Yelm coaches hopeful for improvement and cultural growth in 2025 track season

After sending eight Tornados to the WIAA’s 2024 3A state track and field competition last May, Yelm High School girls track head coach Shannon Gubser and boys track head coach Richard Houghton have their sights set on continued improvement and cultural growth in the 2025 season.

Last year, Yelm sent seniors (now graduated) Jordan Lasher, Hewitt Smith, Kiana Neir and Shay-Lah Squally, junior Aaron Culler, sophomore Eliana Lewis and freshmen Alissa Alvarado-Young and Mister Rabang-Davis to the competition at Mount Tahoma High School.

Houghton knows the competition in the 4A pool and specifically the 4A South Puget Sound League is tough, so he said he tries to focus his expectations on how his individual athletes can improve each day.

“My expectations are the same as last year: continual improvement on an individual basis. We can’t control our competitors, so as long as we’re focused on our individual improvement every single day, we’ll reap what we sew at the end of the season,” Houghton said on Friday, March 28. “We’re in a new league this year. As we go through the season, we can look at those teams and how they’re performing. Of course, some kids are going to be ranked.”

Gubser agreed with Houghton, stating the staff is always focusing on trying to improve their athletes physically and mentally. In addition, the girls head coach said they’re trying to improve the teams’ character and cultural sense as well.

“We have our rise award, and it crosses beyond character. They are bracelets that we give out as awards every week by each event area,” Gubser said. “Last year, we started it with ‘we rise by lifting others,’ and so every event area each week, the students would call out something they saw in another athlete in their area. This year, it’s ‘together we rise.’ We talk about when one gets lifted up, the whole team gets lifted up.”

She said examples of everyone being uplifted when one gets lifted up include when the YHS football team won the WIAA’s 3A state championship in 2022, or when Jordan Lasher won a 3A pole vault state championship and set a new meet record in the process last year.

“We all get to share a piece of that, and we’ll continue to do that,” she said. “Kids are recognizing one another for physical performances, but also the great things they’re doing character-wise as well.”

Houghton, who has been part of the YHS track staff since 2020, said the rise award has made an impact on the team and its culture.

“I think it’s made an impact. You go to meets and maybe the relay team is coming down to the wire, and the rest of our team is out there screaming and yelling in support of the runners. In terms of personal athletic performance, we recognize kids who achieved PRs but it might not have been a first-place finish,” Houghton said. “We want to recognize when kids are performing.”
Houghton highlighted one of the team’s challenges this season in trekking to competition sites without the district providing buses and transportation. Due to Yelm Community Schools’ three recent levy failures, transportation to athletic competitions was cut.

“It’s been a little bit of a challenge navigating without buses and trying to figure out how to get poles to the meets,” he said. “Before, we could pass out information on the bus while we’re on the way there. Now, it’s like we send out a clipboard. Our kids are checking in and checking out on their own, and it’s another challenge.”

Gubser added that pole vaults used to be stored on the long buses en route to competition sites, but now, a pole rack system was purchased for the pole vault coach’s truck.

After the Tornados return from spring break, the team’s schedule will pick up in pace as Yelm will compete on Wednesday, April 9, at Olympia High School. The team will hit the track again to participate in the Mt. Tahoma Track Festival on Saturday, April 12, and again in the Bob Harris Invitational on Saturday, April 26.

The Tornados will compete in more SPSL action on Wednesday, April 30, as the team travels to Bethel High School. Yelm will also participate in the South Sound Classic on Friday, May 2, and Saturday, May 3. SPSL action will return to YHS on Thursday, May 8, as the Tornados host the Bonney Lake Panthers.