Spring has rolled around the corner a little early this year and has done wonders for all outdoor activities with Track and Field being no exception. Boy’s Varsity Coach Ben Schopp thinks the favorable weather has given everyone, “a head start” and that his team is at least one week ahead of schedule.

Both the Boys and Girls Track team had their first meet, the Byron run indoor event at the RCTC Athletic Center, on March 26 and both  Varsity coaches looked forward to this “glorified practice”. Coach Brett Zimmerman, Varsity Coach for the Cannon Falls Girls, elaborates on his interpretation of the meet, “… we’ll just see what they [the team] have to offer”(specifically new players) and he continues on how the meet is mainly used as a diagnostic test, seeing what competitors succeed in which events. Both teams placed second out of five in the meet. The second meet in Faribault went well for the girl’s team who placed second once more with the boys placing sixth.

Not only are there new runners but coaches as well. The Jr. High Girls Coach and High Jump Coach, Girls Assistant Varsity Coach and Thrower’s Coach, and Boy’s Junior High and Assistant Varsity Coach are all fresh faces to the Cannon Falls scene. While they all have limited experience in coaching, each carry their own Track background and can use that background to help bring their own spin to how athletes are coached and what they’re taught. Returning players themselves can also do this, especially each teams’ respective captains whom can throw their weight around. The captains (Seniors Angie Hoey and Tia Fields with Juniors Emma Thomley and Brooke Hogan for the girls; and Seniors Matt Delk, Karl Ritzman, and Tristan Hayes with Junior Kyler Banks for the boys) can also make runners more compliant, with captains partaking in completing their own orders with the team, they bring a sense of comradery and only make the team closer. Not that Track and Field is a team oriented sport but forging friendships is always a positive outcome. With such fair weather lightening everyone’s mood, making friends is a walk in the park which is really easy considering Track athletes run a quarter mile in one minute.