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IAC TRACK & FIELD: CANDOR LOOKS TO BE COMPETITIVE (8 PHOTOS) (2019-03-19)

BY TIM TAYLOR
Tioga County Sports Report
CANDOR - The Candor track & field teams are hoping to be competitive this season. That may be easier for the boys team to accomplish, given its advantage in depth and experience. Still, the numbers are solid for both squads, according to Indian co-head coach David Russell.

"The boys have a little bit more than the girls," he said. "The boys have a lot of senior leadership and experienced runners. We have Lance Jensen returning. He went to states last year in the 400 hurdles. Our 4x8 relay and our 4x4 relay are both real strong. We have both of them returning.

"On the girls side, we don't have so much in numbers. We've got some real strong runners. Leah O'Connell went to state qualifiers last year. Jenna O'Connell, her sister, is a real strong distance runner. It's still early  in the season to see where our younger girls are going to be at, but we've got a young core of girls coming up too that will be real strong."

While Candor's strength lies in running events, Russell would like to see the Indians become more competitive in the field events.

"Field events are always a challenge, getting enough athletes to fill those spots," Russell said. "Typically in dual meets that's where we struggle. We usually do pretty well in the track and then lose a lot of points to our opponents in the field events.

"We've been talking to the team about more of the track runners volunteering to do some of the field events to try to boost our numbers there."

One plus for both squads is the athletes on each team will have the luxury of the experience and leadership provided by Russell and co-head coach Bree Zogaria, and a trio of volunteers.

"We share the team, boys and girls," said Russell. "We work together to put the plan together each day. Sometimes, we'll switch which group we're working with, so we try to mix it up so that we work with all the athletes. There are certain coaches that specialize in the hurdles and the jumps, and then other coaches specialize in the throws, maybe hand-offs on relays. We do try to divide it up so we don't have to do everything."

Candor begins the season April 2 at Newark Valley at 4:30 p.m. with Tioga and Notre Dame.

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IN PHOTO 1: Candor's Lance Jensen, the IAC and Section IV champion in the 400-meter hurdles last season, practices his form. ... PHOTOS BY TIM TAYLOR.

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