Eagles’ Winckler shows versatility in Corsica

CORSICA — Andes Central’s Kellie Winckler is a well-rounded athlete.

On Tuesday, at the Corsica/Stickney track and field meet, Eagles track coach Cliff Johnson said Winckler is one of the best competitors he has on the team this year.

Winckler, a junior, has already qualified for the state track meet in the long jump with a leap of 16-feet, 1-inch. She also is qualified for the triple jump with a leap of 34-feet-7. She’s close to qualifying for state in the high jump. Her best jump in the event this year is 4-feet-10, one inch shy of the state-qualifying mark.

Andes Central competed in its fourth outdoor meet of the season on Tuesday, and Winckler didn’t compete in any jumping events. Instead, she asked to try running events, so Johnson let her.

“At these smaller meets it’s easier to let her try out different things,” Johnson said. “She’s one of those athletes you dream about coming around … she can do just about anything she puts her mind to.”

Winckler competed in the 1,600-meter relay, the 400-meter dash and the shot put. Winckler’s main events this season will be the jumping events, but Johnson said letting Winckler compete in running events gives her legs time to rest from jumping events. Her highest finish Tuesday was fourth place in the shot put.

“I love trying different things just to know if there’s something I’m better at that I haven’t gotten to try before,” Winckler said. “My favorite part is getting to know different people from different towns. Once you start events you usually get to talk to different people … and make a lot of different friends.”

Johnson said it’s still early in the season, but he has no doubt that Winckler will be able to compete in all three jumping events at the state meet.

“Right now, we’re just basically working on the long jump and triple jump. We’re doing some high jump work, too, and filling in some running. We’re still working on getting her in better shape and it’s still early in the season so we don’t want to burn her out too bad.”

Winckler said it’s always a goal of hers to make it to the state track meet, but what she likes most about track is being able to meet new people and try out different events.

Winckler is also on the golf team this year, and she’s splitting her time between track practice and golf practice,

“Kellie is quite the athlete, because she’s doing both golf and track at the same time, which takes quite a commitment, and she’s excelling quite a bit at both,” Johnson said.

Winckler said balancing both sports isn’t as hard as it sounds. She just has to put more time into practice than a one-sport athlete.

“It’s not as bad as you’d think,” Winckler said. “You’re not in school as much, but you have to concentrate on both sports and put in extra work to do better and get better.”

Tags: andes central, track and field, sports, updates, eagles