The Hampton-Dumont-CAL boys track & field team is nearing its first outdoor competition, which will be Friday at Roland-Story.
Head Coach Dan Aalbers says he expects the hurdling events and sprints to be strong. Colin Bird is a returning state meet qualifier in the 400m hurdles. He and Aaden Keehn are back as members of last year’s state qualifying shuttle hurdle relay team.
“They’re looking good,” Aalbers says. “Weather in North Central Iowa sometimes is tough, and hurdling in a hallway in the school isn’t quite the same as being on a track. But I’m excited to see what they do. Probably our top hurdlers right now, Colin Bird, Aaden Kehn, Jacob Donenwerth’s a sophomore that’s shown some nice things. Carter Arends has been doing some hurdling with us. So we feel like we have a strong crew at the hurdle position. As far as the sprinters go, we’ll have some new faces in there, but I’m excited to see them run too. Some of those kids have kind of been trapped behind some really good runners for a few years, and I think it’s going to be their time to shine.”
Aalbers hopes to see development in the field events.
“We have some kids that I’m excited for. They’re not seniors yet, but they really want to throw. And so I’m excited to see them. So that’s an area where I think we’ll see growth throughout the year. My high jumpers are freshmen and a sophomore. They got some jumping in at Wartburg, which was nice. And that’s Bayden Wrich and Brody Peters have been doing that for me. We’ve got some young guys stepping in, but I would say the field events are an area where we’ll just have to see how we develop.”
Friday’s meet will start at 4:30 p.m.
