With the 2026 track and field season coming to an end, the girls’ team has made it yet another year to state. For senior Nikki Niebrugge, the season is coming to a bittersweet end and she’s excited to compete at state with her teammates for the last time.
“State is definitely the most emotional time of the year … we’re seniors so it’s our last one and [hopefully] our best one,” Niebrugge said.
On May 13, last Wednesday, Prospect girls’ track and field competed at their Deerfield High School sectional. Niebrugge competed in the individual 100 and 200 meter runs and the 4×100 and 4×200 meter relays. She qualified for state in all four events.
It was sophomore Ali Kalkwarf and Kaitlin Miazga’s first time competing at state. Kalkwarf qualified in the 4×800 meter relay and the 1600 meter run, while Miazga qualified in the 3200 meter.
“Watching the four by eight [race] win last year, it was the best race ever,” Kalkwarf said. “Cheering with my teammates in the bleachers was so much fun.”
The whole season, these girls have worked to be able to compete at state and for them, the work has been worth it.
“I trust my training and I’ve been training for long that I’m ready,” Miazga said.
For seniors like Niebrugge, the last four years have been filled with achievements and surprises. She says that in freshman year, she thought that she would be a basketball player, but now she’s committed to Miami University for track and field.
“There was no expectation, now I just think of how far I’ve come with the team,” Niebrugge said. “I didn’t think they’d be my best friends.”
Throughout the four seasons that Niebrugge has participated in track and the two seasons Miazga and Kalkwarf have participated in, the girls have learned a lot about themselves and what kind of athletes they are.
“I think I got all my work ethic and how to deal with myself mentally from the sport,” Niegrubbe said. “I gained confidence in how I go about my life.”
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