Staff photo by Caleb Brinton. Back Row  (left to right) Evelynn Christenson, Mylee Larson, Katelyn Kennedy, Tayavia Maokhamphio, Thea Larson, Macie Kneeland, Reese Peters, Josh Roben, Kale Larson, Bear Kosbab, Mason Menssen, Hayden O'Connor, Matthew Johnson, Hank Olson. Middle Row: Sophia Peterson, Maddison Lyon, Sandy Thomas, Jocelyn Perez Marroquin, Peyton Bryant, Braelyn Borchardt, Avery Sanders, Ava Thate, Conrad Gwin, Izabelle Moore, Lixon Forsberg, Kane Wohlhuter. Front Row: Eric Lopez Perez, Hector Lopez Perez, Marek Mulder, Daiton Veigel, Elliot Reynolds, Brody Cook, Dominic Dietz, Oakley North

SHERBURN–With a new coach and a roster of 45 athletes, Martin County West’s track and field program’s growth and an enthusiastic group of seniors will be a major key to its success.

“Coming into this season, we had 20 kids coming back,” said Mavericks head coach Lee Carlson. “Seven through 12 boys and girls combined, so not a real big number. We’re looking at about 45 kids right now, so we’re pretty happy to see the numbers going up. A big segment of that is our junior high, 20-some kids are seventh and eighth graders.”

The senior leaders on the team, coupled with the tone and culture set at practice, are all positively impacting the program as it continues to develop.

“I think we’ve got some really high-quality seniors,” said Carlson. “They set the tone right away, and we’ve heard kids talk about – and this doesn’t happen. I’ve coached other sports, too, but nobody says that track practice was exciting – but we’ve heard that comment a few times, so we really attribute that to the tone that those seniors set right away.”

The Mavericks have a handful of athletes in Jacob Wilmes, Kale Larson and Josh Roben who are participating in multiple sports simultaneously. These athletes will become more available as the season progresses.

“There’s some really outstanding athletes,” said Carlson. “They are putting in the extra time to try and make it work to contribute and represent their school in a couple of different ways, and we’re pretty excited.”

Carlson is new to the head coaching position for MCW track and field, but there is no lack of experience in coaching. Carlson has been coaching track since 1989.

“I was an assistant in 1989,” said Carlson. “So I’ve been coaching track for a while. I’ve been a head coach a couple of times before, but I live in St. James, so I’m not in town. I’m kind of old, but like I said, I thought it was really important for us to try and keep this program going.”

The addition of assistant coach Dave Shoen brings a depth of skill set to the coaching staff.

“One of our new coaches this year, assistants, is a guy named Dave Shoen who’s got a lot of experience as well,” said Carlson. “Experience in the jumps, which we needed, and we’ve got a couple kids, Josh Roben and Lixon Forsberg, who are excited about what they might be able to do with the help on their technique now this year. Looking forward to that and the jumps. We’ve got Avery Sanders and Ava Thate as senior girls, who have been doing a great job of leading as well.”

As with all sports, attitude is key to the success of the athletes, a sentiment echoed by the Mavericks’ coaching staff.

“Absolutely attitude,” said Carlson. “We preach that. We talk about the seven essentials, things like focus and determination and intensity, and they obviously apply to athletics, but we really want these kids to be able to be prepared to be successful in life. This track career is going to be pretty short for 99% of them, and if we can help them build those skills and see how they can connect that and apply that in real life, that’s really what’s going to be important.”

The Mavericks head to Minnesota State University, Mankato on Monday for a 5:30 p.m. meet.