This past weekend on Saturday the 13th, the women’s track team participated in their first indoor meet of the year at St. Ambrose. This year,the women look to improve upon their record, after finishing fifth in the CCIW last year.
Coach David Thompson had a hopeful attitude about their first indoor meet.
“With the first meet of the season, we are treating this meet as a ‘rust buster’. It’s important to get that first meet out of the way, looking to come away healthy and set ourselves up for continued improvement as the season goes on,” Thompson said.
Junior Audrey Hogenkamp had similar views going into the first meet this year.
“This is the first time this season that we are going to be in a competition setting, and that can generate a lot of pressure. I think it’s important to stay competitive and hold yourself to high expectations, but to also keep in mind that this is a sport we all love and it’s equally important to go have fun out there.”
The women came out of the St. Ambrose opener finishing second out of five teams. They were lead by sophomore hurdler Sofia Wajner (60 meter hurdles) and junior pole vaulter Mackenzie Butcher, both getting wins in their respected events. Wajner was also the anchor of the 4×400 relay team that won their event.
As far as goals for the Indoor Track season, Coach Thompson was very clear.
“We are looking to continue to improve each week. It’s all a process. We want to manage the emotional highs and lows that any season can bring. ”
Audrey Hogenkamp talked about the goals the team discussed as a whole.
“There were a lot of really positive ideas brought up as team goals, which was awesome to hear. There are some girls on who have more quantitative goals, and there are other girls who had goals that were more focused on the team atmosphere. Taken cohesively, these are awesome goals which set the bar high for this season.”
Sofia Wajner also talked about goals and expectations for the upcoming season.
“There is a more unified demeanor this year than last year which I think will take us a lot farther. Since the team is still fairly young, there’s room for growth and improvement but it’s still great to see how well we all did at the first meet and we all have high hopes for conference.”
Both Coach Thompson and Audrey Hogenkamp see great strengths for the women.
Coach Thompson said, “Our greatest strength this season would be our balance across all event areas. We have some talented women across all event groups and they are doing the little things to get better. They are supporting each other and have the makings of a great team.”
Audrey Hogenkamp had a similar mindset, “I see a lot of passion in all the girls in the team, and I think that’s our greatest strength. Whether it’s cheering for girls in a different event group at practice, or pushing a little harder to catch the runner in front of you in a hard workout, or staying a little later to do extra reps, or lifting a little bit more than last week, there are a million different ways that the girls show they care about this sport and this team. I think that really sets us apart from our competition and makes us great.”