Indoor Track and Field comes to a close with the Pride sending 4 athletes to Nationals in Gainesville, Florida. Along with Coach Bradley Johnson and Brett Tudela, the four athletes who attended were Grace Squires, Daniel Adams, Annemarie Koerner, and Hasmar Francois. In total, the group qualified in 5 different events for nationals.
Coach Johnson was particularly proud of his athletes, saying he was pleased they got to compete against the best in the nation. In his 6th year coaching for the Pride, Johnson says that the past two seasons have been his best yet with the team placing and scoring the most points in conference and sending the most athletes to nationals. “We have upped the standard since my first year and these kids are really starting to understand what being a championship-level athlete takes,” Johnson says. Training for Track and Field is not for the faint of heart, with 5-6 days a week of workouts and multiple sessions a day at times. Due to the lack of facilities at Clarke, training often begins at 5:45 am and consists of lifting, running, jumping, and many drills, with little rest time. But besides this “these athletes have the unique ability to look past that and get it done no matter what.” the head coach states.
In the upcoming outdoor season, the goals include adding more athletes to the roster that can compete at a high level, while Coach Johnson believes that the same four will most likely qualify for nationals yet again: “We've learned a lot and I'm excited to see the mental growth that those athletes can exhibit so we can have a much stronger showing that is closer to a testament of their hard work at outdoor nationals.”
Athlete Highlights
Annemarie Koerner:
The sophomore from Hamburg, Germany set a school record while winning the conference in her event and went on to place 7th in the national pentathlon, achieving an All-American status for the first time in her career. She also competed in the long jump placing 21st with a 5.46 meter jump. Last year she barely missed the cutoff for nationals, so this year the goal was to be at least Top 10. “I was glad to hit the standard, there was a lot of pressure off of me.” The 800 was something she is proud of, but everything else Koerner says she could have done better. “Indoor is 60 hurdles and 5 events in one day but outdoors is 2 days and 7 events with javelin and the 200 meters added, compared to the indoors. The goal is to qualify for nationals and be an All-American again” Koerner said. “As soon as the last person finished an event you have 30 mins until the next event” which makes for little recovery time with the whole event taking about 4-5 hours. Athletes have 3 attempts for each event, excluding the high jump where you keep going up until you fail. “I started track pretty young and you don’t specify an event until 16, so I always liked to do everything, and eventually I picked the multi,” Koerner says. Plus, she can have one bad event and still have a good multi, so the entire meet is not bad because of one missed event. “You have so many options,” Koerner says. In terms of getting to where she is now, Koerner says that the effort is the main thing that puts her ahead. “Because one event gets challenging doesn’t mean you don’t have a positive mindset, you have to restart for the next event,” Koerner says. Being an All-American feels the same as beforefor Koerner, “It was just a normal meet just more competitive and bigger; it just went very well. A lot of people expect more out of being an All-American but it is just a meet.” Koerner says. Believe in themselves and don’t give up because practice gets hard or getting a bad time is how Koerner says that someone can become great at their events, “be positive and it will get better. It’s worth it because you’ll see the effects in season.”
Daniel Adams:
A Sophomore from Muscatine, Iowa, Adams competes in multiple events, qualifying for nationals in the high jump and winning the conference title as well. He says competing at nationals “was amazing, to say the least, this is the third nationals I’ve competed in as I’ve qualified the last outdoor and indoor.” And that being in Florida, Adams “made sure to get a tan.” Despite Adams saying the only downside was his performance, yet he has only been competing in the high jump since December of 2023 when he randomly tried it in practice. Adams says that to get to where he is “you must expect failure sometimes. You must be able to take failure well, otherwise you will not compete well in the future.” As the high jump is a very mental sport, it took a lot of reassurance from coaches to get Adams into the right headspace to compete and think more positively about his performance. He also makes sure to warm up properly, taking 90 minutes before competing at nationals to do so. Adam’s goals for outdoor season include clearing 7th and above and getting into hurdling again after battling with injury in the fall, "this outdoor I plan on being fully healthy and ready to soar to new heights and times.” Adams says.
Grace Squires:
A Junior from White Bear Lake, Minnesota, Squires is a Pole Vaulter who won the conference tournament with a height of 3.45 meters (roughly 11.3 feet). Although Squires didn’t do as well as she hoped at nationals, this gives her new drive for the outdoor season. Her experience at nationals gave her a new mindset as she had to “realize I was ranked top 24 in the country in NAIA for the indoor season in the pole vault which is something pretty cool to say.” Along with that, Squires was able to use her talents to serve others. “We also were able to volunteer with teaching individuals who have disabilities track events, which is something that is helping out sport grow with being able to include everyone.” She has been pole vaulting in 8th grade after retiring from gymnastics and has improved from 9'6'' to 12' during her time at Clarke. Pole vaulting is both a combination of speed and strength, as well as a lot of mental strength. “To be able to go straight up using a pole above a metal box, you have to be able to trust your ability to know what to do in only a few seconds,” Squires says. Her outdoor goals include qualifying for nationals at 3.65 (11’11'') and breaking the school record. At nationals, she aims to become an All-American in her last season. Squires says she couldn’t be where she is without the support of her team and coaches cheering her on.
Hasmar Francois:
A Sophomore from Lauderhill, Florida, competed in the high jump along with Adams, coming in second to Adams in the conference championship. As a dual-sport athlete competing in basketball as well as track and field, Francois is looking to set new records and improve his skills. Francois has declined to comment on his performance and experience.
With the success the team has had in the indoor season, they are confident to qualify and achieve even better results at the NAIA outdoor championships that will take place in Indiana on May 21-23, 2025.
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