Landry Haberichter always thought he would play baseball when it came time to head off to college.
That was before the Notre Dame High School senior fell in love with track and field.
Haberichter, a two-time state placewinner in the 100-meter dash for West Burlington-Notre Dame, made his decision Saturday when he verbally committed to run track next year at Indian Hills Community College in Ottumwa.
When push came to shove, Haberichter followed his heart, and passion.
“I am really looking forward to it. Ever since I started to run track in junior high, I’ve loved it,” said Haberichter, who is an all-state outfielder for the Nikes’ baseball team. “My love for track just kept growing with Coach (Corey) Lamm. I love baseball, too. I kept asking myself what do I still love, track or baseball? What do I want to do for the next four years, play baseball or run track? That was my thought process.”
Haberichter finished second in Class 2A in the 100-meter dash as a sophomore, running 11.16 seconds in the finals. He also ran on the Falcons’ 4×100 relay team which was 19th overall in 44.31.
Haberichter came back last year in Class 3A and finished third in the 100 in 10.70 and helped the Falcons finish 20th in the 4×100 in 43.90.
Haberichter decided not to play his senior year of football after playing quarterback for West Burlington-Notre Dame his junior year.
Instead, Haberichter has been focusing on his track training.
“I started running after baseball season because I still wasn’t sure what I was going to do,” Haberichter said. “I was doing lifts for track and baseball. I was running when school started. I was going over to West Burlington or Burlington and running. I lift at either Notre Dame or West Burlington or go to the YMCA. They have a new indoor training facility at Dankwardt Park for the Mudd Dawgs. As an alumni of the Mudd Dawgs, I am using that to train this winter.”
Now that his decision has been made, Haberichter said he is focusing on track in the spring and wants to make one last run at the state tournament in baseball next summer.
“It’s kind of crazy to think about. I love baseball. I grew up around baseball,” Haberichter said. “This will be my last time playing baseball. I’m going to play with all my heart and do my best to help our team get to state. It’s going to be sad when it’s over.”
Indian Hills, coached by Brent Ewing, finished fourth at the NJCAA Outdoor Nationals last spring.
The Warriors were in the spotlight over the summer as former Indian Hills great Kenny Bednarek took silver in the men’s 200-meter dash at the World Championships in Tokyo. Indian Hills alum Tyrice Taylor advanced to the semifinals in the 800.
“I will be ready to compete for Indian Hills,” Haberichter said. “It’s going to be a lot of fun running track this spring. I really want to go get that gold medal this year.”











