By Caitlin Hofen, Feature Editor
Northwestern’s women’s track and field team kicked off its outdoor season Saturday at Pratt Community College in Pratt, Kansas.
After an eventful indoor season earlier this semester, head coach Jill Lancaster said her team was ready and excited to compete outdoors.
“Indoor season was enlightening for most of our athletes,” Lancaster said. “It was a bigger schedule than we’ve ever had before. We treat indoor season as a way to prepare for outdoor season. Not everyone got to compete, so some athletes were chomping at the bit to start outdoors.”
Lancaster started the program with a handful of athletes and now has a team of over 60.
“As we’ve grown, we’ve added more depth,” Lancaster said. “Our coaching staff has been able to make a move to a higher level of training. It’s been tough on some of them, but we’ve been able to upgrade the training cycles we’ve had in the past.”
“I’m excited to see the progress in outdoor season,” Lancaster said. “They weathered a big storm with such an intense schedule earlier this year, and they were tired of it at the end. But we always say failure is a part of success. Push the envelope then take a step back and evaluate where you’re at. It’s the only way of collecting the information you need to move forward.”
Lancaster stresses to her athletes the importance of patience in the training process.
“The most important meet is the championship,” Lancaster said. “It doesn’t what you’ve done if you can’t do it the day of. That is why we are patient people in training. We don’t have to prove to ourselves or anybody else that we’re going to be ready because we know we will be when the time comes.”
“With no indoor championship this year, we were able to train right through to spring break and transition to outdoor,” Lancaster said. “It’s been mentally hard on some athletes because they like seeing progress, but they are finally starting to see some. Our lifting program is much more aggressive this year for the ability of our athletes. It’s shown some positive results based on previous years.”
The Lady Rangers kicked off the first outdoor meet with a No. 1 finish overall and 30 personal bests.
The throwers were led by Kelsey Swindle, who set a school record, two personal bests and gave the Lady Rangers 20 points in team scoring. Hannah Appleton also set a personal best in discus and came in second in the event.
Hunter McMillin, Swindle and Jordyn Tucker all place second, third and fourth respectively in javelin. Emmalee Osborn finished in third for shot put and threw a personal best.
Takia Zachary placed first in high jump. In long jump, Anaya Green, Reagan Thurmond, Diamond Choate and Kate Foster placed second through fifth respectively. Thurmond also placed second in triple jump.
On the track, the Lady Rangers had five event winners – Machala Henegan in the 100-meter hurdles, Diamond Hilton in the 400 meter, Jasmin Garcia in the 1500 meter and Addie Hoeme in the 5000 meters.
Several other Lady Rangers also placed in these events.