Huskies have track depth to utilize

BY BRIAN CARSON Sports correspondent

LEWISTOWN — A solid turnout with depth at every event has Mifflin County girls’ track and field coach Scott Gantz looking forward to the start of the spring season.

The Huskies have 37 girls out, with a veteran group mixed in with talented youngsters. Even better news for Gantz, most of his veterans are juniors.

“We’ve got a lot of girls who have been with the program for quite a while. We don’t have a huge number of seniors, but our juniors have been here for three years now,” Gantz said. “We have some very promising girls in our freshmen and sophomore classes. Right now, it’s our job to find where these girls are going to fit in and help us out the most. They are willing to work hard and try different things.”

Team leadership is a priority, and Gantz has it with the likes of seniors Justice Sheaffer, Sarah Diehl, Sophia Plank, and Sarah Kanagy, juniors Tai Ematat and Lyza Underhill, and sophomore Danielle Warfel.

“We have great attitudes right now. They are looking good. We like what we see. They are working hard and having fun. Things are looking up for a great season,” Gantz said. “They enjoy the entire process. We are excited to get the season started and see what they can do.”

One huge departure from last season is distance runner Kylee Cubbison, who owns numerous track and cross county school records.

“The big loss for us was Kylee Cubbison. You’re talking about an elite high school distance runner tearing it up at Bowling Green. It’s hard to replace those points when you lose a kid like Kylee,” Gantz said.

Losing Cubbison creates a trickle-down effect on the distance runners. Gantz believes jumps and sprints will be his team’s areas of strength.

“With Kylee being there last year, distance was our strong suit. I think that will take a little turn this year, and I can see our jumpers, sprints, and even some of the new girls who are our throwers carrying the load for us,” Gantz said. “Our distance runners are still strong. The other areas are making up some ground, giving us some strength up and down the lineup.”

One pleasant change this season will be more depth in the throws than in previous years, thanks to new blood coming out for the sport.

“We finally convinced some girls to come out, and right now, we have three new girls who will help us tremendously in Allysa Cooper, Hannah King, and Madison Leister,” Gantz said. “Vivian Kratzer and Sarah Kanagy are back. We have numbers this year, which we didn’t have last year. It will be interesting to see how they progress as the season moves along.”

Gantz expects Sheaffer to be a key cog in the Husky machine, participating in the throws and distance events.

“We have Justice Sheaffer in the javelin. She’s going to be our number one jav thrower. Justice will go where we need her. She still wants to run distance, but at the same time, her strong suit for us this year will be in the throwing events,” Gantz said.

“We’re going to let her run distance. She has run distance for three years. She ran cross county. She’s going to be our Swiss army knife. She’s going to go where we need her.”

The breakdown of the team consists of seniors Sarah Kanagy (throws), Plank (jumps/relays), Diehl (sprints/relays), Ade Leason (distance), Bailey McNitt (jumps/javelin), and Sheaffer (throws/distance).

Juniors on the team include Rosalyn Lans- berry (distance), Vivian Kratzer (throws), Leister (throws), Cooper (throws), Hannah King (throws), Ematat (jumps), Mina Phillips (hurdles/relays), Macaela Christie (jumps/ sprints/relays), Dallas Ivie (distance), Rachael Saldubehere (distance), and Underhill (sprints-re- lays).

Sophomores out are Blessing Mertune (sprints), Halle Hertzler (jumps/sprints), Alexis Anderson (distance), Gabryella Powell (pole vault/ relays), Warfel (jumps/ sprint/relays), Leah Alexander (distance), Ava

Sentinel photo courtesy of HEIL PHOTOGRAPHY

Pictured is the Mifflin County boys track and field team, front row, from left, Reese Cubbinson; Jacab Lowenstein; Reece Bell; Conrad Coffey; Hart Oden; Shawn Settle; Carter Smith; Myka Simmons; Maxwell Laudermilch. Second row, Kyler Miller; Logan Bodtorf; Cody Fultz; Caden Bell; Logan Parks; Jacob Kratzer; Styers Oden; Garrett Miller. Third row, Joshua Cruz; Cory French; Jayden King; Anthony Palopoli; Trevor Miles; Dylan Liggett; Nathan Zimmerman. Back row, Travis Renninger; Isaac Parks-Gill; Josiah Sechler; Kaden Reid; Tylor Druckemiller; Nathan Goss; Ty Small.