Eagles to rely on experience with young group of tracksters
Sports | Published on April 17, 2025 at 6:33pm GMT+0000 | Author: Tucker Henderson
0By Chad Koenen
Publisher
The future looks bright for the New York Mills track and field teams. The Eagles continue to see large numbers of athletes at the junior high level, with 12 students in junior high this season in track, while the upper classmen continue to take on a leadership role to mold the next generation of NY Mills track athletes.
Last week the Eagles competed at the Pillager Invite (more information about that meet will be featured in next week’s issue of the Dispatch) where six athletes competed in their first-ever track meet. Nonetheless, the Eagles fared well against some teams that rolled out a largely upper classmen group of athletes.
Head coach Steve Dunrud aid the leadership from the upper classmen will be one of the keys to the continued success for the track team this season.
“We will rely on our upperclassmen to lead us into the season. With so many newcomers, every day is a learning experience for them and us as coaches. Week to week improvement will be emphasis. Once we can get on a track, either for practice or competition, we’ll know more about our athletes’ strengths and the events that they can help us with,” he said.
Back for the Eagles this season will be returning letter winners Payton Lausten, Shaila Roberts, Carl Peterman and Elijah Geiser.
“We will be looking at these returning athletes to lead us in the upcoming season. Payton with the hurdles and sprints, Shaila with the throwing events, Carl with the throwing events and Elijah with mid-distance,” said Dunrud.
In order for the team to find success this season the Eagles will need to fill in the gaps left by the graduation of line up mainstays Katherin Garcia, Alexis Rudolph, Morgyn O’Dea and Jeron Witt.
The Eagles will turn to a variety of athletes and non-letter winners including Dakota Losh, Lucia Constant, Rosie Tumberg, Ava Carlson. Rachel Tumberg, Lilja Pakkala, Ellery Korkowski, Nevaeh Kaufmann and Ella Holmes, as well as a bevvy of junior high students who could potentially help with the relays. The Eagles will also look for contributions from Tony Nichols, Elijah Kaufmann, Jessiah Jesus, Kaitlynn Dittmann and Lily Roberts.
“We hope to develop some relays as the season moves on. We’d like to be competing at our best towards the end of the season with the Park Region Conference and Sub-Section Meets. We hope to compete hard, improve each week, and have fun doing it,” said Dunrud.