Photo submitted by Abby Klumper: The 2026 Westbrook-Walnut Grove/Red Rock Central track and field team. 

WESTBROOK — Despite not having any state participants over the last few years, the Westbrook-Walnut Grove/Red Rock Central track and field team has returned nearly all of its top individuals for the 2026 season and it looks to continue building on talent.

Along with their returning experience, the Chargers also field a strong core of young athletes that will continue to add on to their skillset and experience as well.

“We are doing well in our meets when we have our full team and all are healthy. Our girls have some great returning athletes and a lot of experience. Our boys team has some newcomers that recently moved into our district, and have been valuable members of our team,” head coach Abby Klumper said. “We do share athletes with the baseball team, so some of our really athletic boys miss meets due to having baseball games.”

Nearly all of WWG/RRC’s athletes that had strong performances at last season’s Section 3A championships are back again this year, looking to compete at a high level.

“Our strengths are in the field events. We have some good pole vaulting, throwing and jumping happening each meet on our team. We also have strength in the girls distance races and sprints. We will keep working on our handoffs in our relays, and finding the right combination of kids to get our times down,” Klumper said. “Mainly, we are just having fun competing and chasing the personal and relay records. Each kid on the team has their own goals and we are excited to see how far we have come as we near subsections.”

On the boys side, Bowen Hesse will look to be a key returner for his senior-year campaign. He took third place in the 110-meter hurdle in the section championship last season, and 15th in the 300-meter hurdles.

Hesse is off to a strong season with four first-place finishes in the 110-meter hurdles, along with a trio of top-three finishes in the 300-meter hurdles. He joins Grant Binnebose, Jordan Therkilsen and Adrian Yang, three other big returners, who all took first place in the 4×100 relay dash at the Windom Meet on April 14.

Jordan and Carter Therkilsen are a strong running-duo for the Charges. The two raced together in several events last season, including in the section championship’s 4×200 and 4×100 that each placed 10th. The two are also splitting time with being on the baseball team as well.

“We have Carter, a senior, and his brother Jordan, a junior, Therkilsen who are speedy and have great chemistry with one another in relays,” Klumper said. “Junior, Adrian Yang, has been working on pole vaulting all winter and he has made great gains this season already and is jumping 11 feet, six inches currently.”

Jordan Therkilsen also had a fourth-place finish in the 200-meter race at the Windom Meet.

In addition to running, Yang has seen success for the Chargers in the pole vault and long jump events as well. He placed seventh individually in the pole vault at last year’s section championship. Robert Yang, another returner this season, placed 13th in the long jump.

So far to this season, Adrian Yang has a first-place finish in the pole vault at the A&W Invite on April 16, along with a pair of runner-up finishes and a third-place finish. He will look to continue being a primary leader in the two events for WWG/RRC as the season progresses.

The girls’ team also returns a strong mix of talent for running and field events as well.

Miranda Mischke is back for the Chargers in her junior season, looking to again be a strong runner for the group. She took ninth in the 1600-meter at last year’s section championship, and has started this season with a third-place finish in the 800-meter at the Windom Meet, and fifth place in the 1600-meter race at the Dick Davidson Invite on March 30.

WWG/RRC will also look at Mischke to be a strong jumper, who has a pair of runner-up finishes so far this season in the high jump.

Senior Ally Linder will look to lead the Chargers in the field events, particularly in shot put. To start this season, she had four top-10 finishes in the event, including placing second at the Windom meet, third at the A&W invite and fourth on April 21 at the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton meet.

Linder took 12 last season at the section championship in shot put.

The Charger girls hold some running talent as well, including athird-place finish in the 4×100 relay at the A&W Invite and again at the Dick Davidson Invite. The two relay teams, who will help lead the running front for the team this season, includes Addison Voge, Aubree Craine, Mayah Wahl, Elly Yang, Haylea Larson and Gao Vang.

“Addison Voge is a sophomore, but an experienced sophomore sprinter, and she will make an impact this season,” Klumper said. “Miranda Mischke is a junior distance runner with some big goals to break her personal records in the 1600-meter run, the 800 meter run and in high jump, too.”

As much of the track and field regular season is packed over the next few weeks, both WWG/RRC boys and girls teams will look to continue honing in on their strengths.

“Our goals are to finish in the top half of the conference and to continue to beat those PRs (personal records) each meet,” Klumper said. “We are more focused on growth than we are on winning, and that helps us keep our focus.”