SLAYTON — The Murray County Central girls track team was well-represented in the state track meet the last few years by the Overgaauw sisters. Amanda and Ashley claimed third and fourth place respectively in last year’s Class A 1600 meter finals, with Amanda also finishing as the runner-up in the 3200 meters and Ashley taking fourth in the 800 meters. Yet, with both Ashley and Amanda graduating in 2024, the Rebels look to develop new talent to bring the purple and black back to state.

On the girls side, the Rebels should still have some strong distance runners. Junior Sophia Nelson placed fourth in last year’s section meet with a personal-best 2:30.03 in the 800 meters. Nelson, then a sophomore, also anchored the Rebels’ 4×800-meter relay team — which placed fifth at 10:43.18 in the section meet — and was the second leg of the school’s third-place 4×400-meter team, helping the Rebels to a 4:14.98 time alongside Brylei Schreier and the Overgaauws.

Schreier also had a fourth-place individual finish in last year’s section meet with a 1:02.88 in the 400 meters. The time was shy of her PR, 59.89, but shows she’s got plenty to build on for this upcoming season.

On the boys side, Alexander Betz was the lone Rebel to achieve an individual place at the section meet. He finished the 800 meters in 14th at 2:14.23. While the place and time are solid for any grade, Betz was just an eighth grader. As he enters his high school career, Betz has plenty of room for development.

Beyond Betz, the MCC distance squad is ripe with young talent. Betz, Beckett Stelter and Wesley Hause were all eighth graders last year when they helped the MCC boys 4×800-meter relay team achieve a time of 9:49.68 in the section meet. The other leg was Walker Biren, who was just a freshman at the time.

The Rebels will next compete on Saturday at Pipestone. The meet will begin at11 a.m.