L-P celebrating ‘team element’ with PR challenge: NewsTribune girls track notebook

Entering his first season as the head coach for the La Salle-Peru girls track and field team, Pat Carney was looking for a way to motivate his athletes.

Carney, who previously was the team’s long-time jumps coach, read a book by Ryan Banta, a Missouri track coach, in the offseason given to him by L-P boys coach Adam Spencer that described a program where athletes were rewarded for setting personal records.

So Carney implemented the “Strive for Gold” program where the Cavaliers aimed to reach 100 personal records (PRs) by season’s end.

“The ultimate goal is to make every athlete on the team feel just as important as anyone else,” Carney said. “Coming from a football background (as L-P’s long-time defensive coordinator), I wanted to add a team element to the program by challenging the girls to earn 100 PRs over the season. This means that a first-year track athlete is just as valuable to the team as a returning state placer. The overarching goal is for everyone to improve from meet to meet, and for the entire team to be performing at their best by May.”

Carney said the Cavs really took to the program.

“I have been very impressed with how the girls have bought into the system,” Carney said. “They receive a piece of candy for each PR, along with a red or green safety pin — and gold safety pins for state-qualifying times or marks. I’ve had multiple athletes ask, ‘When are we getting our PRs?’ especially when we’ve had back-to-back meets. They really seem to look forward to celebrating their success. The only suggestion I’ve received from my athletes is that I don’t have enough Skittles.”

The Cavs have blown past the goal of 100 PRs with 173 achieved through Friday’s Interstate 8 Conference Meet.

“I think it really helps on those cold Tuesday dual meets to provide that extra motivation for why we need to go out there and compete on the track,” Carney said. “We’ve had multiple instances where an athlete set a PR in every single event they participated in that day, and as a coach, it doesn’t get much better than that.”

L-P celebrated reaching 100 PRs with a pizza party at Lou’s LaGrotto. Carney said the Cavs “earned every slice of pizza they ate that night.”

The Cavs will compete in the Class 2A Sterling Sectional on Wednesday with hopes of sending multiple athletes to state.

“These are the meets where we really want to earn our PRs and at the end of the day that is all we can ask from our team,” Carney said.

INSTANT SUCCESS

Henry-Midland coach Carrie Meffert put together a new 4x200-meter relay recently with Alison Mitchell, Audrey Chambers, Piper Roach and Taylor Frawley, and the foursome has had immediate success.

The Timberduck relay has only run four races together, including the Tri-County Conference Meet where the group won in a meet record time of 1:50.1, which broke the old mark of 1:52.02 set by Seneca in 2019 and clocks in under the state-qualifying standard of 1:51.76.

Henry set three other TCC Meet records with Daniella Bumber in the 100 (12.62) and 400 (56.94) and Mitchell, Chambers, Bumber and Taylor Frawley in the 4x100 (50.58).

MENDOTA LOADED WITH JUMPERS

Mendota is loaded with talented high jumpers this season.

The Trojans boast defending Class 2A state champion Mariyah Elam along with two other jumpers coach Joe Hughes feels are capable of qualifying for state as well in Harlow Foltynewicz and Rylee Woods.

“With three great high jumpers and only 2 entries allowed for some meets, Mariyah Elam, Harlow Foltynewicz and Rylee Woods have been competing with one another and driving them to reach new heights in the event,” Hughes said. “We are hopeful we will be able to take two of these girls to state.”

AMONG THE STATE’S BEST

Several NewsTribune area athletes have turned in performances that rank among the state’s best this season.

Elam owns the top high jump in the state this spring regardless of class at 1.73 meters (5 feet, 8 inches), which broke the NewsTribune-area record of 5-7 that Elam previously shared with Fieldcrest graduate Tessa Holland.

Elam also ranks sixth in Class 2A in triple jump at 11.35.

Bumber has run the fastest 400-meter time in Class 1A at 56.94 seconds, which ranks eighth in the state overall.

She’s also ninth in 1A in the 200 (26 flat) and 13th in the 100 (12.54). Bumber and teammates Mitchell, Frawley and Chambers own the fifth best time in 1A in the 4x100 in 50.28.

St. Bede’s Lily Bosnich ranks second in 1A in the 100 hurdles at 14.84, which is the area record, and 14th overall in the state. She’s also sixth in 1A in the 300 hurdles at 47.02.

Frawley ranks seventh in 1A in the long jump at 5.39.