Columbia’s track and field program on the rise

“We have quite a few new track athletes this season. Upperclassmen who are running track for the first time, as well as a big group of freshmen. We are looking for them to contribute in areas where we graduated athletes last season.”

So far so good, as the Bruins competed last week at the Wildcat Relays in La Center. Columbia won five relay events and also had two individual event wins in a limited field competition (no pole vault nor triple jump).

“We currently have 45 athletes out for this season,” Anderson said. “That compares to 37 last season. Either through graduation or not continuing to participate in track, we lost 16 athletes from last season. So, to pick up 25 athletes this season is fantastic. We are looking for the newcomers to contribute in all areas of competition.

“Based on our numbers, there is a renewed enthusiasm to be part of extracurricular activities. Kids are ready to get back to normal.”

Columbia will be leaning hard on returning runners and throwers. Seniors Hannah Polkinghorn (100 meters, 200, relays and long jump), Chanele Reyes (hurdles, relays), Jace Greenwood (100, 200 and relays), Ryan Howard (200, 400 and relays), and Dominic Davidson (200 and relays) will be the Bruin leaders on the track. A strong junior contingency is led by Camden Uffelman (300 hurdles and relays), Calvin Andrews (300 hurdles, 400 and relays), Ella Zimmerman (100 and 300 hurdles, and relays), and Piper Hicks (100, 200, and relays).

One or more of those runners contributed to the five relay wins last week. Columbia girls won the 4x100, 4x100 for throwers, 4x400 and Swedish relay (100, 200, 300, 400). The Bruin boys won the sprint medley relay (100, 100, 200, 400).

Senior thrower Kevin Medina (shot, discus and javelin), sophomore Jessica Polkinghorn (shot, discus and javelin) and Madeline Allen (shot and discus) will lead a young group of throwers. Pollkinghorn won two events on Friday at the Wildcat Relays. She won the shot in a personal record 32 feet, 7 inches, and also won the javelin (96-4). The sophomore finished third in the discus at 82-11.5, also a personal best. Older sister, Hannah, was second in the long jump at 16-8.

Anderson said he is looking for big contributions from newcomers Ben Allen (high Jump and relays), Auggie Lorincz (400, 800 and relays), Noah Slayton (400, 800 and relays), and returnee Petey Schlegel (100, 200, and sprint relays).

Allen was fourth in the high jump at LaCenter, where he cleared 5-2. Frosh Troy Muehlbauer led the Bruins throwers with his eighth place in the discus (78-7).

“These are just a few of the new and young returning athletes that we are looking at for big contributions,” the coach said. “We have a group of freshmen that we will be moving around into different events to find where they will have the most success.

“We have the pieces in place to build on our success of last season. We have a few holes to fill but are in really good shape with our new and young athletes. We will be working hard to have a strong finish at both sub-district and district. Having a strong representation at state is our end-of-season goal.”