~by Taylor Teays for The Scranton Journal
The Greene County girls track and field team is ready to take on the 2024 season, with coach Derek Merk at the helm for his seventh year with girls track and field at Greene County Schools.
The Rams traveled to Indianola on Tuesday to compete in the Simpson High School Classic. They’ll be in Earlham on Tuesday, March 26, and in Winterset on Friday, March 29.
Last year, the team ended the season with individual PRs, five school records, a conference meet record and “wonderful performances at the Iowa State High School Track and Field Meet,” according to Merk.
Looking at the season, Merk says he looks to see a lot of growth, “With the team being so young, I think there is a pretty high ceiling for growth. Taking into account how many seniors we graduated last season, we may not be as strong in certain events as we have been in the past. This may lead us to having several athletes try new events and focusing on different relays than we have in the past.”
The Rams will work to stay as healthy as possible, with girls taking advantage of each opportunity they are given during the season, in practice or a meet.
“I will be happy if we can look at each athlete and see they have improved to some degree in the event(s) they compete in. I hope the athletes will be able to look at their body of work over the course of the season and feel happy and proud of what they’ve accomplished,” added Merk. “That is one of the greatest things to experience as a coach.”
The team will see a bit different schedule than they’ve experienced in the past. A new meet has been added, with the team traveling to Simpson College for an outdoor meet. The Rams have dropped the Gilbert meet and will go to Des Moines Christian. The Ram Early Bird has been moved to a little later, with hopes the weather will be better than in the past.
The team kicked off their season March 9 with an indoor meet at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. Top performances came from Dani Madsen taking second in shot put, Payton Kokenge placing fifth in high jump and Sadie Shannon taking ninth in the 400 meter run. The 4×200 meter relay team of Savannah Lansman, Lila Osterson, Addison Gannon and Payton Kokenge also placed ninth.
High jump – Payton Kokenge, 5-00, fifth; Lila Osterson, 4-06.00, 13th.
Shot put – Dani Madsen, 33-11.00, second; Emma Ewalt, 31-03.25, 10th; Alaina Heard, 28-09.50, 13th.
60 meter hurdles – Bellah Johnson, 11.08, 11th; Sara Morlan, 12.82, 23rd.
200 meter dash – Bellah Johnson, 31.81, 13th.
400 meter run – Sadie Shannon, 1:12.35, ninth.
1500 meter run – Evelyn Snyder, 6:52.99, 18th.
4×200 meter relay – Savannah Lansman, Lila Osterson, Addison Gannon, Payton Kokenge, 2:00.33, ninth.
