By Hayden Swope
As her senior season approaches, Canton-Galva’s Makinlee Hoppes is looking forward to competing alongside familiar faces while embracing both the individual and team aspects of the sport.
“I am excited to be able to compete against the same people I have been competing against since junior high,” Hoppes said. “Being a senior, there is something special about seeing familiar faces and knowing that we are all reaching such important milestones in our lives. I’m also excited about having a 4×4 team this year. Last year our track team only had five girls so we could not do any relays, but this year we have 14 girls. I am excited to see what our girl’s team can accomplish this year and how we can improve each meet to reach our own individual goals.”
Hoppes has stayed active during the offseason, balancing multiple sports while continuing to train for track.
“In the offseason my dad made me personal workouts that helped with different aspects of javelin,” Hoppes said. “I played volleyball and basketball so I have kept in pretty good shape for the 4×4 and different running events that I will partake in throughout the season.”
Heading into the season, she is focused on improving both physically and mentally.
“I want to be in really good shape this season and keep a positive attitude,” Hoppes said. “I have worked on having a positive attitude throughout the year by competing in other sports. I like to lift my teammates up no matter what the outcome of the competition is. Our team conditioned for a couple weeks before our first meet, but I intend to continue to get into better shape throughout the season.”
With clear goals for herself and her team as they work toward postseason competition, Hoppes is ready to see what they will accomplish.
“Our track coach will only bring us to regionals if we are top 10 in our events,” Hoppes said. “One of my individual goals is to make it to regionals in two events this year and truly compete for a spot to go to state. Some team goals I have is for us to all support each other and hopefully have more than half our team going to regionals by the end of the season.”
Looking ahead, she plans to continue her education while pursuing a career in business.
“My future plans are to attend Hutchinson Community College to complete my associates and then move on to a four year university to earn my degree in a business related major,” Hoppes said.
