The OABCIG boys and girls track and field squads took part in the Dan Lennon Track and Field Meet on Tuesday. The meet was hosted by the University of South Dakota, and took place in the Dakota Dome in Vermillion.
Ridge View girls track coach Angie Kohn has some top athletes coming back this season. Overall, the squad is young, with four seniors, three juniors, twelve sophomores, and eight freshmen. Kohn talked about the strengths of her team.
“I think we will be fairly solid competitors all around,” said Kohn. “We have athletes who can score points for the team in all disciplines. We look to place well in all of these events, with no one event or area being our main strength.”
Ridge View coach Dale Tokheim has 34 athletes out for track and field this season, including some key returners from last year’s conference championship team, which sent eight events to state. Tokheim talked about some of the athletes missing from last year’s team.
The Ridge View boys golf squad will be starting their season with some familiar faces. Raptor coach Alex Warnke has some experienced golfers returning in seniors Brady Clausen and Aiden Martin, as well as sophomore Ethan Mason. Warnke is looking at a bigger role for junior Levi Albers, as well as many sophomore and freshman newcomers. The team has a total of 19 golfers out this year.
Ridge View girls golf coach Brian Bode has five golfers ready to improve their game and have some fun this year. The Raptors’ top returning performers are senior Emma Vohs, a first team all-conference selection last season, and junior Beth Mentzer. Looking to replace players gone from last year’s team are sophomore Kierstin Volkert, and freshmen Emma Mentzer and Addison Voge. Bode talked about his team’s strengths and weaknesses.
The OABCIG boys and girls track squads took part in the Spirit Lake Invite last Tuesday, which was held at Buena Vista University in Storm Lake. In boys’ action, Easton Harms took 12th place out of 42 competitors in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.64 seconds. Joel Nakazawa turned in a time of 8.15 seconds, while Andrew Parks, Anthony Santana-Solis, and Jayms Williams all finished neck and neck in approximately 8.4 seconds. In the 800-meter run, Myles Beck and Quintin Samway finished back to back with times of 2:52.77 and 2:56.21, respectively.
OABCIG boys track coach Travis Chizek is looking forward to the upcoming season.
“We have a lot of great athletes coming back this year,” said Chizek. “Our top sprinters returning are Gabe Winterrow, Ethan Behrendsen, Beau Nieman, Beckett DeJean, Easton Harms, and Karson Quirk. In addition to these sprinters, we have Treyten Kolar and Kelton Ladwig, who are hurdlers that we are excited to see what they do this year.”
Chizek has some athletes to develop in other events as well.
Coach Bob Saunders and the OABCIG girls track team are looking forward to another competitive track season this spring.
“Our strength is the depth we will have with 42 athletes,” said Saunders. “This is the largest team we have ever had.”
The Falcons will be fielding a relatively young team.
“Our main challenge is the youth of our team, with 30 athletes being freshman and sophomores,” explained Saunders. “We will see how much they can improve throughout the season.”
