At last year’s ORVC conference meet, Switzerland County girls varsity track coach Adam Dennis arrived with a squad numbering just 12 athletes. A year later, with 21 girls out for the team, the Lady Pacer coach sees new possibilities with a full squad and high hopes.
“Our numbers are great compared with the past couple of years,” Coach Dennis said. “We also have a lot of freshmen and sophomores, so we feel like we’re building a good base for the coming years, too.”
Key returnees for this year’s Lady Pacer team begins with Christina Ahaus. The junior established a school record last year in the shot put; and was conference champion in that event. She also advanced out of the sectional in the shot put, competing in the regionals.
“We expect Christina to have another strong year for us,” her coach said.
Sophomore Maggie Armstrong is another key to a successful season. Last year as a freshman she was second in the conference in the discus; and also placed in both the 100-meter dash and the 200-meter dash.
“Maggie is going to throw the discus and run both sprints again this year, and she will probably also be long jumping for us. We’re anticipating an outstanding year,” Coach Dennis said.
Also returning this season is junior Laci Daugherty, who will be running the hurdles as well as long jumping and high jumping; and distance runners Amber Meli and Beth Abbott, who look to anchor a strong group of distance runners.
As for newcomers, Coach Dennis thinks that freshman Andrea Brogan is going to provide a big help for the team in the hurdles events and some of the sprint events; while senior Shana Todd has moved from running distance events to running the sprints, and her coach thinks that is really going to help the team out in big meets.
“We’re also excited about Halie Thomas in the middle distance events,” Adam Dennis said. “She’s a freshman who’s going to help us a lot.”
In the race for the conference title, Coach Dennis said that Rising Sun has always been tough to beat in the past, and expects that trend to continue this season. He also noted that South Ripley always has a strong track program, and that a number of teams could make a run at the ORVC title.
“I would hope that we’re going to be right up there with the conference leaders, too,” Adam Dennis said. “I think this is going to be an exciting season, and I am looking forward to getting started.”
The Lady Pacers open their season tonight (Thursday) at Rising Sun.