Seven runners who ran in last year’s Section 3A meet return to the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton cross country program this fall. They are (from left) Derek Haak, Mya Mann, Kale Wiertzema, Lee Jackson and Tyler Bush. Not pictured are Amanda Tilstra and Todd Alberty.By John RittenhouseAfter experiencing a historic 2002 campaign, the Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton boys’ cross country team is looking to produce an encore performance this fall.With many of the athletes returning to a program that won its first Section 3A championship and competed in its first state meet, the Patriots will open the 2003 season as one of Southwest Minnesota’s top contenders for more postseason glory.Tom Goehle, H-BC-E-E’s head coach, realizes the Patriot boys will be a team other area squads will be trying to knock off this fall. He knows his boys will be a targeted team at every meet they compete in, but the Patriot coach is more concerned with how his athletes accept the challenge rather than worrying about the competition."We definitely have the potential to have a good year, but it will take a lot of hard work, and we’ll have to stay injury free to get back to where we were last year," he said. "The big thing is these guys have tasted success, and they are not afraid to work hard for it."Hard work paid off for the Patriots in 2002, when they won their second consecutive Red Rock Conference championship before nipping Canby-Minneota-Lincoln HI 63-64 to secure the section team title. H-BC-E-E turned in a solid effort at state, placing sixth in a 16-team Class A field to cap a spectacular year.Goehle will have to tap the talent from a 20-athlete roster (two seniors, five juniors, three sophomores, one freshman, one eighth-grader and eight seventh-graders) to bring the program more success in 2003. The roster features seven returning letter winners and five boys who ran in the post-season meets, but the list is missing the names of two runners who made impacts at the varsity level last fall.Zach Hadler, the 2002 team’s lone senior, will leave big shoes to fill. He was the team’s No. 2 runner last year, making the All-RRC team by placing second at the meet. Hadler placed eighth in the section field before placing 60th at state.The Patriots also face the possibility of replacing Greg Van Batavia, who made the All-RRC team (eighth), placed 16th at the section meet and 92nd at state. A junior, Van Batavia is concentrating on football this fall. Only a change of heart on his part would get him back into the cross country program.H-BC-E-E does have its No. 1 runner from 2002 back in the ranks.Junior Tyler Bush, who won the RRC individual title, placed third at the section meet and made the All-State Team with a 15th-place performance in Northfield, will be the leader of the team.Bush will be pushed by seniors Todd Alberty and Lee Jackson and juniors Kale Wiertzema and Derek Haak, the other returning members of last year’s state-qualifying team.Wiertzema and Alberty made the All-RRC team last season, placing fifth and sixth individually at the league meet. Wiertzema placed 17th in the section field and 76th at state. Alberty finished 26th in the section field and 87th at state.Jackson made a contribution to last year’s section title by being the fifth Patriot to finish the race by placing 22nd overall. Jackson placed 108th at state. Haak placed 38th and 150th at the section and state attractions individually.The way things stand right now, five boys are battling for two open positions on the varsity squad.Juniors Jared Drenth and Michael Bos lettered for H-BC-E-E in 2002. They will be challenged by freshmen Kerry Fink, John Sandbulte and Devin DeBoer, three more veterans of the program.Freshman Adam Finke and eighth-grader Grant Hoogendoorn could develop into varsity contenders before the season is complete.Seventh-graders Dustin Verhey, Tyler Larson, Cody Penning, Terrence Reid, Brady Leuthold, B.J. Kruse, Tom Nolte and Derek Denth round out the roster."Our goals are to win the conference, and the kids want to get back to state," Goehle said. "That’s easier said than done. It probably will be harder to get back to state than it was getting there last season. If we do get back, we would like to place higher as a team than we did last year. You always want to do a little better than you did the year before."The H-BC-E-E girls should be an improved team in 2003.After going through a stretch of years being unable to field a complete team, Goehle feels the girls will have a chance to field a varsity squad at the end of this season."We will definitely field a varsity team this season," he said. "Early on, we’ll have the girls compete as junior high and junior varsity teams. As the year progresses, we’ll have kids running as junior varsity and varsity teams."The Patriots will enter the season with an eight-athlete roster consisting of one junior, three freshmen, three eighth-graders and one seventh-grader. Two of the girls lettered for H-BC-E-E last season, and another has lettered for the Patriots in the past.H-BC-E-E lost two athletes (senior exchange student Corinna Braun and Edgerton athlete Erika Fransen, who elected not to compete this year) that ran in the section meet last fall.The Patriots return two runners with section experience from 2002, and six girls who are loaded with potential that could make a big impact on the program this fall.Junior Cassi Tilstra and freshmen Amanda Tilstra and Mya Mann will be key figures in the fold.Amanda Tilstra and Mann finished 58th and 65th respectively during last year’s section meet. Cassi Tilstra, who also plays volleyball, has lettered for Goehle in the past. Scheduling conflicts forced Cassi to miss some big meets last season."In Cassi Tilstra, Amanda Tilstra and Mya Mann, we have a great nucleus," Goehle said. "They are three of the better 800- and 1,600-meter runners I’ve had since I’ve been coaching. With a little training, they will be great cross country runners. They should be some of the toughest runners in the area this year."Four first-year program members with past track and field experience round out the 2003 roster.Freshman Amanda Connors, eighth-graders Jocelyn Bucher, Ashley Bucher and Jill Weitgenant and seventh-grader Rayna Sandoval will be key members of the girls program now and in the future."The younger girls have a lot of potential and they are hardworkers. Mix them in with the three older girls, and we should be in good shape. I would like to see our girls win the RRC title. I think that is a legitimate goal this year," Goehle said.
