Titan girls’ gear up for Track and Field season
Despite the wintry weather that greeted us the first part of this week, Tea Area High School athletes are busy preparing for the track and field season. This year’s girls’ team is once again under the direction of Head Coach Tori Miles who is a seasoned mentor, bringing 16 years of coaching experience at the school.
Miles, whose coaching journey began with two years of middle school track before assuming the head coach role in the 2008-09 season at Tea Area, draws inspiration from her own experiences as a student-athlete. Reflecting on the impact of her past coaches, she aspires to instill the same dedication and passion in her team.
“In high school and college, I was lucky enough to be exposed to a variety of awesome coaches who helped me be the best student-athlete I could be,” shared Miles. “Those coaches still inspire me, and I take away a lot of different things from them and apply them to how I coach.”
Assisting Miles are a dedicated team of coaches including Peter Chapman, Zach Anderson, Andrew Griffin, and Mason Scheidegger, each bringing their expertise to help guide the athletes.
With a record-breaking forty-six student-athletes on the combined roster, this season boasts the largest team in Tea Area High School’s history. Miles sees this as an opportunity to address past weaknesses and maximize the team’s potential.
“We should be able to fill in some gaps we’ve had in prior years,” Miles stated optimistically. “However, we graduated some very talented sprinters who made our sprint relays excel. We have a lot of new athletes doing track this year, so it may take a little bit of time to find the best events for each athlete. The last few years, we have been shallow in our horizontal jumps and some throwing events, so our goal is to improve in those areas. “
Acknowledging the competition within their conference, Miles points to Sioux Falls Christian as the team to beat. Nevertheless, she is confident in her athletes’ abilities to challenge the status quo.
“I feel we have a lot of ladies that can come into that meet and break some of the spots up,” she affirmed.
Miles is excited to be working with the new athletes and the potential for growth and improvement across various events.
“I am so excited to work with all of the new athletes,” said Miles. “I feel, with our numbers, we have some options in other events we have not had before. We are still trying to improve our horizontal jumps and some of our throwing events.”
A JV meet will be held at Harrisburg on April 2 with the varsity to get their season underway on Apr. 4 at Vermillion. The first home track and field meet will be held on Apr. 9 at 3:30 p.m.
This year’s roster consists of the following athletes:
Seventh Grader Jayna VanLaecken; Eighth Graders Grace Bialas, Daphne Decker, Lainey Haines, Abby Hilleson; Freshmen Paola Aley, Remington Bechard, Erica Boertman, Cate Giles, Claire Hryronimus, Sydney Jones, Addy Kamps, Ella Narrido, Breslyn Rand, Sydney Stahlecker, Miah Thorstensten; Sophomores Jaycie Babb, Makenzie Bridell, Meredith Decker, Natalie Gass, Jenna Gowin, Heidi Hofer, Gracie Kramer, Piper McKinney, Gabby Overwise, Kiley Pendergast, Brooklyn Reiners, Brisia Saaverdra, Morgan Sehr, Savanna Stahnke, McKenzie Thompson; Juniors Sienna Brech, Reese Hammerquist, Mya Neuhardt, Kendra Nielson, Kassidy Wranek; Seniors Emily Froendt, Mara Grant, Julia Haack, Aubrey Kenyon, Brooklyn Korver, Haley Korver, Sheyla Saaverdra, Miah Weber, Haidyn West, and ShiQi Zou.