Magnolia Track Teams Loaded With Talent
MHS?Girls’ Track
The Lady Eagle Track Team is loaded with players, as 33 girls came out to join a squad that brings back six state qualifiers – led by senior Lauren Cline, junior Kiera Standiford and sophomores Rachael Arbogast and Sofia Herrick.
Cline will compete in the 400 meter and 4×400 meter relay events, while Standiford will showcase her speed in the 100 meter dash, 100 meter hurdles and the shuttle relay. Herrick will enter in the 200 and 400 meter runs, while competing in both the 200 and 400 meter relay events. Arbogast will focus on distance and high jump.
Two other state qualifiers are back this season, Cedar Sands and Courtney Slider. Sands will run the hurdles and sprints, while Slider will also compete in the long jump.
Other MHS girl tracksters who will compete in distance events are Kristen Arbogast, Anna Shank, Katie Ensinger, Joanna Graham, Ariel Hostuttler and Shelby Sands. Meanwhile, competing in sprinting events will be Bri Ritz, Lauren Cline, Bailey Estep, Amy Baker, Krysta Henderson, Kristen Massey, Carol Moreira, Kayla Ware, Hailey Waters and Mandi Theodoro will compete in the sprinting events.
In the hurdles, it will be Kristen Massey, Cedar Sands, Courtney Slider and Kiera Standiford.
In the field events, Evan Dawson, Emily McIlvain, Brooke Maston, Anne Miller, Larissa Pingley, Traysa Robinson, Breanna Sizemore, Summer Timbs, Lexi Cartwright, Madison Rogers, and Maria Turdos will compete in the shot and discus.
The girls competing in the high jump include Rachael Arbogast, Bailey Estep, Alayna Cline, and Anna Shank while long jumpers will be Kristen Massey, Courtney Slider, Kayla Ware and Hailey Waters.
For the first time in years, the Lady Eagles will have a pole vaulter competing in the field events that will give the Magnolia squad some points they usually don’t get in sophomore Mandi Theodoro. She has gone to camps and is ready for the competition.
Because the Lady Eagles have so many out this season, girls who might be running sprints might also be do something else, and the same goes to the distance and field events competitors.
As the practices and meets start, Coaches Steve Ross and John Daughtery will be trying to put the girls where they will help Magnolia win tournaments, as well as regional and, hopefully, state.
MHS?Boys’ Track
The Magnolia Blue Eagles Boys’ Track Team looks to be strong in sprints, led by junior Tim Weekley and sophomores Jared Kacor and Dylan Parsons, along with the 4X relay events where they have at least two runners back in each relay event.
Under the direction of new Head Coach Nathan West and Assistant Coach Mike Harwick, the Eagles appear ready to compete with anybody in Class-A.
The team will need to reply on both the sprints and relay events, while the high and long jumpers will, indeed, bring the Eagles close to the top. It also can score in the distance, shot and discus events and should do very well.
Magnolia is not as strong in the hurdles, Kacor has returned for the 300-meter hurdles and is ranked second in the state Class-A, heading into the season.
Senior newcomers Andrew Smith and Yale Wetzel will help soften the loss to graduation of Stephen Rogalski in the running events. In addition, Cole Seckman will ease the pain from the similar loss of Eric Piekarski in the shot and discus events.
“We lost a lot, especially with Rogalski and James Haught moving on to college,” said West. “We have some work to do, but a lot of the kids are stepping up. They are working very hard and want to prove they can compete with the big boys. We are a very young team, which I’m looking forward to. That’s always the starting point for any good program, having young and enthusiastic kids.”
With senior lettermen Jacob Brill back holding down the fort in some relay events, along with junior lettermen Oscar Celedon and Jacob Pancake, the relay events look to be strongest for the team, while senior letterman Stephen White will try to do the same in the shot and discus events. Also on the squad this year are juniors Soren Shade, Tyler Akers, Dylan Shimp and Zac Lockhart.
Junior David McIlvain will team with Shade to give the Eagles a pair of long distance runners to lead the pack, while sophomores Archie Petin, Troy Roughner, Ken Lafferty and freshmen Jacob Hamrick, Trinton Robinson and Trenton Locklar can get their feet wet.
Freshman Peau Halahingano will compete in the high jump, while classmates Kyell Wilson and Justin Rio, along with senior Jamie Mellott, will compete in the shot and discus events. However, sophomore strong-man Hunter Brill, along with classmates Brian Wilson and William Davis, will give the field events a shot in the arm.
Petin looks to help Magnolia in the relay events, as does Daryan Ingold, while Coaches West and Harwick will need to look for a few others thinclads to fill in where needed.
“The Class-A field in our region is wide open and is right there for the taking,” said West. “Many of the top teams have lost their top athletes to graduation, and that will leave it wide open for other schools to get in there and compete for the regional title.”