The Minnehaha boys track team has been a powerhouse in the IMAC conference, winning the conference championship every year since IMAC’s creation, four years ago. This season appears to be no exception for the boys, who are hoping to win their 5 consecutive conference championship and have their sights set on the state meet.
This year, the boys have an especially strong team because they have many very capable athletes across many events
“I think our biggest strength this year is that we have a breadth of talent across a breadth of event groups,” said senior Tristan Tew, a captain who runs distance on the track team. “In every event, we have people who can score at a meet easily, and I think you see stuff like that at conference. We have tremendous potential across multiple events.”
Kristofor Sauer, the head coach, shares this sentiment.
“One of our biggest strengths is our depth,” said Sauer. “Being able to have multiple strong performances in every event group creates a team with few weaknesses. Conversely, if we have a team with no throwers or not enough quality sprinters, our team simply cannot perform as well given that there are 18 total events and each requires athletes with different talents and abilities. Thankfully, our recent team have both depth and diversity.”
The Track Team not only has depth, but also very strong athletes in multiple events who Sauer says will be very important in the upcoming season.
“Max Gifford had a spectacular opening meet at the March time trial, placing second and setting a new personal best in the 1600 with a 4:29,” Sauer said. “He’s poised to have his best season to date. Ian Mundschenk is our top returning hurdler and the top returning 300m hurdler in the section. Emrik Mundschenk, Samuel Ojebode, and Taron Busby all return from a 4×200 relay crew that placed at last year’s state meet.”
Although this year’s team is considerably strong, the Redhawks have some tough competition in conference and sections.
“St. Croix Lutheran will be pretty tough at both a conference and sections level,” said Sauer. “I might even go so far as to tab them as the favorites for a team title at state. Jordan and Plainville-Elgin-Millville will be strong too though.”
“Typically in conference, Blake is probably the team we’re trying to beat out,” said Josh Thurow, the athletic director at Minnehaha. “Points wise, I think our boys are typically on top of our conference.” Despite the competition, the Redhawk boys are confident in a successful season, and are gunning for a top-three finish at the State Meet.
“We have a great shot at winning our fifth consecutive conference championship,” said Sauer. “I also believe we have enough guys who can qualify for state to put us in a position for a top-three finish as a team.”