For Sadie Sehnert and the Wright City girls' track team, the time to look ahead is now.

While Sehnert, who took 13th in the javelin at the Class 3 state meet in Jefferson City the weekend of May 22, looks ahead to college life and club wrestling at Washington University, Wildcats’ Coach Fred Ross said that the other state qualifiers – freshman Victoria Riggs and junior Ada Ferrell – should be looking forward to hard work for their next track seasons.

Still, while Sehnert has an eye on working hard toward a bachelor’s degree in Kinesiology or a similar field, she can’t help but look back a bit.

“I am excited for my future,” Sehnert said. “I’m really going to miss high school sports and the friends I’ve made. It gave me a family outside of my home and really helped me grow as a person and an athlete. State tournaments were memorable. Spending the night with friends, (swimming in) hotel pools, all the fun you can have overnight. It doesn’t matter if you win or lose, but how you handle it.”

Wright City Coach Fred Ross said that Sehnert should take nothing but pride in everything she did at the school.

For as prolific as she was as a softball player and a wrestler – holding the school’s wins record – she should hold her head just as high when she thinks about the things she’s done on the track.

“Sadie capped off her senior year by qualifying after getting knocked out at sectionals last year,” Ross said. “Though she did not have the state results that we wanted, she leaves WCHS with the school record in the javelin.” 

Ross added that, for as well as the team’s other two state performers did, they should both be looking to build on state championship event performances in the future.

Freshman Victoria Riggs took 15th in the 1,600 meters. She finished her state race in a time of 5 minutes, 45.51 seconds.

“She did an outstanding job for her first year running at the high school level,” Ross said. “She ran pretty well at state time-wise, but the big stage caused her to get out a little too fast. It was a great experience for her and should help her in big meets in the future.”

Like her teammates, junior Ada Ferrell had a strong finish to the track season.

Ross said that the 13th-place finish of 16.20 seconds in the 100 hurdles is something that, with some hard work, Ferrell can improve upon in her final season of high school sports.

The coach added that Ferrell, who, like Sehnert, is a multi-sport athlete, showed the depth of her talent this spring and can take that a step further as a senior.

“She ran her PR at state, even with a slow start,” Ross said. “She showed what a talented athlete she is by only running hurdles for about four weeks and still qualifying for state. We look forward to better results with more practice in her senior year.”