Xavier girls’ track team focusing on rest of season now

CEDAR RAPIDS - Typically, March and April are the transitional months from winter to spring, but this year the seasons took their time fully converting.

The mixture of snow, rain, wind and cold temperatures often put a damper on the beginning of a sport's season, but the Xavier girls' track team is staying optimistic.

'The season has been pretty good so far,” senior Grace Miller said. 'Although a couple of our meets have gotten canceled, we still practice outside when the weather is good enough to run in.”

The Saints had four of their first six outdoor meets canceled and had to practice indoors multiple times because of the weather.

'The snow has really been a hassle, causing us to have practices inside, which are not the best on our legs,” senior Theresa Lampe said. 'The one outdoor meet we had was fine, but it was extremely cold.”

The first outdoor meet was the Sherwood Relays in Iowa City on March 20. Lampe placed second in 100 hurdles. The Saints also ran in the Decorah Invitational on April 12, where won the 100 hurdles. The Saints also ran April 17 in the Mustang Relays at Dubuque Senior High School.

The Saints, like others across the state, were concerned with the amount of opportunities, or lack thereof, they had to qualify for the Drake Relays, which begin today in Des Moines. In order to qualify, an athlete had in the top 24, 32 or 80 - depending on their event.

Lampe qualified in the 100 hurdles.

'Due to the weather and absences of teammates, we haven't been able to run relays that usually are able to make it to Drake,” Lampe said.

Despite facing some early hardships, the Saints hope to now focus on their goals.

'... my goals for the rest of the season are to continue working hard and keep improving, as well as having the team get as many events as possible qualified for Drake and state,” Miller said.