Other sophomore members of the team include Drew Spykerboer, Dereck Klaassen, Cayd Boltjes, Lee Ferrell and Adam Sieff.
Sieff runs races between 200 and 800 meters, while Boltjes runs 400s and 800s. Klaassen is a thrower. The coach is unsure what events Spykerboer and Ferrell will compete in.
Rounding out the freshmen members of the team are distance runners Jared Drenth and Justin Hinks, middle distance-distance runner Michael Bos and throwers Chris Nuffer and Matt Anderson.
With a strong roster, Goehle feels good things will happen to the Patriot boys this season.
"We'll be able to cover a lot of events. We'll be young in the high and triple jumps, and we'll be inexperienced in the throwing events. We need to develop our sprinters, too. We do have a lot of potential in those areas. We'll be excellent in the middle distances and distances. Whether we are contending for team titles or not remains to be seen. If we keep improving and getting better as the season goes along, we'll acoomplish what we want to," he said.
The Patriot girls' team will face a different situation than the H-BC-E boys this spring.
H-BC-E will operate with a 24-athlete roster, 12 of which represent the upper four classes.
The pre-season roster is topped by three seniors, one junior, three sophomores and five freshmen.
Nine of the girls lettered in 2001, and four of them advanced to the Section 3A meet.
Not to be overlooked will be the 12 seventh- and eighth-graders who will be asked to contribute at the varsity level this season.
"We're low on numbers this year, but I don't see many teams out there that are high on numbers this year," Goehle said. "WeÕre expecting to get more help from our seventh- and eighth-grade girls than we'll be asking from the boys in the same grades. With lower numbers, we'll be using more younger kids to fill our relay teams."
H-BC-E lost three quality athletes to graduation last spring.
Shanna Tilstra, Connie Lewis and Janelle Jenniges were good senior leaders who performed well enough to advance to section competition.
Tilstra was a member of H-BC-E's 800-, 1,600-, and 3,200-meter relays, which advanced to the section meet. The 3,200-meter squad set a school record and finished third in the section, while the 1,600-meter team placed seventh.
Tilstra also advanced to the section meet in the high jump and 800-meter run, finishing eighth overall in the high jump.
Jenniges ran with the 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays as well as advancing to the section meet in the pole vault.
Lewis earned a berth in the section meet by placing second in the triple jump at the sub-section level.
Although last year's seniors will be missed, Goehle is looking forward to seeing how his new team fares against the competition in 2002.
"We don't have a lot of kids, but the girls we do have are great kids. We have a nice mix of kids with ability and potential, and we should be able to piece together some good relay teams," he said.
Seniors LaDonna Sandstede and Bev Wurpts and sophomore Erin Boeve have to be considered the leaders of the H-BC-E squad. All three girls advanced to the section meet while lettering last season.
Sandstede, a sprinter, is a hard-working athlete who runs the first leg of H-BC-E's sprint relays.
She competed in the 800-meter relay at the section meet as a junior.
Wurpts excels in races of 800 meters and longer.
As well as running with the 1,600 and 3,200 relays last season, she won the 1,600-meter run at the sub-section meet before placing fifth in the event at the section level.
Boeve competes in short sprints or middle distance races. She also is a long and triple jumper.
As well as being a member of the 800- and 1,600-meter relays last season, she won a sub-section title in the 100, placed third in the long jump and fourth in the 200.
Senior Miranda Anderson and junior Kelsey Hansel round out the upperclassmen on the 2002 roster.
Anderson will run distances and Hansel sprints.
First-year sophomores Kelley Fransman and Amanda Olson are expected to help the team as a distance runner and a thrower respectively.
Four of the five freshmen on the pre-season roster lettered as eighth-graders.
Kelly Mulder will jump, run sprints and throw the shot put, Cassi Tilstra will run races up to 1,600 meters and pole vault, Melinda Feucht will run sprints, the hurdles and triple jump, and Brittney Rozeboom can run sprints, distances and triple jump.
Tilstra, who won the sub-section 400-meter dash title as a seventh-grader, placed second in the sub-section in that event last season. She also competed with the 1,600- and 3,200-meter relay teams.
First-year freshman Danielle Fransman will run sprints and be a jumper for the Patriots.