The Hancock-Henderson Quill, Inc.
The track season is well under way for the thirteen members of Southern's high school track team.
Their season kicked off the weekend of March 21st and 22nd with the Knox Invitational indoor meet held at Knox College.
Since then, this young but talented team has had several outdoor meets with outstanding individual performances.
Dan Morrison serves as captain and veteran member of this year's team. As a senior and repetitive state qualifier, he will be focusing on the 800 and 400 meter runs this season. The two events are run nearly back to back in most meets which makes the task of running both especially challenging. Dan is capable and ready for the challenge with several first place finishes already this season and personal best times of 2:04.1 in the 800 and 53.29 in the 400 this season. He currently holds the high school record in the 400 meter dash with a time of 52.7 seconds.
Alton Luder is a junior distance runner for the Rebels. He is showing great improvement in both the 3200 meter and 1600 meter runs this season. With every meet, his form and finish times keep getting better.
Brad Mowen is another junior Rebel with a great work ethic and desire to do well. He throws shot put and discus. His concentration and efforts have kept him in the top ten performances at most meets, with many finishes in the top three. He excels at the discus with a personal record of nearly 125 feet.
Sophomore, Bob Caldwell returns this season as a force in both the shot put and discus after qualifying for the IHSA state meet in the shot put last year. He has just recently pulled his form and strength together to obtain season best marks of 132'8" in the discus and 42'1/2" in the shot put.
David Guile is a sophomore hurdler and high jumper for the Rebels. A recent accident has slowed training for David, but he holds great potential in the hurdling event especially.
Seth Bundy is a freshman sprinter and long jumper on the Rebel team this season. His 100 meter dash is looking better with every meet; he also competes in the 200 and long jump.
Freshman, Darick Clark rounds out the roster for the boys team. Also a baseball player for the Rebels, Darick has had the misfortune of pulling a quadricep muscle early in the season while playing baseball. Darick had strong performances in the 800, 400, and 200 meter runs at the Knox Invitational.
When he is able to return to sprinting, he will be a threat in all three events and will also look to make his name known in the ranks of high school long jumpers with a past season personal best performance of over 19 feet.
For the girls team, Rachael Bundy, a junior, serves as captain and leader for her young teammates. She is a stand-out 100 meter dash runner for the Belles. Rachael also competes in the 400 and 200 meter dashes as well as triple jump. She is a very competitive athlete with a promising season ahead of her.
Freshman Darci Renken and Ciara Robinson throw shot put and discus for the Belles in the midst of their busy season as softball players at Southern. Both have past stand-out junior high track performances in the throwing events.
Julie Stambaugh is a freshman sprinter for the Belles. She competes in the 100 and 200 meter dashes. She also is learning to throw discus and competes in long jump. Julie has an attitude and work ethic that keeps her going strong for the Belles.
Laura Hoover is a talented freshman sprinter and long jumper. She competes in the 100, 200, and 400 meter dashes as well as long jump. Laura's times have steadily improved in all three running events this season as she looks to be a competitive performer the rest of this season and in years to come.
Theresa Brokaw is the outstanding freshman athlete that completes the Belles roster this season. A former junior high state champion and current school record holder, Brokaw runs distance for the Belles. Theresa burst into the season at the Knox Indoor Invitational with a first place finish in the 1600 meter run and a close 2nd place finish in the 800 meter run. Her times qualified her for the Illinois Prep Top Times Indoor Championships Meet held in Champaign on March 29th.
This meet was an invite-only meet showcasing top caliber track athletes from across the state. Theresa finished 2nd in both the 1600 and 800 meter runs with times of 5:51.1 and 2:22.3 respectively.
Most recently Theresa set meet records at the Lewistown Invitational in the JV 3200 meter run and the varsity 1600 meter run. Theresa has broken both the Southern High School 1 mile and 2 mile records which were previously set by Rhonda Rodeffer in 1988.
Theresa is a gifted athlete with determination and desire to compete and do well. The rest of this season and the years to come should be challenging and bright for this young Belle.
Come support the Southern Track Team at a meet this season.
Southern will host the Bi-County Conference meet which will be held Tuesday, April 29th at Monmouth College. Both boys and girls teams are coached by Jenny Ford of Stronghurst.