Mt. Pleasant ready to hit the track

MT. PLEASANT - The cancellation of the 2020 track and field season was especially hard on those with big expectations, and not many schools have more of that than Mt. Pleasant. The Panthers were overwhelming Southeast Conference favorites coming into last year, and they'll hope to pick up the pieces of a shattered 2020 and compete for the SEC titles again in 2021.

The Mt. Pleasant boys took sixth in the 2019 Class 3A state track meet, and the Panthers still have a few pieces left over from that squad.

The Panther boys have won 13 of the last 14 SEC championships, and Coach Mitch Anderson says the team has more than just speed going its way heading into the new season.

'The Panthers will look to gain an advantage on all technical events,” said Anderson. 'Including the hurdles, shot put, discus, long jump and high jump.”

The Mt. Pleasant boys were struck hard by graduation, logins state placewinners Rylan Seberg and Khang Truong, who went into the perceived 2020 season as leaders for the Panthers, but they'll still have a lot of firepower in field events with veterans Reean Seberg and Jack Johnson stepping up in the jumps.

The Panther boys have a strong returning core in the field events. Cooper Pullis, Nick Holtkamp, and Sam Carrasco will look to score big points in the throwing events, something the Panther track team has done consistently under the Anderson regime.

Mt. Pleasant's boys squad is always tough in the sprints and hurdles, and the Panthers have a lot of returning talent coming in those events as well. Along with the aforementioned Johnson and Seberg, the Panthers return Mason Mills, Bryce Willson and Will Davidson in short distance events.

The Panther boys' cross-country squad showed improvement this fall, and a lot of those same names will lead the distance squad. Luke Ryon, Nathan McWilliams, Gannon McNamee and Dylon Hagans are all notable returners, and will be joined by newcomers Isaac Rynders and Ben Carthey.

The Mt. Pleasant girls had enormous expectations going into 2020, but will have to deal with the graduation of 2019 state shot put champion Lexi Magnani, along with Maggie Cristoforo, who medaled in three events at the 2019 state meet. The Panthers finished 13th in the Class 3A meet in 2019.

Mt. Pleasant does return a number of state qualifiers, and two returning state placewinners. Karsyn and Kenna Lamm will look to lead the short distance crew after placing in the 2019 state meet. They'll be joined by returner Jenna Gilmore in the sprints and hurdles, as well as a laundry list of promising newcomers.

The Panther girls have three returning state qualifiers in the distance events. Abby Blint, Cristina Carthey and Ralyn Seberg all had their taste of the blue oval at Drake University in 2019. Belle Meador is another key name to watch.

The Mt. Pleasant girls track team has two throwers who qualified for state in 2019. Jadan Brumbaugh made the state meet in the shot put, a nd Grace Kelley made the trip to Des Moines in discus.

The Panther girls have won the last eight SEC titles, though head coach Scot Lamm says he sees rival Fairfield as the 2021 front-runners. Coach Lamm says he hopes the work his athletes have done in the prolonged offseason will pay off when the season begins.

'Our girls did a great job of continuing to workout last Marh, April and May, but once the season was canceled, most of them moved onto their next spring sports,” Lamm said. 'So far this season, the girls have been working extremely hard, and have been eager to get back to competition.”