Local Sports

AP Girls Track & Field begins indoor season

The Aplington-Parkersburg girls track & field team has begun its season, with some of the roster taking part in Monday’s indoor meet at Wartburg College. Head Coach Alex Pollock says there were some strong performances.

“We treat that thing kind of as an exhibition type situation,” Pollock says. “So try to get as many people to run as possible. I thought our hurdlers did a fantastic job. Both of them placed pretty high in the meet. Our sprinter Ella Buttjer had a really good day, just kind of carrying forward what she did at the end of last year. So those guys kind of led the way. But we also had a really good young 4×8 that performed really well. For the first time in a long time we had a two-miler in Violet Berends, came out and got to run 16 laps around that track. So just overall, it’s just good to see us get out and compete a little bit. And for the younger girls, just getting their feet wet a little bit and seeing what they can do.”

Among the top finishes, Ella Buttjer was second in the 55m dash and fifth in the 200. Ava Eddy was fifth in the 55m hurdles. Adri Allan was fifth in the 55m hurdles and fifth in the 400.

Of those who qualified for the state meet last year, the vast majority are back. Pollock says that creates heightened expectations.

“We’re excited about the group that we have. They’re a hard-working group, I think they understand what it takes to be successful, and to number one to make it to state which is which is really tough, but we’re kind of past that time in our in our program where it’s just about making the state, we want to score points at state. And I think we’ve got the older girls that really they’re just they’re really good leaders, and they have experience. So we’re excited about that group. But also I think our freshmen that are coming in, a big group, a really big group, but they’re also extremely talented. I think we have the right squad to do it. So we’re really excited about them.”