One year after seeing his program get by with only three members, fifth year West Prairie head track and field coach Adam Kerns is already excited for the upcoming schedule as he welcomed 16 student-athletes to the program this spring.
“This is the most that I’ve ever had the privilege of coaching at West Prairie for track,” said Kerns. “We’ve got four girls and 12 boys. We’ve got one senior and one junior and the rest are sophomores and, predominantly, freshmen.”
Madelynn Sullivan, who last month became the first player to reach 1,000 points in West Prairie girls basketball history, is the lone senior on the Cyclones’ track squad, but no longer the only female on the team as there are four in the program this season.
Kerns is still appreciative of what Sullivan brings to the program.
“Madelynn was obviously very successful in volleyball and basketball and she’s had success in track,” said Kerns. “It’s been hard because she’s been either the only one or two girls on the track team for her entire high school career. She’s a strong leader and a great athlete, so I’m glad we can put some girls around her so she has some company at the track meets.”
“I’m excited for her season to see what she can accomplish,” Kerns added.
Sullivan has experience in the triple jump and 300-meter hurdles, but Kerns thinks she could make an impact in the 800m this season.
“Madelynn has been doing the triple jump since freshman year,” said Kerns. “In my opinion, that’s one of the more difficult events. It’s very technical and difficult and you have to be very conscious of your body. And, she’s done 300 hurdles and just picked that up and had some good success. She’s been running the 800 every year and has taken about 10 seconds off each year and she’s about 10 seconds from state qualifying.”
“I think if she puts her mind to it, she could definitely think about state qualifying in the 800 as well.” Kerns continued.
The only other upperclassman is junior West Markham who is in his first year with the program.
“It’s West’s first year out for track and it’s been great to see him competing and doing well,” said Kerns. “He’s got some speed that I never knew he had. I’m glad he chose to come out.”
Freshman Ezra Bithos ran cross-country last fall and will run the mile for the Cyclones.
“He’s really looking to try and be under five (minutes) in the mile this year, which as a freshman, is a very good feat,” said Kerns. “And Ayden Lacey is another freshman who is really trying to push himself in the 400m, so I would love to see him push himself for a state qualifying time in that.”
One benefit for Kerns being with West Prairie for several years is his familiarity with many of the student- athletes from their junior high days.
“I’ve been able to work closely with the junior high program, so I’ve known a lot of them since fifth grade and got to see them at practices,” said Kerns. “Sometimes I help out with the long jump with the middle school program and sometimes the middle school coaches help us out.”
One major drawback for West Prairie is not having a home track field in which to practice or participate on.
There is no field yet at the newly renovated West Prairie JR-SR High School in Colchester and the old field in Sciota is no longer usable. That means having to train on and around the school parking lot after hours.
“I mean, we’re looking at our lovely parking lot right here and that’s our facility,” said Kerns smiling. “I have (freshman) Alyvia Barkley who is a very successful high jumper and we haven’t had a gym available because of softball and baseball. So, it wasn’t until spring break that she got to do some high jumps.”
“Facilities definitely hurts us,” Kerns continued. “Madelynn trying to do triple jumps is difficult because we don’t have a runway and true good pit. It’s definitely a difficult situation that we’re in, but the athletes are all super willing to do anything as creatively as we can to make it all work good.”
Assisting Kerns this season is former WIU track standout Logan Lommel who specializes in the middle distance events. Kerns is thankful for his assistance with the program and the experience he brings.
“He broke a lot of records at Western, both in steeple and cross-country,” said Kerns of Lommel. “He said multiple times how surprised he is on how willing the kids are to just go and do what is necessary and make do with what we have. It’s been a blessing because we have good kids that are interested in doing what it takes. We’re just hoping to grow on this year.”
“This is a win in itself that we have the number of kids out,” Kerns concluded.
