Kody Tegtmeier had high hopes this year for 13 Peabody-Burns athletes who turned out to compete for a team he knew could make its mark at state track this year.

He launched into what would have been his second year as coach with the goal of topping past achievements.

“We took one to state last year and I hope to up that number to 3 or 4 or 5,” he said during a break in a practice that took place before an outbreak of COVID-19 closed the state’s schools. “I know we have some kids who will compete quite well in our league and at regionals.”

Tegtmeier was greeted by “lots of new faces” and a small turnout — very much like last year, he said.

Mya Winters was tentatively set to return to competition for the girls, while the boys welcomed back Jake Partridge, most likely for triple jump.

Although relatively new to the community, Tegtmeier is a 10-year veteran coach of teams in Hanover, Lakeside-Downs, and Bird City.

He also teaches strength and conditioning and middle school leadership at Peabody.
Getting to know a new batch of students is always tough, but Tegtmeier looked forward to the task of motivating young competitors to achieve more than they thought they could.

“A lot of kids don’t have the mental capacity of ‘I’m as good as I think I am,’ ” he said. “I think they are better than they think they are. So I am trying to get them over the hump of ‘I can do this.’ They are very capable of doing this.”