S arah Feddersen field meet. She didn’t know what was considered a good time in the 400 or 800 meters. Heck, she didn’t even know the correct way to pass a baton to a teammate. Was she a sprinter? Was she better suited for middle dis- tance? Maybe she was a dis- tance girl? chuckles when she thinks back to her very first track and
nine points behind state cham- pion and Raccoon River Con- ference rival ADM. “When you’re at state, your top five teams are separated by so little,” Gilbert girls co-head coach Jodi Hurn said. Feddersen captured two of her three state gold medals a season ago, but she admits she didn’t allow herself to enjoy it as much as she did during her first year in the sport in 2023. But by recognizing that, she thinks she can make the correct alterations to have a more enjoyable 2025 season. “My sophomore year I had such an open mentality, but in my junior year I had an edge and I was never quite happy with everything,” Feddersen said. “Silently, I’m going to work harder than I ever have, but I’m going to be happy no matter what.” Feddersen is only one piece of what is an experienced and talented roster, one that has Hurn and fellow co-head coach Allison Schoenfelder excited about the possibilities. “The girls are super focused and dialed in on where they want to go,” Hurn said. “We’re very lucky our girls have many goals for themselves beyond even us having goals for them.” “They know what they need to do to get there and they’re
Feddersen didn’t know. Neither did her coaches.
“I just ran,” Feddersen, a Gil- bert senior, said as she thought back to that first indoor meet. “I led off a relay because I didn’t know how to do handoffs and I just stayed with the other runners. When there was about 200 meters left I remember thinking ‘I can pass these people,’ and I did.” On the surface, none of this seems that far-fetched. Any young runner would be inex- perienced, right? Well, this is the part of the story where we inform you that this all occurred only two years ago. And since then? All Fed- dersen, a former gymnast, has done is win three Class 3A state titles on relays for the Tigers, which led to a number of col- lege programs clamoring to get her attention. She chose the University of Northern Iowa as
her future destination, and she’ll run track for the Panthers next year. Feddersen’s bread and butter is the 800. She’s anchored Gil- bert’s 4x800 relay to back-to- back state crowns, she’s placed third twice in the open 800 at state, and she has a career- best time of 2:12. She’s not bad at the 400 either, and the odds are awfully strong she would be a contender in the 1,500 as well. Feddersen gave up gymnas- tics prior to the start of her sophomore year because she had lost her passion for the sport. Luckily, running was just
waiting for its next star. “I’m proud of all of the differ- ent things I’ve tried because I had a sport (gymnastics) that had defined me since elemen- tary school,” Feddersen said. “I didn’t really expect to find another sport where I could keep learning and growing so much.” Feddersen is poised to have a stellar senior year, which would only aid the Gilbert girls team as it attempts to contend for 3A team gold as well. A year ago, the Tigers were right in the thick of the title chase late into the final day of the state meet be- fore eventually finishing fifth,
6 GAME ON | SPRING 2025
SPRING 2025 | GAME ON 7
Made with FlippingBook. PDF to flipbook with ease