The excitement around this year's Mankato East girls track and field team is evident. Last year's squad finished fifth in the true team state tournament and returns three of its state competitors from last season.
Senior Maddy Ziegler has been terrific in the long jump in her tenure with the team. She long jumped at state last season and will look to improve upon her numbers. Ziegler is also the team's best triple jumper.
Sophomores Sara Lundgren and Alex Miller bring experience at a young age, having already competed in the state tournament. Lundgren is a sprint specialist who qualified for the 400-meter event last year at state. She also will be a big part in the 200 meters, and is a major component for the Cougars' 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams.
Miller is looking to build upon a fifth-place finish last year at the state meet in the pole vault. Cougar head coach Neal Paarman said Miller is very motivated and has looked great early on this season.
The Cougars will also look for strong performances from senior co-captain Rebecca Brunz, who will be competing in different sprints and sprint relays. Joining Brunz in this category is junior Jill Kroeger.
Junior Bethany Murray and sophomore Piper Timmerman will bring a strong presence to the 300 hurdles and mid distance relays. Coach Paarman also has liked what he has seen from his incoming athletes.
"Overall this a young team with some talent," Paarman said.
You can never have enough talent when you face tough conference competition every week. The biggest obstacles for the Cougars this season will come from rivals Owatonna and Rochester Mayo. The potential Paarman sees in his team will have to carry over to every meet if another state run is in the mix.
"Our ultimate goal is to advance as many athletes as we can," Paarman said.
Gaining personal bests will be crucial each week from this point on. After some warm up indoor meets, April 7 will kick off the outdoor season. The Cougars will head to New Prague before having their first home meet two days later vs. Fairmont.
The season rolls along quickly from this point. The Cougars have just over a month before the true team section meet begins. There is a belief around the team that it has the athletes to make a strong push when the true team state meet begins May 16.
Pat Delaney is a Reporter staff writer
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