Just a few weeks removed from his first season as the head coach of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows Boys Wrestling, Cory Yoder has begun his first season as the head coach of the boys track & field program.
Yoder says the team has an abundance of youth with few upperclassmen. However, he hopes the team’s success at the junior high level will carry over to varsity.
“I’m expecting big things in the future, but this year I’m building,” Yoder says. “We have no seniors out for track. We’re all freshmen, sophomores and juniors, but if people don’t realize, my freshman class, one conference, seventh and eighth grade year at CGD won the conference meet. So my freshmen know how to win. My sophomores got a good class and some of my juniors. So give me a year, build this year and look out for CGD track.”
The Cowboys have two returning state qualifiers. Huxley Lingenfelter is back after qualifying in the discus. Chaz Lane is back for his junior season after qualifying in the high jump. Yoder says he anticipates the relays to be among the strongest group of events.
“Running an individual against juniors and seniors coming in as a freshman is a little bit tough, but I know my 4×1, 4×2, my 4×4, my sprint med, my distance med. I’m really pushing my 800 runners this year. We need that distance med. Logan Torsell has really come a long way from last year being a freshman. He’s trained all summer for this. I know Daven Duncalf, my sophomore hurdler has been training for this. So shuttle hurdle is looking to be looking good too. We have a returning state qualifier in Huxley Lingenfelter back at discus. He’s going to throw a lot of shot this year for me too. So he’s going to be doing a lot of field events. So like I said, I’m building for the future here and changing the culture. We’re going to be a winner at CGD track.”
They’ll begin the season at the Wartburg Indoor Invitational on Tuesday, March 24.
