L’view track was primed for big season

SCOTT TRUXELL/independent sports editor

It was set to be another exciting track and field season at Lincolnview High School, but like so many other things in the world of sports and beyond, it was wiped out by COVID-19.

Head coach Matt Langdon lost some outstanding talent to graduation, including state qualifiers Jacob Keysor, Alek Bowersock, Karter Tow, and Logan Williams, but the veteran coach also had some valuable returners, including senior speedster Brad Korte, Camden Miller, Dylan Schimmoeller, Joe Sadowski, Devon Bill, Drew Brenneman, Colton Trenkamp, and sophomore Daegan Hatfield.

“We graduated a lot of talent, but we still had a large number of athletes that contributed last season coming back in 2020,” Langdon said. “Last year’s seniors did an incredible job of leaving a lasting and positive impression on the program.”

“We had one of our largest teams in school history (in 2020) and that would have made for a lot of fun and competition within the team,” he added.

Among the returners, Korte set school records in the 100 and 200 meter dashes and the long jump and earned first team All-Ohio honors in the long jump. Hatfield set the district record in the high jump and qualified for the regional meet as a freshman, and he qualified for the state indoor track meet over the winter.

In spite of heavy graduation losses, Langdon also expected big things from the Lady Lancers this spring.

“As with the boys, we also had a strong senior group that graduated,” Langdon explained. “Our leading scorer from last year, Brayden Langdon, is now competing in track at Purdue Fort Wayne. We also graduated Rylee Byrne, Madeline Snyder, Raegan Boley, and Cassidy Sell.”

The Lady Lancers had a pair of regional qualifiers last season in Brayden Langdon and Sami Sellers, the school’s record holder in the discus.

Before COVID-19, returning scorers would have included Madison Langdon, a two-time individual State cross country qualifier, Sellers, and Julia Stetler, Arin Williams, Victoria Snyder, and Dylann Carey.

“We had a large number of girls on the team this year, potentially one of our biggest girls teams in school history,” Langdon said. “We were excited to see what the newcomers could do for the team and what kind of improvements we could have made from 2019.”

Freshman newcomer McKayla Blankemeyer was an outstanding hurdler at the junior high level and was expected to compete immediately at the varsity level.

The season may have shelved, which was a bitter pill to swallow, but Langdon said he’s still proud of his squad.

“Our kids have done such an amazing job of trying to stay positive through this difficult time,” Langdon explained. “We had some very good meetings when this all started and on our last full day of practice together we did a team relay competition and there were lots of smiles and laughter.”

“Many of the kids have now moved on to cross country, or other fall sports,” the coach added. “We have several kids competing at the college level next year so they are starting to make that transition as well.”