EDWARDSVILLE – Katie Mans is ready to take on a bigger role for Alton's girls track team this season.
Mans, a junior, won the high jump in Friday's Southwestern Illinois Relays at Edwardsville's Winston Brown Track and Field Complex with a leap of 5-6, but she has much bigger goals on her mind for 2017.
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“It was a good opening meet,” Mans said. “We had wonderful weather, so it felt good. It's nice to be able to win at Edwardsville.
“With LaJarvia (Brown) gone (through graduation; the Redbirds' standout athlete the past previous years is now at Texas A&M), I feel I'm the team captain and I'm trying to lead this team to get back to state and have not just having me (Mans has qualified for the state Class 3A meet in Charleston the past two years, finishing eighth in 2015 and seventh in 2016), but having a whole bunch of other people.
“That's my goal this year and to always put up 10 points for our team in the high jump; that's something I want to continue to keep doing. I'm happy to (put the team on her shoulders) and we've got a great group of young girls this year; I think we have a lot of potential. Now that I'm an upperclassman, it's so different seeing so much younger competition because that was just me.”
With Jada Moore taking over the program from Terry Mitchell this season, the approach has changed somewhat. “It's good that we're all adjusting,” Mans said. “This whole year is new, I have different steps, we're doing different approaches, so it's all going good. Our goal is to get to the end of May and have as many people as possible going to state; I want to be able to lead those people with me.
“My goal this year is to be sure to get 5-8 (which would be a PR for Mans), just keep moving up.”
