Editor's Note: The following story was planned and written before the postponement of high school athletics due to the concern over covid-19.
A solid nucleus of returning lettermen gives the McDonald County High School girls' track team hopes for a big year during the 2020 season.
Coach Chris Kane takes over as head girls' coach after coaching the boys' and girls' throwers the past four years.
"Our main goal is to be true to our values that we identified in our theme," Kane said. "If we can do those small things every day, success will come. We would also like to push to become a top-five program in the conference."
Kane said the key to those values is to "Be Fierce."
"Our theme this year is to be fierce in everything we do," Kane said. "The main values we are really pushing is for our girls to be fierce teammates -- we want to put a premium of being supportive of each other through a long season; be fiercely loyal -- we want to show loyalty to the program by maintaining a high standard in the classroom and consistent practice attendance; and be fiercely competitive -- we want to commit to competing in everything we do to push each other to keep improving throughout the year."
In addition to the above values, Kane said there is one other key for the Lady Mustangs to be successful.
"Last, but not least, staying healthy is a key to any successful season," Kane said. "We are doing everything we can to keep our athletes healthy."
Leading the returners are Ragan Wilson and Adyson Sanny as members of the 4x800 relay team that advanced to sectionals last year.
"They are looking to advance in the postseason again this year," Kane said.
Other returners include Erin Cooper, Jackie Grider, Caitlyn Barton, Rita Santillan and Sosha Howard.
"Jackie looks to build off a solid 2019 season in the discus and once again finish in the top of the conference," Kane said. Barton was a 10-foot vaulter last year before an injury ended her season. She should be one of the top vaulters in the conference. Erin, Rita and Sosha had impressive 2019 seasons and should improve this year."
Kane cited a couple of younger members of the team who should see success this year after solid seasons in 2019.
"We expect big things out of Mariana Salas and Gisselle Reyes," Kane said. "I believe Mariana can make a large leap forward in the javelin and be very competitive in the conference. Gisselle saw time in the sprints last year and we expect a lot of success from her in the future."
Sports on 03/26/2020