Cedar Catholic track teams feature a mix of experience, youth
HARTINGTON — The Cedar Catholic track and field team will try this whole operation again following last year’s shutdown due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Chad Cattau enters his 15th year in charge of both the boys and girls programs, and he has plenty of expectations for the spring.
“It’s hard to say this early in the season who will really stand out for us since we didn’t get to have a season last year,” Cattau said. “As the year progresses and we get more time under our belts, we will know a lot more of how we will stack up against the other teams in the area.”
He does, however, know he will see a great deal of improvement from his athletes as the season wears on.
“I am looking forward to seeing the progress of each of our athletes throughout the year,” Cattau said. “Right now, we have been somewhat limited on our practices, so we are trying to catch up and get the foundation in place for each athlete.”
Makenzie Arens (distance, one-time state qualifier), Sara Burbach (distance, two-lime state qualifier), Megan Heimes (middle distance, pole vault, one-time state qualifier), Laney Kathol (mid distance, high jump), Sophia Reifenrath (sprints), Grace Reifenrath (sprints) and MacKenzie Sudbeck (sprints, one-time state qualifier), lead the girls into the new campaign.
The boys will be led by Carson Arens- (mid distance), Blake Arens (pole vault), Easton Becker (pole vault, sprints), Jaxson Bernecker (discus), Owen Heimes (long jump, hurdles), Carson Noecker (distance) and Dagen Joachimsen (mid distance, two-time state qualifier).
But as deep as both sides are, the youngsters will need to do their fair share for Cedar to compete for any team titles, Cattau said.
“We are hoping that all of our freshmen and sophomores can contribute to our success,” Cattau said. “None of these kids have a high school meet under their belts so we aren’t certain what we will all get from them. We are just looking for consistent effort and improvement as the year progresses. We will know a lot more after March 30 when we have our first meet.”
It is just nice to be back out on the track after a lost season, according to Cattau.
“It really hurt a lot because we have a lot of younger kids that can be very successful for us, but they have zero experience at a high school meet,” Cattau said of the pandemic shutdown. “We have some athletes that haven’t participated in a sport in two calendar years, and so it’s going to take some lime to really get them in shape and where we want them to be.
“Hopefully the weather cooperates and allows us to take advantage of each day that we can practice.
“I really expect our teams to both be very competitive in each and every meet that we are in. I see us being able to score in a variety of events and that’s a big factor for team scoring. We will need some younger kids to really take on some important roles for us so hopefully they step up to that challenge.”
The key is if the Trojans continue to work daily according to Cattau who says that “they will all improve throughout the season and that’s the biggest goal that we have for them.”
“If we improve ourselves each and every meet, we will peak at the end of the season when it matters most, and that will give us our best chance at success in the district and state meets,” Cattau said.
Burbach is feeling optimistic about the spring season at hand after having it wiped out a year earlier.
“It’s so good to be back: I’ve been missing track season,” Burbach said. “I was sad because there was a little bit of hope since we didn’t know how long COVID would last. It was pretty devastating and then we were just sitting at home.
“Track is kind of my sport, so I am pretty pumped for this. It’s looking pretty good that we will have a season.”
Burbach recognizes that half the team essentially is made up of athletes that last participated at the junior high level.
“They are working hard, and we are all excited to be there since we had a whole year off and that makes it even more special,” she said. “This team is willing to work hard to put in the time and do our best.”
March 30 Cedar Catholic Invite
April 6 Hartington-Newcastle Invite
April 9 at Homer
April 13 Hartington Invite
April 20 Battle of the States - Tyndall, SD
April 22 Pierce
April 29 Norfolk Classic
May 1 Pierce
May 6 Battle Creek
May 13 Districts at Ponca
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