Oconto Falls track and field team with limited athletes as season nears

As the Oconto Falls High School track and field team prepares for the spring season, it does so with a limited roster size and not a ton of returning varsity experience.

“Our overall numbers will be down from years past, which will most likely give us concerns and challenges with covering all 18 events,” said Lon Ludemann, who co-coaches with Nick Bohl. “The expectations will be to get the most out of whoever shows up on April 19 (the first day of spring practice). As the saying goes, ‘Sometimes quality is better than quantity.’”

Ludemann also wonders if keeping athletes interested and engaged later into June could be an issue as the season progresses and the school year wraps up. With the modified spring schedule, track and field regionals are not until June 14 this year, as opposed to May 20 — the regional date in 2019.

Since the Oconto Falls team last competed in 2019, it graduated several individuals who qualified for sectionals that year. The Panthers do have a few upperclassmen who will help lead the team.

Senior Amelia Rice will serve as an intermediate distance runner on the girls side, while senior Tucker Moynihan is the top returning boys thrower.

Senior Owen Huber is the top boys sprinter back, and junior Joe Adams will lead the boys long distance runners.

Freshman Hannah Ludemann is one of the first-time athletes expected to make a difference right away after turning in a strong season as a cross-country runner this past fall. She’ll run intermediate and long distance for the track team.

With a limited amount of athletes on the team, the Panthers might have to adjust their focus to excelling as individuals instead of competing as a team in the already talented North Eastern Conference.

“I’m preparing to come out this season and put everything that I got into it, even if we don’t have the numbers like we have in previous years,” said Moynihan. “I am still working my hardest to help make the team competitive against other teams. I definitely think that the sophomores and freshmen will have to step up and take spots that upperclassmen usually have. With this crazy season schedule that we have this year, I am still hoping to have a great season in the short amount of time we have.”

“This season I think that it will be more difficult adjusting to not having some of our best athletes on the team, especially since we couldn’t compete last year,” said Rice. “This spring I know that I will have to push myself harder in practice to better the team even more than years past. For our team, I think it will be important to really focus on our individual events.”

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