As the Storm men’s and women’s track and field team begins another new season, the team looks to reach new goals.

Competition for the men’s and women’s indoor season kicks off on Jan. 15 in Waverly while the outdoor season starts down south in Tennessee on March 20.

Senior Lauren Bucklin said she has set her personal goals as well as team goals high this season. Bucklin hopes that the team will have a number of events qualify for nationals this year.

“Nationals is an amazing experience,” Bucklin said. “It gives you so much motivation to try that much harder in practices and work that much more, just so you can make it back.”

Bucklin also says that it is important to have fun for yourself and your teammates, and she hopes to end the season with more great memories.

Senior Kyle Yarkosky is also hopeful for a great turnout at nationals and knows that the team is capable of accomplishing great things throughout the season. He said practices this year are already keeping the team hopeful for what they can do this year.

The practices have already shown the athletes’ competitive streaks, even though finding times to work out have been a struggle this year. Yarkosky says the team is sharing time and space with the basketball teams, but they are making do with what they have.

“We have lots of talent and I think we can do some great things this year,” Yarkosky said. “I think we should be able to build on last year’s success and be one of the top teams in the conference. The biggest difference between this team and previous years is that we have a blend of veteran leadership and young talent. Having a balanced team is great for chemistry, which pushes everyone to work hard, and the end result is success.”

Senior Casey Dunning is on the same boat as Yarkosky and Bucklin. He thinks that the team has a lot to work for this year and knows that they will get their goals accomplished.

“The men’s track program has very high expectations for this year as we are looking to pair a strong core of senior athletes with a fresh group of talented underclassmen,” Dunning said.

Dunning also hopes that the team can continue to put their best foot forward at conference this year and have the entire team place higher than before. Dunning also said that as the team continues to grow, so does their competitive factor.

“We will have a very competitive team this year as we have continued to add quality depth to our lineup,” Dunning said.

The men’s track team has put forth 63 All-Americans for outdoor track and 15 for indoor, as well as seven National Champions for both indoor and outdoor track. There have also been 10 Iowa Conference Team Champions, and the 2000 Olympian Kip Janvrin participated on the Storm team.

The women’s track team has housed 49 outdoor All-Americans and 23 indoor All-Americans. The women have also had three indoor and outdoor National Champions and four Iowa Conference Team Championships.

“This is my last year to compete on a collegiate level, my last year to run with my Simpson teammates, my last year to be All-conference, All-American, anything,” Bucklin said.

The first home meet will be April 22.