Waukon boys track team returns 10 letterwinners in 2017 squad of 55 members
2017 Waukon boys track returning letterwinners ... Left to right - Front row: Isaiah Welch, Abe Schwartz, Evan Armstead, Brandon Regan, Mitchell Snitker. Back row: Hunter Jensen, Austin Day, Tyler O’Neill, Adam Gruman, Blain Swenson.
2017 Waukon boys track seniors and juniors ... Left to right - Front row: Hunter Jensen, Evan Armstead, Jared Campbell, Abe Schwartz, Max Swartz, Carson Schwartzhoff, Blain Swenson. Second row: Andrew Miller, Isaiah Welch, Tanner Peterson, Ethan Krueger, Brandon Regan, Lukas Larson. Back row: Austin Day, Adam Gruman, Tyler O’Neill, Colin Waters, Tristan Hansmeier, Mitchell Snitker, Alex Brink. Not pictured: Andrew Dickson, Jadon Johnson, Wyatt Kiley, Brayden Mulholland, Chance Opperman.
2017 Waukon boys track sophomores and freshmen ... Left to right - Front row: Brennan Bednarski, Andrew Mellick, Dawson Baures, Carson Wille, Brady Sullivan, Thomas Byrnes, Asher Fahey, Reed Kelly, Brixen Hanson, Kaeden Snitker. Second row: Tyler Block, Lance Egan, Luke Pladsen, Alyx Ede, Tanner Mitchell, Brock Hatlan, Nathan Johnson, Dawson Palmer. Back row: Caleb Opfer, Miles Hansmeier, Baldemar Villarreal, Carter Benzing, Zach Davison, John Ronan, Spencer Bloxham, Michael Smith. Not pictured: Peyton Bieber, Christian Hernandez, Pryce Hesse, Justin Strub.
A squad of 55 members holds a great deal of promise for the 2017 Waukon boys track team this spring, but that promise won’t have a great deal of experience to benefit from. Just 10 of this year’s Indian track and fieldsters return with varsity letterwinning experience, as the track Tribe graduated a large group of strong competitors last spring.
Those veteran 10 are led by six seniors in Austin Day, Adam Gruman, Hunter Jensen, Tyler O’Neill, Brandon Regan and Blain Swenson. Juniors Evan Armstead, Abe Schwartz, Mitchell Snitker and Isaiah Welch round out this season’s returning letterwinning experience.
“As always, we expect our letterwinners to lead our practices and meets, especially early in the year,” Waukon boys track coach Ted Snitker said. “The young guys and new guys need that leadership as they start to get their feet wet. As the season progresses and those new ones become more comfortable, we still expect our letterwinners to lead, but more by what they are trying to accomplish themselves and how they compete. Whether that be the best finish they can achieve in the NEIC Meet, our Indian Relays, or be it a chance to run down at the State Meet.”
The Indians were scheduled to get their 2017 quest underway with the Northeast Iowa Conference Indoor Meet Tuesday, March 21 at Luther College in Decorah. The Tribe will then prepare for its first outdoor meet of the season, the Frostbite Invitational at Sumner-Fredericksburg Tuesday, March 28 before hosting its own outdoor season opener, the Waukon Early Bird Invitational Thursday, March 30, which is set to begin at 4:30 p.m.
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