The Britton-Hecla track squad had a taste of competition at an indoor meet at Northern State University in Aberdeen on Monday but will have to wait a couple of weeks to compete on an outdoor track.
Junior high tracksters will open their season on Tuesday, April 14 in Milbank, while the varsity team opens at Milbank on Thursday, April 16.
Britton-Hecla had a number of placers at NSU on Monday, led by event winners Ben Suther in the 400 dash, Jaelee Grupe in the high jump, and Abby Lee in the triple jump.
Suther also was third in the 200, teamed up with Jaxon Zuehlke, Nathan Folkman, and Drew Heitmann to place second in the 1600 relay, and was sixth in the 55-meter dash. Heitmann was also third in the 800 and seventh in the 400, and Zuehlke was fifth in the 400. Jade Tisher was sixth in triple jump.
In the girls division Lee also placed second in long jump and Ailyn Lee was fourth in both long and triple jump. Daynika Zuehlke was second in the 800, Marley Sundin fourth in the 100, Avalon Dinger sixth in the 55 hurdles, Elsa Bosse-Faulhaber seventh in the 400, and the foursome of Bosse-Faulhaber, Abby Lee, Ailyn Lee, and Zuehlke was seventh in the 400 relay.
“I thought the first meet went pretty good,” said B-H coach Stephanie Symens, who is assisted by Katrina Knecht, Jenna Nordquist, and Jacob Skogstad. “It’s nice being able to run against somebody other than your teammates and we had the three event winners and others that placed. It’s always nice to see where we are the first time around and knock some of the rust off.”
Symens had 15 boys and nine girls report for this year’s squad. Returning letterwinner Jaxon Zuehlke is the only senior on the boys’ roster. Other letterwinners back include junior Ben Suther, sophomores Chaz Vietor and Jack Teveldal, and freshman Drew Heitmann. Rounding out the boys’ team are junior Elijah Fox, sophomores Nathan Folkman and Noah Schuster, and freshmen Carter Nelson, Cody Chapin, Danny Small, Joseph O’Brien, Luke Bose, Liam Paxton, and Max Suther.
Returning letterwinners for the girls’ team are senior Abby Lee; juniors Avalon Dinger, Daynika Zuehlke, and Marley Sundin; sophomore Jaelee Grupe; and freshman Livia Knecht, Ailyn Lee, and Elsa Bosse-Faulhaber. Sophomore Jiana Davidson rounds out the roster. Symens has just a total of seven junior high athletes in track this spring – one seventh grader and six eighth graders.
Nine B-H athletes return that were state qualifiers a year ago. Jaxon Zuehlke qualified in the javelin, he was part of the 3200 relay with Teveldal and Heitmann and also part of the 1600 relay with Suther. Vietor and Grupe were high jump qualifiers, Sundin competed in the 100 dash, and Knecht and Daynika Zuehlke were members of the 3200 relay quartet. Abby Lee qualified for state in triple jump but was unable to compete due to an injury after placing in the event the previous two years.
“We have a smaller team this year but have a really good core group, and I’m excited to see what they are going to do this year,” concluded Symens. “With our roster being a little different it kind of opens us up to try things we haven’t done before like running more open events. We just need to get out there and see what the kids can do. You just don’t know what you’re going to get from year to year with the athletes getting bigger, faster, and stronger. That’s really fun to see.”
FOR FULL STATS, SEE THIS WEEK'S JOURNAL
