The United North Central boys and girls track and field teams are seeking to qualify more athletes for the Section 6A meet this spring.
The Warriors return four girls and two boys who competed at last year's section meet. Those six headline a list of 16 returning letterwinners.
Being counted on to lead the UNC girls this spring are seniors Annika Aho and Madison Weaver; juniors Annie Lake and Chloe Hrdlicka; sophomores Lydia Lillquist and Maddie Thene; and freshmen Alessandra Matson, Gabby Hrdlicka, Michaela Plautz, Jenna Seibert, Rachael Smith and Kylynn Warmbold. Returning letterwinners for the boys are sophomore Rashad Lincoln and freshmen Gavin Kiser, Connor Korvela and Dylan Rasmussen.
Aho placed fourth in the 1,600-meter run to account for the Warriors' 4 points at last year's section meet. Aho also placed eighth in both the 800 run and pole vault. Also competing at the section meet for the UNC girls were Gabby Hrdlicka (seventh in the 300 hurdles), Lake (seventh in the pole vault) and Matson (10th in the 1,600 run). Rasmussen took 14th in the pole vault and Lincoln placed 15th in both the 100 dash and 200 dash for the UNC boys at the section meet.
Helping the UNC girls place sixth with 47 points at last year's Subsection 6-22A meet were Aho (third) and Matson (fifth) in the 1,600 run; Aho (fifth) in the 800 run; Gabby Hrdlicka (third) and Lake (seventh) in the 300 hurdles; Aho (fourth) and Lake (fifth) in the pole vault; and Chloe Hrdlicka (tied for eighth) in the high jump. Also competing at the subsection meet were Weaver (11th) and Chloe Hrdlicka (15th) in the 100 dash; Gabby Hrdlicka in the 200 dash (11th); Smith in the 800 run (17th); Weaver (13th) and Thene (14th) in the triple jump; Lillquist in the shot put (14th) and discus (16th); and Thene in the long jump (20th).
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Leading the UNC boys to eighth place with 14 points at last year's subsection meet were Lincoln (third in the 100 and fourth in the 200) and Rasmussen (fourth in the pole vault). Also competing at the subsection meet were Rasmussen in the 200 (19th), Korvela in the high jump (tied for ninth) and 800 (12th), and Kiser in the shot put (21st).
Also being counted on to score points for the boys this season are senior Zach Floyd; juniors Joey Weiss and Ethan Simon; sophomore Vince Dailey; and freshman Tyler Shepersky while freshmen Grace Howard and Elise Torma are expected to place in meets for the girls.
"We have great team cohesion. We have been working hard in practice and have had a great response to some tough workouts," said UNC head coach Tom Smith. "We have the athletes write down their goals for the season, both individual and team. They have that card with them to look at and remind them of those goals. It's a great way for them to have that reminder of what goals they set at the beginning of the season and to try to achieve that goal as the season progresses. They are super excited about this season."
