staple a season ago, will miss the entire season after undergo- ing hip surgery, and she’s someone who was vital to last fall’s success. “Maggie was responsible for other girls running incredibly well because she pulled them along with her,” Kautman said. “That’s the magnetic personality she is; she makes everyone better.” That’s the bad news. Now for the good news, and there’s plenty of it. The cupboard is far from bare. Seniors Abby Patel, Sophia Bleich, and Mia Kautman have combined to run at the state meet six times, junior Keira An- dersen will be in the lineup for the third consecutive season, sophomores Callie Hales and Chloe Lee only add to the depth, and senior Sarah Fed- dersen — one of the state’s premier track and field athletes — rejoins the program with clear and high goals in mind. So fear not, Tiger fans. This is a team that could, and should, make noise in 2024. Andersen and Hales both fin- ished in the top 10 at the 2023 Raccoon River Conference meet and in the top 13 at the state qualifier a week later. And Laura Kautman sees her daughter, along with Patel and Bleich as strong leaders.
and she’s drawn the eyes of a number of high-level college programs. Sure, there are vast differences between an 800 on an oval surface that has zero hills versus a 5K on a golf course with humps and bumps. But talent is talent. Determina- tion is determination. And Fed- dersen has plenty of both. “This is a different type of race for her,” Kautman said. “On the track, she takes it out hard and dares others to stay with her, and what gets her to the (finish) line is this competitiveness that is rare. In cross country, you can’t really run a race in that re- spect. But it’s that competitive- ness and mental toughness that are going to serve her well in cross country and it’s why she’ll have success. It means some- thing to her to represent Gil- bert.” When Kautman looks at her squad’s potential, she sees a cohesive group that lives We, not Me. There aren’t egos and there may not even be a clear front-runner. And that’s just fine with the coach. “I’m not sure we have a front- runner, but I’m confident we’ll have a really good pack,” she said. “Sometimes that can be equally important.” Gilbert will certainly find out about its overall strength early and throughout the season with a beefed up schedule that in- cludes visits to the Heartland
Classic in Pella and the Steve Johnson Invite in Waverly. The Tigers own invite will be stacked as well with Pella and Solon joining the party. When it comes to October, Gilbert will shift its focus to de- fending the Raccoon River Con- ference crown it won for the first time in 2023. While the league meet has never been a “must have,” Kautman says it will serve as an indicator of where her team stands entering the second season a week later. “Conference is going to be pretty important for us this year because that’s going to be the stepping stone that spring- boards us into the champion- ship part of the season,” she said. “Conference has the po- tential to give us momentum going into that qualifier.” Gilbert certainly has the goal of adding a fourth straight and 29th trip overall to state. Taking down Pella and its returning in- dividual state champion Marissa Ferebee might be a mountain simply too tall to climb, but it won’t be for a lack of effort. The outcome will be what it will be. But if her runners per- form to the best of their abilities and compete for each other, Kautman knows the end result will be successful. And that legacy will only con- tinue to grow.
“Keira is a pure running tal- ent,” Kautman said. “She has put a lot of work in this summer because she really wants to go out and prove herself during her junior season. She’s got some lofty goals for herself and we’re going to help her see those through. “The thing about Abby, So- phia, and Mia ... even last year, those three were interchange- able. The just bring a certain amount of consistency where you kind of know what you’re going to get. I would anticipate that those three are going to come through and have a really strong senior season because this is it. It’s kind of a let’s finish what we started mentality.” The wildcard is Feddersen, an elite middle-distance runner on the track who has helped Gil- bert win three relay state titles, Sophomore Callie Hales at the Class 3A State Qualifying Meet in Spencer last October.
28 GAME ON | FALL 2024
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