The Cannon Falls Bomber track team hopes to make their mark this season as they head into their first couple of meets. Athletes Kendra Reed and Kiley Jeppesen along with head coach Brett Zimmerman shared their insights, hopes, and goals for the upcoming season. All three stated they have high hopes for the season and couldn’t be more excited.
When asked who she was most excited to go against, Jeppesen exclaimed, “I would love to beat all of the teams that we compete [against], but I mainly focus on Randolph. Randolph used to be part of our team but due to other factors, they had to be their separate team.” She also explained that because some of the people on Randolph’s team were previously on a team with her, this motivates her to do better in all of her events knowing that she could be competing against people she used to be competing with as teammates.
While both these athletes and Coach Zimmerman mentioned many aspects of this season that are going well, all three mentioned seeing steady improvement in all events and athletes. Zimmerman explained that even though they sometimes struggle in numbers, the people who did go out for track this year are making noticeable improvements. Kendra Reed added to this idea saying, “The team has had a number of personal bests.” However, with ups come downs, Zimmerman explained a struggle is with getting people to go out for track. He said, “We just don’t have the numbers and type of athletes to fill those upper-distance races.” This could cause them to be less competitive against schools that might have more people to fill their events and Zimmerman emphasized if he could get more people to join, they could take their meets to the next level.
Jeppesen and Reed said their favorite part about track is meeting new people at various meets. They said the atmosphere at track meets is super nice and welcoming and although they are going against these people, they often make friends while waiting for their events to start. Reed also commented how track is unlike any other sport because it is broad and everyone can find an event they like and want to compete in.
A big part of any sport is setting goals and motivating factors. Coach Zimmerman stated that one of his team goals is, “to continue to improve and to find a way to score more team points with the athletes we have.” He explained that track is a very individual sport. This season, helping his athletes find their individual goals will help him to earn more overall team points.
Reed, Jeppesen, and Zimmerman look to have a successful and fulfilling season ahead of them. They hope to improve their events and help others improve theirs too. Reed and Jeppesen look forward to seeing improvement in their events and all the meets ahead while Zimmerman looks forward to helping his athletes improve and succeed during this season.
