Lapel track and field to focus on individuals

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LAPEL — The most successful sports teams are those comprised of individuals who put the team first, sacrificing themselves for their teammates.

That will not be the case this season for the Lapel boys and girls track-and-field team, where success likely will not be measured in wins and losses, but rather in terms of individual achievement and personal accomplishments.

The 2017 version of the Bulldog team has 30 competitors this season, including just nine on the girls side of the team. With back-to-back graduating classes that were large, not only in sheer numbers but also in stellar athletes, this year’s team will struggle to pile up the points and win meets.

That doesn’t mean there aren’t goals, however — this spring will be all about athletes achieving their individual goals, striving for school records, and building for the future of what is currently a very young roster.

“Obviously, with the numbers we have, we’re not going to win meets,” girls coach Krista Loller said. “We’re really going to think about self rather than winning meets. There are going to be times when a girl is going to run just two events, instead of three or four last year, so she can focus on her goals.

“We’re going to be very self-goal-oriented.”

There are nine girls on the team — seven sophomores and two seniors. Two of the returning stars from last year are sophomores Noelle Loller and Paige Rich, half of last season’s 4X800 relay team that qualified for regional. They will be joined in the event by sophomores Lauren Smith and Kara Lutz this year.

Pictured are (from left, front row) Riley McClintock, Kara Lutz, Noelle Loller, Lauren Smith and Sydney Rusche; (back row) Paige Rich, Morghyn Gephardt, Alexis Taylor and Vanessa Horne.
Pictured are (from left, front row) Riley McClintock, Kara Lutz, Noelle Loller, Lauren Smith and Sydney Rusche; (back row) Paige Rich, Morghyn Gephardt, Alexis Taylor and Vanessa Horne.

“They ran really well at Indiana Wesleyan (preseason indoor),” coach Loller said. “That looks promising. I don’t anticipate running that relay in all the meets because I want them focusing on their individual events. That will be a hit-and-miss relay and will probably be my only relay at this point.”

Rich and fellow sophomore Morghyn Gephardt are working on hurdles during the preseason, and sophomore Sydney Rusche is expected to attack the 100-, 200- and 400-meter events.

Rusche and Rich are also going to be competitors in the high jump. Sophomore Riley McClintock will join the two seniors on the team, Alexis Taylor and Vanessa Horne, in the throwing events, shot put and discus.

“I believe they will all excel,” coach Loller said. “I think they’ll all be setting personal bests, and it’s going to be a positive growth year for them.”

The boys side of the team is peppered with individuals also striving for personal accomplishment this season. They will be led an experienced coach who’s in his first year with the Bulldogs, 1983 Lapel graduate Brian Williams.

“I like just being around it,” Williams said. “I coached at Anderson University as an assistant for a number of years and the last two years as head coach. For me, it’s more therapy than anything else. I started running in 1980, and I’ve been involved in it ever since.”

Williams will benefit from a pair of strong senior performers in Hunter Loller and Dawson Ayers, both of whom qualified for regional a season ago, Loller in the 100 meters, Ayers in the long jump and together on the 4X400 relay team.

“That’s one thing you want when you’re coaching is good leadership,” Williams said. “Especially from the standpoint that the majority of this team is freshmen and sophomores. What they do now impacts what happens in the next two to three years.”

Ayers is hoping to challenge the school record in the long jump this season, already posting a personal best 21-feet-3¾-inches at the indoor meet at Indiana Wesleyan earlier this season. He also recorded a personal best in the 60-meter hurdles at the event with a time of 9.15 seconds.

Among the many young athletes on the boys team, Williams expects a few to be very competitive this season.

“We have several freshmen who are distance runners,” he said. “Probably Luke Combs is the one name that is going to stick out. He had a fantastic cross country season, missing out on the state meet by a second. He’s definitely somebody we expect to help us out in the distance races.”

Williams said the plan for Combs is to run the 1,600- and 800-meter races this season. He adds that freshman Jakob Addington will contribute as part of the 4×400 team, along with Loller, Ayers and junior Tobin Metzger.

Williams said he’s encouraged by what he has seen in the early practices and indoor meets but expects the team to be a work in progress this season.

“There are some really positive things happening here,” he said. “We’ve got about 20 guys, and the majority of them are young. So hopefully, we can continue to grow as a team even after our few seniors move on.”

The Lapel unified track team will make its regular season debut at Elwood, Thursday, March 23. Other meets remain to determine who will qualify for the Hoosier State indoor relays, to be held at Indiana University on March 25.

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