Randolph athletes hit the track running
BATTLE CREEK — The Randolph Cardinals’ track team is off to a respectable start despite threats of inclement weather and some of the inherent challenges of small school sports.
The Lady Cardinals finished seventh at the Battle Creek Invitational with a score of 11 points in the 12-team field, while their boy counterparts could secure only two points enroute to finishing in 11th place.
“We actually scored better than last week,” Randolph head coach Ted Stubbs said. “Keely Pinkelman had a good day by finishing third in the 400 and sixth in the 100. She recorded personal bests in both and the girls 400-relay ran well and finished sixth.”
Stubbs acknowledges that his boys side is slim in numbers but across both teams, the Cardinals come to the track ready to go.
“Our strength is our competitiveness, but sometimes we still need to compete harder,” Stubbs said.
The Cardinals traveled to Hartington for the Cedar Catholic meet Tuesday.
Pinkelman was feeling pretty good after the week’s competition and noted the running of Justin Haselhorst in sprints.
“He’s been working on his triple jump and our long-distance boys are doing pretty good,” she said. “They are sticking up there with the group. The girls, the last two track meets have been pretty big and have very high competition.
“I am excited about my 400 now. State is a possibility now. I haven’t run many 400s during my track career and ran more relays my freshman and sophomore years. I don’t like to lose so I am sprinting at the end trying to get ahead of everybody else.”
Her run of 64 seconds at Battle Creek last week helped Pinkelman surpass an aunt’s PR and the score equaled a former Lady Cardinal that ran that same time that was good enough for a state qualifying wildcard.
“It all starts in practice,” she said. “I am definitely not slacking off in practice and am putting in a full effort even if the person next to me is saying they are tired. I am putting effort into going all the way with every single thing we do.
“I am trying to work hard in practice trying to increase my stamina and keep my air going.”
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