punched his ticket in the pole vault. Both return for another shot at placing at the state meet this season.
Other sophomore returners include Eli Morrill who made great strides in the hurdles last year, and Julie Morris who is one of the few female sprinters on the team. Another sprinter, Savannah Carr is rejoining the team after not competing last season, and Ostenson is also excited to welcome distance runner Aspen Bloom who had a successful Cross Country season last fall. 
“We have some returning athletes and a good core younger group of kids, so I’m excited to see what they can do this year,” Ostenson declared. “Hopefully, we’ll get Mother Nature to cooperate with us so we can get a track meet going here pretty soon.”
Unfortunately, Mother Nature is being stubborn so the Laura Chord Memorial Track Meet that was scheduled for this Friday has been canceled with the hope of rescheduling for a later date. As such, the tracksters are on hold for another week before officially getting their season underway.