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LAUREL — Laurel-Concord-Coleridge head coach Shannon Benson welcomed his 10th track and field teams to the spring season when the Bears and Lady Bears opened practice a couple of weeks ago.
Eleven Bears and 15 Lady Bears showed up for the first practice and Benson feels the two groups could develop into good teams by the end of the 2024 season.
“We have lots of young talent,” Benson said. “I hope we can build some excitement every day. We hope to keep getting better every meet.”
The Bears return seniors Carter Kvols, Kayton Hall and Tyler Olson.
Kvols is athletically talented and can be a bit of a Swiss Army knife for Benson, Hall will figure into the mix in the throws and Olson can run anything from the 400 to the 3200 well.
Juniors Walker Stone and Preston Rose are on the team. Stone will join Hall in the rings while Rose could score some points in the distance races.
Shane Lanford, Tyler Boysen and Noah Larson are three sophomores on the team and are joined by freshmen Hunter Benson, Christian Staples and Luke Jackson.
The Lady Bears have three seniors on the team. Delaney Johnson, Carly Kuhlman and Toni Thompson are set to compete along with one junior, Tali Erwin.
Erwin qualified for State last season as a sophomore in the high jump and the 100-meter hurdles, in which she finished 14th and 23rd, respectively, in all of Class C.
Brynlee Stanley, Laney Folkers and Karli Farris are three sophomores looking to help out and are joined by freshmen Abigail Brummels, Hannah Hart, Carlie Kvols, Hattie McCorkindale, Justice Olson, Aubri Kleinschmit, Avery Stone and Faith Galvin.
Kvols is a talented athlete like her brother and made some noise on the hardwood this past winter and Galvin should help in the distance races after qualifying for the State cross country meet last fall.
Both teams are set to open the season on March 28 at the Plainview Invitational before heading to Creighton for the Knox County Invitational on April 2. The Wayne Invite is April 9, the Homer Invite is April 11 and then its back to Creighton for its invitational on April 23.
The Norfolk Classic will run April 25 for the area qualifiers, the Lewis and Clark Conference Meet will run April 27 in Ponca and the Winside Invite will be held May 2 in Laurel.
The C-4 District Meet is scheduled for Hartington on May 9 with the Nebraska Track and Field Championships slated for May 17-18 at Omaha’s Burke Stadium.
“I’m looking forward to great weather and sunshine,” Benson said. “It’s going to be an exciting year with new talent at a lot of events.”
