The H-BC-E boys also have a lot of returning talent from the 2000 season.
Goehle lists 15 boys in grades nine-12 who should make an impact at the varsity level this season, along with some talented junior high athletes.
Six Patriots return to the team with section experience from last spring, and two of those boys advanced to the state meet.
Last season, H-BC lost five boys to graduation from a team that placed second at the sub-section meet and fifth at the section event.
Ellsworth, a team that finished seventh at the sub-section level, lost a pair of seniors to graduation.
Ryan Behr and Steve Bakken were a pair of senior sprinters who enjoyed outstanding senior seasons.
Behr was a member of H-BC's sub-section champion 400- and 800-meter relays. The 800-meter relay, which set a new sub-section record, went on to place second at the section meet.
Behr also won a sub-section title and placed third at the section meet in the 200-meter dash.
Bakken, who was second to Behr in the 200 at the sub-section level, also was a member of H-BC's 400- and 800-meter relays.
Chris Nelson and Andy Tofteland were solid middle distance runners for H-BC during their senior seasons. They formed one-half of H-BC's 3,200-meter relay, which placed third at the sub-section meet and second at the section attraction.
Tofteland also ran with H-BC's 1,600-meter relay, which finished third in the sub-section without placing at the section level. Tofteland was an individual qualifier for the section meet after placing fourth in the sub-section in the 400-meter dash.
Nathan Fodness was a senior thrower who didnÕt advance past the sub-section level for H-BC last year.
Ellsworth's key loss to graduation was senior exchange student Stephan Gaertner, who was the lone Panther boy to advance to the section meet after finishing fourth in the sub-section long jump. Gaertner didn't make the finals in the long jump at the section event.
Alex Diogenes, another exchange student, was Ellsworth's other senior in 2000.
Considering what they accomplished last season, junior Brad Haak and senior Chris Willers have to be considered leaders of the H-BC-E boys' team in 2001.
Haak emerged as one of the state's top 800-meter runners as a sophomore.
He won the sub-section title and placed second in the section to advance to the state meet in Blaine, where he placed fifth in the Class A field.
Haak also ran with H-BC's 1,600- and 3,200-meter relays last season.
Willers, who was a member of the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 relays in 2000, developed into H-BC's top long sprinter last spring.
He won the sub-section title in the 400-meter dash and earned a trip to state after placing second in the section during that event. Willers did not make the finals in the 400 at state.
Willers is expected to run races between 200 and 800 meters this season. He also may throw the shot.
Goehle expects Chris Fransman and Vlad Pastushenko, who round out the 2001 senior members of the team, to play key roles for the squad.
Fransman is a talented high jumper who also runs sprints.
The owner of H-BC's high jump standard, Fransman won the sub-section title in that event and placed fourth in the 100-meter dash at the sub-section meet. He also was a member of H-BC's 400- and 800-meter relays. Fransman was fourth in the high jump at the section meet.
Pastushenko, an exchange student, has displayed a lot of potential in the pre-season.
Goehle says he is an excellent long and triple jumper who also can run sprints.
Junior Matt Buck, sophomore Chris Reid and eighth-grader Tyler Bush return to the team after qualifying for the section meet in 2000.
Buck, an athlete who can run races up to 800 meters as well as throw the shot put, placed third in the sub-section in the triple jump last season. He also ran with H-BC's 1,600-meter relay at the sub-section meet before being replaced by Willers at the section event.
Reid and Bush, who ran with H-BC's 400- and 1,600-meter relays respectively, placed in individual events at the section meet. Reid, who was third in the 100-meter dash during the sub-section meet, placed sixth in that event at the section level. Bush was second in the sub-section and eighth in the section in the 1,600-meter run.
Bush is expected to run 800s and 1,600s in 2001. Reid will run sprints and long jump.
Five more juniors are expected to help the H-BC-E varsity team this spring.
Nathan Fick is a quality distance runner, while Randy Krull, Lee Walraven and Ryan Ranschau are expected to be throwers. Walraven also will run sprints.
Jeremy Tiesler, a jumper, rounds out the junior members of the team.
Pat Nelson joins Reid as the sophomore members of the H-BC-E team. Nelson will be a thrower.
Freshman members of the squad include Lee Jackson, Cayd Boltjes and Derek Klaassen.
Klaassen is a thrower, Boltjes a sprinter and Jackson can run races between 200 and 3,200 meters.
Like the girls, Goehle expects some seventh- and eighth-graders to step up and help what should be a good H-BC-E varsity boys' team.
"We're really looking forward to get the season under way," Goehle said. "We'll be as strong as we've ever been in covering every event on both the boys' and girls' sides. We've always been competitive as teams, but we feel we're even more competitive with Ellsworth joining us. The kids would like to do well throughout the year, and they also have set the goal of getting some individuals and relays to the state meet."