Lauren Unser is always on the move, and she wouldn’t have it any other way.

In the fall, she traveled the trails as a member of the West Salem High School girls cross country team.

When the snow fell, she traded in her running shoes for ice skates and a hockey stick with an elite squad form Madison, a move that helped land her a spot with the University of Wisconsin women’s team next year.

In the spring, it’s on to the track, where she does a little bit of everything for the Panthers’ girls track squad.

“My schedule is full from August to March,” Unser said. “I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Things don’t slow down for Unser once the track season starts — where she is a jack-of-all-trades — running the sprints as well as the mid distances — for the Panthers.

“I like filling in wherever Mr. (coach Le Roy) Krall needs me,” said Unser, who placed third in the 400-meter dash, fourth in the 200 and was part of the Panthers’ title-winning 3,200-meter relay team at last year’s WIAA Division 2 state meet.

“I don’t really have a favorite race. I like just doing whatever I am asked to help the team.”

That team-first approach is one of the reasons the Panthers will be chasing their third straight Coulee Conference crown this spring. It also aided in their winning the Division 2 state team title two years ago, and their finishing second last year.

It is also what has helped keep the core of the Panthers’ program — a strong group of seniors — together the past four years.

“From the beginning our freshman year, we just jelled together and just kept going,” said senior Courtney Oldenburg, who won the Division 2 800 state title and was part of the winning 3,200 relay last year. “I think from the beginning we were just motivated to do good and try to get each other pumped up and we work well together.”

The Panthers’ senior core also includes Brittany Kostecki (100 hurdles) and Mary Kurisch (shot put and discus) who each qualified for state as individuals last season as juniors.

Also back is sophomore Kelsey Novak, who qualified for state in the 3,200 as a freshman and, alsong with senior Kristin Stockheimer was also part of the winning 3,200 relay.

Also expected to help the Panthers along the way are seniors Molly Metcalf and Sarah Miller and junior Nicole Franzen in the sprints; Stockheimer, freshman Kathleen Thorn and her senior sister Elizabeth Thorn in the distances; Kostecki and sophomore C.J. Bina in the jumps.

“We have good balance,” Krall said. “There’s not one event where we are weak.

“At conference and regional, it is all about scoring in every event, and I think we can do that.”