After warmups Tuesday afternoon, Blair track and field athletes broke a team huddle on Krantz Field and dispersed to their various event group coaches.
“Run to me, my throwers,” assistant coach Taylor Jensen called out from the southwest corner of the track, arms outstretched. “Run to me.”
Bears head coach Bryan Soukup said enthusiasm for the new spring season has been high with more than 90 student-athletes signing up for the sport he oversees. It's about 20 more than participated last year.
“We're excited as coaches,” he added. “We have a lot of athletes that are excited. I think we have high expectations on what we can do this year.”
BHS opens the season March 16 in Seward at Concordia University's annual indoor meet. There may be no one on the Bears' roster more excited for it than junior Reese Beemer.
“Just amazing,” she said Tuesday when asked what it felt like to be back in her purple Blair track hoodie. “It feels like home.”
The last time the sprinter competed as a BHS track athlete was the 2021 NSAA State Championships at Omaha Burke Stadium. A freshman, she won a gold medal with her 400-meter relay teammates and earned three individual Class B medals including a bronze in the 100 dash.
That fall, though, Beemer tore the ACL, MCL and meniscus in her knee. It was a devastating injury that cost her a sophomore season, and it's been a tough road back.
“It was one of the hardest things to do mentally, honestly,” she said. “A lot of physical therapy. A lot of crying.”
The toll of her hard work, however, has been worth it.
“In the end, it paid off because I'm running track again,” Beemer added.
The junior once thought she'd never run competitively again or, even if she did, never at her full potential.
Those worries haven't come true, though. Beemer has trained at an indoor facility in Lincoln called The Ville, participated in Nebraska Indoor Championship Series races and traveled to Fayetteville, Ark., for another high-level indoor event.
In summation, the BHS sprinter is “very, very excited” for the season. Her classmate, Ethan Baessler, is, too, but he's keeping his enthusiasm measured.
“I'm not going to get ahead of myself,” he said. “I'm just going to take it day-by-day and keep getting better and better.”
The sprinter earned the Bears' best state finish in Beemer's 2022 absence, taking third in the boys' 100-meter dash. He did it after missing most of his debut season due to injury.
“I didn't actually know what it meant to be an actual track athlete,” said Baessler, who switched from baseball to track as a sophomore. “There's a lot more to it like stretching and actually preparing your muscles for it.”
Altogether, the junior's third-place finish at state last May was one of five top-eight finishes for Soukup's squad. Reece Ewoldt claimed two as a member of two relay teams. She returns this season alongside fellow relay medalists Nolan Slominski, Ted Lueders, Caleb Funk, Schuyler Roewert and Hailey Amandus.
“I'm really excited to get back into it, for sure,” Ewoldt said.
She wants to set her personal record in the 800 run this season and, possibly, crack 60 seconds in the 400.
With potential results like those, Soukup anticipates a successful campaign.
“It's always good when you can go and compete at every invitational,” the coach said. “And I think that we're going to be able to do that on both the boys' and girls' side this year.”
He also believes Blair's best will be in contention for spots atop the state podium come May.
“Just got to stay healthy like in any sport,” Soukup said. “If we stay healthy, you know, we're going to have a lot of fun this year.”
