Can Mingus Union High School win its fourth straight track and field state title?
Until the girls team stops winning them, it’s the question head coach Yancey DeVore will have to keep answering every spring.
“Anytime you start talking about winning a state championship, it’s hard,” he said. “You have to have the right things happen.
“You have to have the athletes who can score points — not just in one or two events, but across the board. It always helps to have a state champ or two in there somewhere as well.”
Filling that bill will be junior Megan Goettl, the Marauders’ top point-scorer at the Division III meet as a sophomore. She was runner-up in the 1,600 meters, had top five finishes in the 800 and 3,200 meters and was a leg of last spring’s state champion 4×800 relay team.
However, only 18 other girls came out for the team, compared to 43 total boys.
“We have a pretty talented pool of guys to get in the right spot, but we are short [of] girls for some reason,” DeVore said. “We have State-returning female good athletes out there, some good freshmen, but the numbers aren’t there.”
For the full story and season schedule, please see the Wednesday, March 4, issue of the Cottonwood Journal Extra.
