By John Rittenhouse
With the addition of another team to the fold, what has been a solid track program in Hills should become even stronger in 2003.
Now that Edgerton Public as joined ranks with Hills-Beaver Creek and Ellsworth, the Patriots have strength they haven’t seen before.
They have the numbers to compete for a Sub-Section 10 championship with all the bigger schools that used numbers to their advantage in the past.
The H-BC boys’ squad, a team that placed second in the Red Rock Conference, third in the Camden Conference, Sub-Section 10 and Section 3A and seventh at the state meet has an opportunity to improve on those performances this spring.
With a 42-athlete roster, which is up from 26 boys last season, Patriot coach Tom Goehle is excited about his team’s prospects in 2003.
"We have great numbers, and our numbers cover different areas. We will be fairly well-represented in every event," he said.
The Patriots will have to replace four seniors from the 2002 team, including one irreplaceable athlete.
Brad Haak, a four-time state qualifier and a one-time state champion in the 800-meter run, has left the program after an outstanding career.
Haak’s senior season was highlighted by third- and ninth-place finishes in the 800- and 400-meter events at the state meet.
He also was a member of H-BC-E’s 3,200-meter relay team, which won sub-section and section titles before placing fourth at state. He also won sub-section titles in the 400 and 800, RRC titles in the high jump, 800 and 1,600, and CC crowns in the 400 and was a member of the 800-meter relay.
Randy Krull and Ryan Ranschau were senior throwers from the 2002 team, and Lee Walraven ran with some successful relay teams.
H-BC-E-E’s 2003 roster consists of two seniors, five juniors, 11 sophomores, six freshmen and 18 seventh- and eighth-graders that could get the chance to make an impact at the varsity level this spring. The roster features 12 returning letter winners, nine section qualifiers and four athletes that competed at the state meet last season.
"When I look at our roster, I see a lot of kids who have been to state in either football, basketball, cross country or track," Goehle said.
"I see a lot of winners. Those are the type of guys who want to compete and get to the next level. Those type of attitudes are contagious, and that will be a plus for us."
Athletes returning to the team with state experience from 2002 are senior Chris Reid, junior Lee Jackson and sophomores Tyler Bush and Greg Van Batavia.
Goehle expects a big season from Reid, who placed fifth in the 100-meter dash and sixth in the long jump one year ago.
Reid won RRC titles in those same events last season, and won CC crowns in the 200-meter dash and as a member of the 400-meter relay team.
Reid placed second in the 100 and 200 and third in the long jump at the sub-section meet, and was a member of the third-place finishing 400-meter relay team. He won section titles in the 100 and long jump, and finished third in the 200.
Jackson, a member of H-BC-E-E’s cross country team that advanced to state last season, was a key performer in relays last season. As well as competing with the 400-meter and 3,200-meter teams, he was a member of the 1,600-meter squad that placed second in the sub-section.
As well as being a member of the 1,600 and 3,200 relays, Bush placed second to Haak in the 800 at the section and sub-section meets. He placed eighth in the 800 at state, and won a CC title in that event.
Like Bush, Van Batavia ran with the H-BC-E-E cross country team last fall. He was a key member of the 3,200-meter relay team, and the 800-meter squad that placed third at the sub-section meet. He placed fourth individually at the sub-section level in the 3,200.
Junior Todd Alberty and sophomores Zach Boyum, Kale Wiertzema and Cody Scholten and freshman Devin DeBoer also competed at the section meet last season.
Wiertzema placed third in the 3,200 at the sub-section event. DeBoer and Scholten filled in positions for relay teams at the section meet.
Alberty and Boyum ran with an Edgerton relay team that competed at the section meet.
Other returning letter winners from the 2002 team include sophomores Michael Bos and Derek Haak and freshmen Roger DeBoer, John Sandbulte and Kerry Fink.
Haak and Bos are distance runners. DeBoer is the team’s top hurdler, and he runs sprints. Sandbulte and Fink run middle distances.
Goehle thinks senior Dylan Kvaale and juniors Dereck Klaassen, Brad Van Dyke and Curt Schilling will help the varsity team this spring.
Kvaale and Schilling were members of Ellsworth’s successful boys’ basketball team this winter. Goehle is unsure which events they will compete in. Klaassen is a thrower from Ellsworth. Van Dyke, a jumper-thrower, is from Edgerton.
Sophomore Jared Drenth will be a distance runner for the Patriots this spring, while Edgerton sophomores Scott Tinklenberg, Chad Spronk and Dan Buys are other potential varsity candidates.
Buys is a thrower. Goehle is unsure which events Tinklenberg and Spronk will specialize in.
Freshman Jason Martens will be a thrower for H-BC-E-E, and Aaron Aristeo will runs sprints, middle distances and jump. Goehle is unsure what the team’s 18 seventh- and eighth-graders will compete in.
"We’re going to have a diverse boys’ team," Goehle said.
