By John RittenhouseThe Hills-Beaver Creek-Ellsworth-Edgerton boys will be team to contend with in track and field this season.With 45 athletes in grades 7-12 participating in the program, H-BC-E-E has the numbers to compete for meet titles.Considering the team has a lot of top-notch, proven athletes in the mix, the Patriots will be a squad foes will not be able to overlook in the quest for Red Rock Conference and Sub-Section 10 championships."We’re in great shape numbers-wise, and we’ll be a very competitive group," said H-BC-E-E coach Tom Goehle. "I think we have a definite range of athletes as far as covering all of the events goes. It’s going to be an interesting season."The Patriots are coming off an interesting 2003 season, when they made some noise in Southwest Minnesota as well as the state meet.H-BC-E placed third at the annual RRC and Camden Conference meets before placing second to Luverne at the Sub-Section 10 event.The Patriots placed a strong third at the Section 3A event, then turned in a stunning second-place performance (best in school history) at the state meet in Blaine.H-BC-E-E, however, lost key performers in Dylan Kvaale and Chris Reid to graduation.Kvaale emerged as one of the team’s top hurlders. He also scored some points in the triple jump.Reid is the type of athlete that will be impossible to replace.As well as running with H-BC-E-E’s 1,600-meter relay team, which won a sub-section title and placed third at the section level, Reid was an outstanding individual performer.He won sub-section titles in the 100- and 200-meter dashes as well as in the long jump. Reid met the state-qualifying standard while placing third in the long jump at the section meet, and he also advanced by placing first and second in the 200 and 100 respectively.Reid’s dream season continued at state, where he won championships in the 100 and long jump, and placed third in the 200.Reid’s performance at state set the stage for the team’s second-place finish in Blaine, but he received some help from some boys who will be the leaders of the 2004 team that consists of five seniors, 11 juniors, four sophomores, four freshmen and 21 seventh- and eighth-graders.Eleven Patriots return with varsity letters from the 2003 campaign. The list features six boys who competed at the section meet, including four who advanced to state.Seniors Todd Alberty and Lee Jackson and juniors Tyler Bush and Kale Wiertzema return to the team with state exposure in 2003.Bush won sub-section and section titles in the 800-meter run before placing fifth in the event at state.Bush also joined Alberty, Jackson and Wiertzema in the 3,200-meter relay, an event H-BC-E-E won sub-section and section titles in before placing eighth at the state meet.Bush, Alberty, Jackson and Wiertzema also formed a strong 1,600-meter relay team, placing second in the sub-section and third in the section one year ago.Alberty and Jackson experienced success individually. Alberty advanced to the section meet after placing third in the 400-meter dash and fourth in the triple jump at the sub-section level. Jackson qualified for the section meet by placing fourth in the 800 at the sub-section attraction.Senior Curt Schilling and junior Cody Scholten also experienced success in the postseason meets for H-BC-E-E.Schilling, the team’s top returning thrower, placed fourth in the sub-section and sixth in the section in the shot put. He also was a member of H-BC-E-E’s 800-meter relay team, which advanced to the section meet after placing fourth at the sub-section level.Scholten won a sub-section title and placed sixth at the section meet in the high jump.Juniors Jared Drenth and Derek Haak return as letter winners from the 2003 season.Drenth will run distances in 2004, Haak will run races 800 meters and longer.Sophomores Roger DeBoer, John Sandbulte and Devin DeBoer round out the returning letter winners from last spring.Roger DeBoer is a hurdler, Devin DeBoer runs middle distances, and Sandbulte runs 200s-800s as well as performing as a jumper.Goehle expects production from seniors Lee Farrell and Soren Trebesch, who are participating in the program for the first time this year. The coach is unsure what events they will compete in at this point.The coach has a better idea what events juniors Tom LeBoutillier, Travis Broesder, Greg Van Batavia and Paul DeLeon will help the team in.LeBoutillier received experience as a member of the Westbrook-Walnut Grove program as a hurdler, sprinter and jumper. Broesder is a sprinter, DeLeon is a sprinter-hurdler, and Van Batavia will run races between 400 and 1,600 meters.Two first-year juniors, Robert Baker and Brett Hood, are searching for the events they will be able to produce in.Goehle feels sophomore Javier Cisneros has the ability to help the team as a sprinter, and thinks sfreshmen Tanner Scholten, Adam Voss and Tom Leuthold have the potential to become good throwers. Cody Rozeboom, another freshman, will run races between 400 and 800 meters this season.The coach said the 21 seventh- and eighth-graders on the roster will get the chance to help the varsity team this season.Goehle singled out eighth-grade distance sprinter-distance runner and seventh-grade distance runner as underclassmen who could excel at the varsity level this season.A mix of proven and untested talent will form the H-BC-E-E girls’ team this season.The Patriots will take a 36-athlete roster into the season consisting of three seniors, six juniors, four sophomores, eight freshmen and 15 seventh- and eighth-graders.The list includes 14 letter winners, 10 section participants and two state qualifiers from the 2003 campaign."We have a lot of new faces on the girls’ team," Goehle said. "We have a lot of inexperienced kids, but, at the same time, we have a lot of potential.""We also have a core group of experienced girls," he continued. "Hopefully, our core group can make the new kids better."H-BC-E-E placed third at the CC, RRC and Sub-Section 10 meets last season, and ninth at the Section 3A event.The Patriots lost a solid senior in sprinter-jumper Amber Poppen.Poppen placed second in the high jump and third on the long jump at the sub-section level, and she finished eighth in the high jump at the section meet. She also was a of the 800-meter relay team, which placed third in the sub-section and fourth in the section.Senior Erin Boeve and junior Cassi Tilstra return as key members from the 2003 team.Boeve, jumper-sprinter, excelled in individual events and relays last season. She placed second in the long jump and 100-meter dash at the sub-section meet. Boeve placed fifth in the section in the 100, and earned a trip to state by placing second in the long jump. She placed 10th at the state meet in the long jump. Boeve also ran with the 800-meter relay.Tilstra ran individually and with relay teams, too.She won sub-section 10 and Section 3A championships in the 800-meter run, but was unable to advance to the finals at state. She also ran with the 800 relay.Junior Kelly Mulder, sophomore Rosie Lewis, freshmen Amanda Tilstra, Chelsi Fink, Amanda Connors and Mya Mann, and eighth-graders Jocelyn Bucher and Ashley Bucher return to the team with section experience from 2003.Mulder teamed up with Connors, Lewis, and Fink to place fourth in the sub-section in the 400-meter relay.Mann was a key member of the 2003 team as an eighth-grader.Along with running for the 800-meter relay, Mann advanced to the section meet in the 800-meter run by placing third at the sub-section meet. Mann placed sixth in the section in the 800, and ran a leg for H-BC-E-E’s 1,600-meter relay, which placed third in the sub-section and eighth in the section.Cassi Tilstra, Amanda Tilstra and Jocelyn Bucher are other members of the 1,600-meter relay.Amanda Tilstra, who placed third in the 1,600-meter run at the sub-section meet, helped form H-BC-E-E’s 3,200-meter relay, which placed second in the sub-section and eighth in the section meet. Ashley and Jocelyn Bucher also ran with the 3,200-meter relay team.Other girls returning to the program with varsity letters from 2003 include sophomores Stacy Bush and Katie McGaffee, freshman Tyra Hinrichs and eighth-grader Brittany Helgeson.Bush will run the 1,600 and high jump for the Patriots. McGaffee is a thrower. Hinrichs runs the 800, and Helgeson runs sprints and middle distances.Joining Boeve as senior members of the team are exchange students Martina Majchrzak and Miriam Heitz. Heitz will compete in the high jump. Goehle is unsure what events Majchrzak will compete in.Junior Melinda Feucht is practicing with the team, but the sprinter is coming off a knee injury sustained during the basketball season. It is questionable if she will be able to make an impact at the varsity level this season.Goehle is unsure what events juniors Shannon Ashby, Amy Bechler and Çathy Serikawa will participate in.The coach lists freshmen Laura Timmer and Shelly Sas as a thrower and a sprinter respectively.Freshmen Lacey Latten and Brittany Osborn are searching for their events of strength.The remaining 12 seventh- and eighth-graders on the roster will be asked to step up and help the varsity team as the season progresses.
