By Reagan Hoverman

The River Falls High School boys’ track team has depth and a level of talent on the roster for the 2022 season that it hasn’t had since 2019, the last time the Wildcats won a Big Rivers Conference championship.

River Falls head coach Max Haskins has been upfront with his hopes for this team, which is a reflection of the level of talent that the Wildcats have in not only the track events but also in some of the field events. He spoke about expectations for this season.

“We return several athletes who scored in open events and were important members of our relays at the Big Rivers Conference meet a year ago,” Haskins said. “Across the board, we’ve got the depth to compete with anyone and expect to be in the mix to win a conference championship.”

Part of the confidence in this Wildcats’ roster is because of some experienced studentathletes who have been a part of past success. That includes senior Isaac Carns, who is a mid-distance runner and was on the 4×400 meter relay team that finished in fourth place at the state meet last season.

“For as good as (Isaac Carns) is on the track, he’s an even better teammate,” Haskins said. “He’s a tremendous leader, not only for our middistance group but our entire program.”

Junior Zack Nye has also been important for the success of River Falls. He’s been dominant in short-distance sprints in the 200 and 400-meter runs. Haskins stated that it doesn’t matter if Nye is in an open or part of a relay, he’s a fierce competitor who elevates teammates that are competing around him.

While there is strength in the track events as detailed by the aforementioned Nye and Carns, to win a conference championship, there has to be as much talent in the field events and River Falls has that.

Jordan Karras, who has won multiple meets this year in the high jump, will be an integral part of team success throughout the season. Haskins spoke about Karras and what he brings to the table in field events.

“He was All-Conference Second-Team in the high jump as a sophomore last season,” Haskins said. “Jordan (Karras) is looking to jump to new heights this season. He’s another one of our grittiest competitors, he’s going to be a major contributor in our sprints group this season as well.”

Senior Micah Majerus is one of the Wildcats’ best pole vaulters. Last season, Majerus missed the conference and regional meet to attend the United States Army boot camp. His talents in the pole vault were missed. According to Haskins, he is slated to complete the entire 2022 season and will be a leader in the pole vault portion of the program.

While a lot of talent remains on the roster, a couple of key members of the 2021 team departed due to graduation, including Grant Magnuson and Alex Myszewski, who were some of the most talented athletes in the program.

Magnuson was a distance runner, who finished runnerup at the state meet in the 800-meter run and was on that aforementioned 4×400 meter relay at the state meet. Myszewski was the Wildcats’ top sprinter and jumper last season. His accolades include making it to state on the 4×100 relay and being Second- Team All-Conference in the triple jump.

Despite departing talent, there is still a healthy number of dominant athletes on the River Falls roster. In addition to great athletes, Haskins stated that he has confidence in his well-rounded coaching staff.

“Our staff is second to none in how much fun we have and how much we care about the success of our kids,” Haskins said. “Along with this, we have established coaches that have shown the ability to coach our athletes at an extremely high level and new faces to the program that we are very excited about.”

Up next for the River Falls boys’ track and field team is a meet on Thursday, April 21, on the road at Colfax. That meet is slated to begin at 4 p.m. if weather conditions allow it.

of River Falls track