Coming off a state championship season in cross country, it’s no surprise the Adrian girls’ track team has experienced success in distance races this spring.When one considers whom the Dragons are running well with, and whom they are emerging as an area power without, the situation draws attention.My interest was captured after Adrian turned in a stunning performance at the Howard Wood Dakota Relays in Sioux Falls nearly two weeks ago.The Lady Dragons set three school records during the course of the meet, with the 3,200-meter relay team leading the charge by winning what AHS co-coach Doug Petersen said was the first meet title at the event in his 20-plus years of coaching at AHS.Throw in a school record-setting performance from the 1,600-meter medley relay (since this race is no longer staged in Minnesota meets, it’s an event AHS competes in once a year), and a sixth-place effort in the 1,600-meter relay, and you get the feeling Adrian competed pretty well at an attraction many coaches compare with Minnesota’s state meet."We ran really well at Howard Wood," understated Petersen."I can’t remember a time when we set three school records at the same meet before that one."Adrian’s success can be directly linked to a talented group of underclassmen who have many more good years in front of them.Senior Jolene Reisdorfer and junior Emily Thier did fill two of the four spots on the medley and 1,600 relays in Sioux Falls, but it’s freshmen Erica Thier, Kourtney Kramer, Leslie Stover and seventh-grader Hailee Heitkamp who give the Dragons a promising future.The youngsters are strong competitors individually, but they are even better when they pool their talents in the 3,200-meter relay.Thier and Stover, who were vital contributors to Adrian’s cross country success last fall, are double-edged swords.Thier will be the favorite in the 400-meter dash at the sub-section meet next week, and she has the ability to advance to state in that event down the road.Stover, who Petersen said logged a lot of miles over the winter, set a school record that stood for 17 years in the 3,200-meter run at the Howard Wood Relays. The 3,200 is her best individual event, but Stover may run in the 1,600 in the postseason.Heitkamp, another member of the title-earning cross country squad, could finish sixth or better at the section meet in the 3,200, according to Petersen.Kramer has been the biggest surprise in the Adrian camp and could emerge as Luverne’s Lexi Heitkamp’s top challenger in the 800-meter run during the postseason.As good as they are individually, the three freshmen and seventh-grader form a potent 3,200-meter relay.They displayed their promise at the Dakota Relays, where they set a school standard and established Minnesota’s second best time of the season with their championship effort of 9:55.1.The success of the four younger girls in the 3,200-meter relay has kept one of Petersen’s top prospects early in the spring out of the race.Junior Megan Henning, who was the second AHS runner to reach the finish-line during the state cross country meet last fall, has been unable to retain her leg with a relay she helped lead to a second-place finish at the section meet last season.Henning has run well in the open 3,200, and Petersen thinks she can earn a medal in that event at the section meet.As well as AHS has competed in the 3,200-meter relay this spring, there’s no doubt in my mind that the squad would be even better with a healthy freshman Morgan Lynn.Unfortunately for area track fans, they will not get to see Lynn run the rest of this spring. Tendonitis has limited Lynn to one meet appearance (she won the 1,600-meter run and led the 1,600-meter relay to victory at a meet in Slayton in early April), and she’s not expected to return to the track this spring.Then again, there’s no need to feel sorry for the girl who placed third individually at the state cross country meet last season.Lynn has three more years of high school eligibility left, which will give her and a bunch of other talented underclassmen a lot more chances to run away from their opponents in years to come."I see some big things coming to us in the next couple of years," Petersen concluded.