Dave Tobias has built a tradition of success over his 23 years as girls track coach at Covington. That’s evident by the number of state qualifiers, state placers and the 7 state champions – Jackie Siefring (twice), Breanna Kimmel, Rayna Horner, Paige Boehringer, Morgan Lowe and Lauren Christian – Tobias has had in his tenure.

But last year was a rarity as Covington failed to qualify an individual to state for the first time since 2003.

Still, Tobias and his Lady Buccs had a solid season – finishing 4th in their last year in the Cross County Conference and qualifying several individuals to the Regional meet in Troy.

Sophomore Carli Besecker returns after winning league titles a year ago in the 400 and the Long Jump. Also returning are distance runners Jo Welborn, Teylor Meyer, and Eve Welborn; Hurdlers Brianna Baker, league placer, and Bryanna Kenworthy and Whitney Welch; Sprint/Sprint relay runners include Summer Anderson, Lauren York, Jenna Belmaggio, Shelby Petry, and Maddy Supinger. Throwers returning include Belmaggio, Ali Gostomsky, Whitney Welch, and Megan Rose, who will again perform in pole vault.

In all, 17 Lady Buccs return this year after lettering last year, including the lone senior, Yelena Weaver, who is a sprinter in her fourth year of track. Weaver looks to set new personal records this season.

Plus, Covington ads significant talent from the freshman class, which includes Elyza Long (a state qualifier in Cross Country), Hannah Alexander, Gabrielle Harwig, Kylie Brown, Allison Burns, and Makayla Vanderhorst.

“We need to utilize the group of young talent coming in off the junior high girls team from last year,” Tobias said. “Collaborating with the juniors and sophomores makes up 28 of our 29 on the roster this year.”

With the young talent Tobias is blessed to develop, the future looks extremely bright for the Lady Bucc Tracksters.

“Things are looking up for the future,” said Tobias. “It will be interesting to see how competitive we can be in the new TRC (Three Rivers Conference) league. I predict that we will be competitive in the top three teams and even win several league championships in events, while again qualifying several Lady Buccs to State.”

State. That’s a stage where the athletes Tobias develops are accustom to performing.