Cyclone Girls’ Track Using Right Strategy to Prepare for State Qualifying

Cyclone Girls’ Track Using Right Strategy to Prepare for State Qualifying -

(5-4-24) – It’s long been said that competition breeds excellence. For the Harlan Community girls’ track team they were able to use that motivation to earn a 5th place finish at the Hawkeye 10 Track & Field Championships on Thursday.

“We are blessed to be part of a very, very competitive conference,” said Cyclone girls’ track Coach Jenny Hamilton. “That's a good thing. It makes it tough to compete at the conference meet. So, there's good competition there. The girls showed up, ready to go and overall we had a really positive meet.”

Hamilton said strategy she like how Lindsey Sonderman used strategy to the victory in the 3000m run with a school record time of 10:21.81. The plan was for her to hang back and let someone else lead the way, then attack with 800m left, getting the win over conference rival Lili Denton of St. Albert in the process.

“She ran a really intelligent race and we're really proud of her for getting that win. That was a huge win and a very, very tough field.”

The relay teams for Harlan Community gave terrific performances on the girls side, with a 2nd place finish in the distance med by Kami Stork, Sammie Ineson, Aubrey Wegner, and Lindsey Sonderman, while getting 4th place finishes in the shuttle hurdle, 4 x 400m, and 4 x 800m. Hamilton says some decisions still need to be made regarding her relay teams, but knows her athletes are ready for the challenge.

“Overall, really good efforts. It's at the end of the season and we know that, the girls know that, they know it's go time, and we don't doubt that they're giving their all out there."

We’ll find out those decisions when the Cyclone girls’ run at state qualifying in Atlantic on Thursday.

View past scores by visiting the Iowa High School Athletic Association's website, Iowa Girls High School Athletic Union website,
or Iowa Quik Stats