Strong group of seniors look to lead EastMills boys' track

The East Mills boys track team returns eight letterwinners on its 16 member squad.

Keying that core of returnees is a strong group of seniors, said Wolverines coach Claude Lang.

“They had a great football season and a great wrestling season and they’re already planning for great track and baseball seasons,” Lang said. “They know this is the last time they get to hang out so they’re pushing and working hard to compete. They want to see how far they can go by the end of the season.”

After a long basketball and wrestling season, Lang gave his team an extra week of before starting practice this spring. The coach hopes the extra rest pays off.

“They try and keep that shape throughout the seasons but you want them to take a little break,” he said.

Lang’s top concern is his sprinter group. The speed is there, but it lacks the high-end experience the Wolverines’ have had in recent years.

“We lost a lot of good sprinters so we really have to find those guys,” he said. “We can string two or three sprinters together in the relays but we have to find that fourth guy. We might not have that outright speed to put with them we don’t have anymore. We need to develop that.”

Dylan Schroeder could help in the long and high jumps this season while Matt Glockel returns as the team’s top discus thrower after nearly topping 130 feet as a junior.

The Wolverines return three of their top four members of the shuttle hurdle relay team in Schroder, Ben Christensen and Alec Moorman

“We just need to find that fourth guy,” Lang said. “We have a bunch of guys who work hard and want to improve so we’ll get better.”

How far these Wolverines go this season depends on how far they want to go, Lang said.

“When you look at how hard a team is willing to look it tells you how high their expectations are,” Lang said. “This is a hard-working group so the sky’s the limit. The conference is wide open. There’s no team that’s definitely the favorite. Nothing’s out of reach.”

The Wolverines open their season March 31 at Stanton.