Falcons track sees host of newcomers

With spring around the corner, the Abbotsford Falcons track and field team is preparing for another season. With a strong core from last year’s team being joined by a number of new athletes, the Falcons are hoping that their combination of skill and numbers will help them to continue the success they started to find late last season.

In 2022, the Abbotsford girls track and field team took third at both the Marawood conference meet and the regional held in Colby. The team as a whole also sent six athletes to the state track meet in La Crosse.

While both the boys and girls squads have seen some of those athletes who helped them find such results graduate, head coach Jake Knapmiller believes that a combination of enough returning talent and an infusion of numbers will see the Falcons fielding a similarly competitive team.

On the girls’ side, the Falcons will have much of the 4x100-meter relay team of Sommer Brodhagen, Sydney Falteisek, Chloe Cihlar and Briseida Escalera that competed at the state meet last year return. The short distance athleticism that they bring will be the core of the Falcons attack on the track.

They will also bring a number of returning athletes in the field events to complement their speed on the track.

“Our throwers bring a lot of experience and talent,” Knapmiller said. “With Madison Bloch and Isabella Aguilera as well as Sommer Brodhagen in the disc and Margo Pogodzinski. We are looking forward to a balanced team with the ability to fill almost all events.”

While one of the state contenders from last year’s boys’ team, Ty Falteisek, has graduated, the Falcons are returning senior Marcus Bohl, who placed ninth at La Crosse in the discus and will be looking to make it to his third consecutive state meet. They have also seen a huge influx of athletes come into the program this spring.

Part of that will be the addition of a large number of freshmen, as well as some new faces from the grades above them. Additionally, there will be some athletes that are planning to split time between the track and baseball teams, giving the Falcons an added boost at some meets, the most prominent being the Marawood conference meet.

“On the boys side we have the numbers to be very good with almost 40 boys out,” Knapmiller stated. “This also allows us to have balance as a team and fill a lot of events. We are young and talented and will see if our young guys can step up to the challenge, as there is some great competition in our conference, regional and sectional.”

The bolstering of numbers will especially help a boys’ team that sometimes struggled to field athletes in events last year. With an addition of quantity to the quality, they hope to improve on their ninth place finish at the conference meet last year.

With a host of new faces and only a week’s worth of practice under their belts, it is still hard to see where exactly the team might find itself as the season progresses, but both the athletes and the coaching staff are optimistic and eager to see where it might take them. Continued from page 8

“I think it all irons itself out as the season continues,” Knapmiller said. “We are just excited to have a large number of athletes that want to be here and work hard. I hope people take time to come to our home meet and watch these kids compete. They are going to be a fun group to watch.”

That home meet will take place on Monday, May 1 with events starting at 4:30 p.m. Before their outdoor season starts, however, the Falcons will have three indoor events. The first will be a split event in Marshfield. The boys will compete on Tuesday, March 21 and the girls will compete on Thursday, March 23. Both meets are to start at 4:30 p.m.