LYONS – The Lyons-Decatur Northeast boys 4×800 meter relay team is ready for state.

“It’s been a long time since Lyons-Decatur’s seen a relay team this good,” says relay anchor Caleb Schlichting.

The Cougars qualified for the event for the first time in almost 30 years. They say their steady improvement comes from being a self-motivated bunch.

“Caleb and I qualified last year,” says relay team member Braden Hardin. “We’re not with Bancroft this year, but we have the mindset where we wanted to make it because it was a great experience.”

“They wanted to qualify for the Northeast Track Classic,” says coach Braska Grundmayer. “That didn’t happen just yet, but they said they were going to run this time anyway and make state. Their mindset has been really cool.”

Part of that mindset is bonding off the track and on the frisbee golf course.

“It was COVID times,” says Schlichting. “I bought a three-pack of Frisbees. I didn’t know there were different kinds at the time. So I just handed them out. I don’t know who got the putter, who got the driver, or who got the mid-range.”

The relay teammates can be found at nearby Brink Memorial Park playing nine at the unique course along the Logan Creek Lagoon just as often as you can see them practicing their distance running around town.

“They said after prom last year in pitch black and they lost so many of their discs,” says Grundmayer. “I asked them why they did it at night and they said ‘It just sounded fun!'”

“There’s a lot of water at our park in town,” says Schlichting. “So we picked out three holes away from the water and played those until we were good enough and confident enough to play the ones by the water.”

“We still weren’t good enough when we went to the water,” laughs teammate Chance Mock. “They still went in a good amount of times.”

So how does getting better on the disc golf course translate to getting better on the track?

“Being in a team event we all knew that the next person wants that gold medal at a meet just as much as the next person with the baton,” says Schlichting. “So I think Frisbee golf helped us all see that we all want to win.”

The Cougar 4×800 relay – made up of Schlichting, Hardin, Mock, and…