Girls track and looking ahead to the season

Ogden girls track Coach Dena Boyd, after having started practices Feb. 12, has already had her girls competing. A small group tested the competition at the University of Northern Iowa March 5 in Cedar Falls. Another handful participated in five events Monday, March 12 at the ISU indoor meet.

“Maddie Grisham ran the 800 in 3:10 (at Iowa State) which was a huge improvement from her split in the 4x800 at UNI,” commented Boyd. Abby Kieffer Aidan Skalicky, Denali Loecker and Gabby Diggs finished the night strong in the 4x400, running 4:43, just five seconds off their best time from last year. Boyd says she is anxious to see what all of her strong 400 runners will accomplish this year as they push each other and continue to drop their times.

Myra Bolton high jumped 4’ 6” while Allea Klauenberg threw the shot 31’ 7 1/4”. Hannah Booth put in a much stronger run than last week with a time of 11:56 in the 3000 meter. She also competed in the 800, crossing in 2:51.

Since their first day of practice Boyd said she could count on one hand the number of times they had everyone there. “Now that the winter sports seasons are done, we can really start to focus.

“I’m really excited about our middle distance group. They’re competitive, push each other, and show improvement every single time we get out there.”

Booth and Camryn Buxton are expected to score points for the Bulldogs in the 3000, mile and even 800 events. “Coming into their last season, they’re excited to come out on top,” commented their coach.

Boyd is getting some help from the boys side. Boys track coach Ryan Kobliska, who also coaches cross country and specializes in the distance events, and his assistant Jacob Burger help out at practices. 

One area Boyd felt she has lacked expertise in the past, was the hurdle events. Assistant coach Samantha Sperling comes in with hurdle experience as does volunteer Tracy Van Sickle who ran hurdles for the Iowa State University track team. 

And that is exciting for Boyd. “Now we’ll be able to focus on their techniques and do drills that will truly benefit their races.”

Being down in numbers from last year doesn’t concern Boyd much, as she says the girls out for track all want to be there and compete. “We are strong all around - seniors, juniors and sophomores, and if there are any holes, we have freshmen to fill them.”

Read more in the March 21 issue of The Ogden Reporter.