East Atchison’s Madison Lesher and Kinley Thornhill were feeling the burn while working their arm muscles, getting in some of their first throws of the javelin and discus of the season during practice Thursday, March 8, 2018, in Tarkio. The 2018 high school track season begins next week for EA at Worth County Early Bird on March 22 at 3:30 p.m. Lady Wolves’ Coach Joe Unternahrer said, “We have a good group of upperclassman returning, including 2017 state qualifiers, Kaely Kirwan in the pole vault, Grace Martin in the open 400, and Tawni Martin, Jaycee Graves, and Grace Martin in the 4×400 relay. I think the incoming freshman will help in some events we were not able to fill last year and in the relays. I think this year’s team will be competitive in all areas and I’m looking forward to coaching them.” Coach Aaron Behrens commented on the Wolves’ outlook, “We have 2017 state qualifiers Gage McAdams and Briacin Bywater coming back this year. Gage is working toward winning another state championship in the pole vault and Briacin is looking to get back on the podium for the 110 high hurdles. Jake McEnaney missed out on going to state by tenths of a second in the mile last year so he is working hard on trying to get there this season. As a team we look to have athletes who can do some damage in the field events. Garrett Meyer and Trey Bowling should do well for us in the high jump and Shae DeRosier was within 10 ft. from state in the javelin last year. Gus Hurst, Ian Hedlund, and Wyatt Burke are guys that can do a lot of different events for us depending on what we need each meet.”
The East Atchison jr. high boys’ and girls’ track teams took full advantage of the beautiful day Thursday, March 8, 2018, to race down the track during practice in Tarkio. The first jr. high meet is the Mound City Quad April 3 at 4 p.m. Jr. High Wolves’ Coach Zach Kellner remarked, “I think we have a pretty promising outlook for the season. We have a good sized group of talented athletes that can do well in a variety of events. From sprinters to throwers, we’re really well rounded and I think it’ll be a good year!” Jr. High Lady Wolves’ Coach Tammy Aksamit remarked, “I have 16 girls out for track. The season has started out great with all athletes working extremely hard. I can’t wait to see how we do.”
