Boys track ‘n field team looking to benefit from big roster in 2005

For the first time in several years, it looks like the Waukon boys track and field squad will have the depth to do great things. The 2005 Indians have a whopping 74-man roster to compete with this spring.

Head coach Joe O’Neill is excited about the upcoming year. The 74 athletes are the most he’s had during his three-year stay. “It’s good to have that many kids out. To build a successful program, you need to have good numbers and a deep team. We didn’t have the depth to keep up with some of the other conference teams the last few years.”

Last spring, the Tribe narrowly finished fourth at the Northeast Iowa Conference outdoor meet. With so many athletes to choose from, O’Neill is just looking for someone to step in and help lift the Indians to a better finish this time around. “We graduated some fine athletes. Now we’re just hoping for a few surprises and someone to step up and fill in some important spots.”

Overall, the Tribe looks to have the greatest depth in the sprint events. “We’re pretty deep in the sprints, which is where you want your depth. With relays like the 4x100 and 4x200, it takes a lot of kids to put together quality relays,” O’Neill pointed out.

While the coach is hoping some freshmen and sophomores will develop this spring, some of the Indians’ top veterans are members of the sprinting corps.

Seniors Ryan Snitker and Kyle McCormick both set WHS records during their junior campaigns. Snitker lowered the 400-meter hurdle mark by .35 of a second to 55.21 while McCormick reset the 110-meter high hurdle record at 14.6, .3 faster than the previous mark.

“I think we have a couple of the top sprinters in the conference,” the coach mentioned. “Kyle might be one of the top hurdlers in the state and we’re looking for him to do something good for us. He’s worked in the offseason to improve his speed and power and we expect big things from him,” O’Neill stated.

The Indians are also looking for another banner year from Snitker. “Ryan was fifth at state last year in the 400 hurdles. He’s got some high goals for this year and I know he’ll be hungry for another shot at state. We’ll also look for him to be our 400 leader after we lost Shawn Cunningham to graduation,” O’Neill added.

Fellow seniors Adam Schon and Jesse Volbrecht should also provide leadership for the Tribe. Schon has state meet experience after finishing strong in 2004. “Adam came on at the end of last year and he’s been looking good so far this year. I think he’ll step in and do some good things this year,” the coach added.

Sophomore Jeremy Hirth is yet another talented sprinter with experience on the state track, running with the 4x400 relay last year.

Other returning letterwinners are senior Dylan Newton and sophomores Jimmy Larson, Russell ReVoir, Devan Kuehn, Nic Lloyd, Andrew Snitker, and Jeremiah Volbrecht.

In the middle distance and distance races, Waukon should be a force, too. Several members of last fall’s third place cross country team are planning to hit the track for the Tribe in 2005.

“We look to be solid in our middle distance and distance events. We lost two of our leaders from last year in Andy Schon and Corbett Grimstad and they’ll be tough to replace,” O’Neill said. He didn’t stop there, however, explaining that this year’s senior crop is ready to take over the distance reigns.

The senior duo of Eric Osterhaus and Junior Swart paced the cross country Tribe during the fall and are looking to add to their success on the track. Both have been state meet qualifiers with Osterhaus running the 3200 at last spring’s season finale.

“Eric is looking to step in after qualifying for state last year in the two mile,” O’Neill said. “And Junior is coming off an outstanding cross country season and should be back for more success this spring.”

Swart will be a likely contender to fill Andy’s Schon’s spikes as a triple threat in the 800, 1600, and 3200 events.

At the shorter distances, the Indians have seniors Dan Cook and Kendal Sickels and junior Lee Waters. “Look for these three guys to fill our half-mile races,” the Indian coach stated.

Sophomore Hans Walleser also returns for the Indians after lettering his freshman year.

After lacking depth in the field events in recent seasons, the Indians could see a turnaround there in 2005. “The past few years we’ve gone into the season with a lot of question marks with our field events. But this year field events could be one of our more balanced areas,” O’Neill remarked.

In the throwing events, several young athletes have been tossing the shot put well. The sophomore duo of Sean Rea and Tony Drew, letterwinners last spring, will likely be challenged by several other weightmen for the right to compete.

“Right now we’re looking at three or four guys throwing over 40 feet. (Throwing coach) Tom Oppelt hasn’t really had to make the tough choices like he will this year. It will probably be tough to choose who throws in the meets, but I think that is a positive problem for us to have,” O’Neill added.

With winter still hanging around, the throwers haven’t focused much yet on the discus, but Waukon will have a large hole to fill after the graduation of Mitch Einck. Einck was a conference and district champion and finished well at state in 2004. “We counted on Mitch last year to get us points. We’ll need more kids to step and help there,” O’Neill noted.

In the jumping events, McCormick also returns from a consistent year of high jump competition and should once again be regular scorer for the Indians.

Snitker and Kuehn have long jumping experience. O’Neill is hoping for several young athletes to leap into the lineup for Indians.

“We just need kids to step up and score points in the field events and we’ll be competitive. We know we can compete on the track, we just need the field events to make us a balanced program,” the coach noted.

A couple of changes will be made across the state in boys track this year. One major rule change will be that an athlete may compete in four total events. In previous years, athletes could compete in four events, however at least one of those events had to be a field event. O’Neill explained the positive aspect of the change. “Now, especially in the sprints, we can have guys running four events. That could make a huge difference in scoring.”

Another change will be at the state meet. This year, boys and girls teams will compete together May 19-21 at Drake University. The meet will be extended an extra day, allowing more time for athletes to recuperate between events.

“I think combining the boys and girls meets will be a good thing. It cuts out that extra week between districts and state. And, by the end of the season the weather gets pretty hot, so having three days of competition will give the kids more time to rest between events,” O’Neill said.

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In NEIC action, the Indians will have to overcome reigning state champion Decorah to earn a league title. “Decorah is definitely the favorite since they’re defending state champs. They’ve got a lot of good kids coming back,” O’Neill explained.

“Charles City also returns some quality athletes and maybe even the state’s best runner in Greg Offerman,” the coach continued. “Hopefully, we’ll be in the mix, too. We just need kids to step up and make us a complete team.”