Colfax track teams gearing up for a strong season

COLFAX  —  With 39 boys and girls out for track, Colfax head coach Ryan Krall predicts that both track teams will have a strong finish at the end of the season.

Krall, who is beginning his eighth season coaching the girls’ track team, also will once again be coaching the boys’ track team.

Krall will be assisted in coaching by Eric Kyles, Tania Fogarty, Lexi Burnickel, Courtney Doucette, Jamie Buchholtz, Britanny Rothbauer, Tim Devine and Laura Lowe.

The girls’ track team lost four athletes from last year: Katie Christoffel, Dannielle Dachel, Alyssa Miller and Alexis Rudi.

“Katie and Dannielle were both multiple-time state meet participants and will definitely be difficult to replace this season. Katie’s performances in the hurdle races, as a qualifier for the state meet in the 300M hurdles last season, leave a particularly big gap to fill on our squad this upcoming season,” Krall said.

The Colfax girls’ track team’s last conference title was in 2010.

The boys’ track team also has suffered some losses with five seniors gone from last year’s team: Andrew Adix, Jon Hayton, Jacob Klukas, Ben Kragness and Jeremiah Wait.

“Andrew Adix finished third in the state in the 200M dash last season and was a huge part of our successful spring relay teams,” Krall said.

“Filling his shoes will be a difficult task that probably can’t be done by one kid. Ben Kragness was a state-qualifying thrower that consistently scored points for us ‘meet in and meet out’ last year. Our throws performance will need to really step up to replace Ben’s contributions from a year ago,” he said.

Girls returning starters

Dempsey Fogarty is a senior who enters her last season as one of the top scorers Colfax has ever had in track and field history.

Fogarty’s times last year in the 800M are approaching the school record set by Sarah McMahon in 2010, Krall noted.

“I think breaking that record is a goal of hers as the season progresses. She will have a heavy workload again this year and will probably be our greatest point scorer for the season as well. Her success will be a huge part of our team success this year,” Krall said.

Courtney Dressel is coming off “a really good cross country season and is primed to have to a great senior season for us this year,” Krall said.

“Very few people care about this sport as much as she does. I’m excited to see what this season holds for her,” he said.

Marianne Scharlau ended up as the top point scoring thrower last season.

“She is blessed with all the physical tools to be a great thrower and showed flashes of how good she can be down the road last season,” Krall said.

“Consistency is the key for Marianne, but I think she definitely has the potential to be one of the top three throwers in our conference this season,” he said.

Sprinters Ally Heidorn, Bryana Buchanan and Megan Schleusner will again carry the workload in that department.

“They all had great seasons last year and got a taste of competing at the state meet as members of our 4x100M relay team. All three are great kids and will only get better as they continue to improve for us this season,” Krall said.

Boys returning starters

Jelani Smit is the only returning athlete who competed at the state meet last season when he qualified for the 300M hurdles as a sophomore.

“Jelani is blessed with freakish natural ability and could possibly be the most naturally gifted athlete I’ve ever coached. We will try to branch him out beyond the hurdles this year as we will rely on more and more this upcoming season,” Krall said.

The top returning distance runner is Tucker Hovde.

“No one outworks Tucker. He has always remained positive and driven despite being a part of what I believe to be the most difficult regional/sectional for distance running boys in the state in Division 3. Hopefully Tucker’s hard work can pay off this year in a trip to the state meet in LaCrosse. He certainly deserves it,” Krall said.

Hunter Lieffort appears poised to close out his career by qualifying for the state meet in the pole vault this season.

“He has made consistent progress each year, and although he fought through a neck injury last year, he narrowly missed qualifying for LaCrosse. His added strength over the winter could be what he needs to put himself over the top and earn his trip to state,” Krall said.

As a triple jumper, Isaac Lee also is an athlete who continues to work hard toward his goal of qualifying for state.

“Isaac works extremely hard and truly is a student of the game, (and) combined with a lot of natural ability and another year of strength will hopefully earn him a trip to state this season,” Krall said.

New athletes

A number of new and young athletes on both the boys’ and girls’ teams have no prior track and field experience.

“We are excited to see what these kids can become as they move through our training program. Through our first few practices, I have been impressed with the work ethic of our young and inexperienced kids,” Krall said.

“Erica Kallstrom is one newcomer (who) comes in with a lot of optimism. After finishing in the top 15 at the state cross country meet as a freshmen, we are excited to see how she transitions to the track for us this spring,” he said.

Comparisons

The loss of Katie Christoffel and Dannielle Dachel leaves “a large hole” for the girls’ track team to fill, Krall said.

“We will need multiple people to step up and fill in for what we lose by the graduation of these two athletes. In the field, we are essentially the same team we were last year. We are very optimistic we can take yet another step forward with these kids and continue to compete strongly on the state level,” he said.

The loss of Ben Kragness and Andrew Adix will make the track season much more challenging for the boys’ team, Krall said.

Be that as it may, “I think we have some of the pieces in place to help make up for the contributions of those guys. Having a few of our athletes available to us for the duration of the season will help us be a strong contender once again at the end of the season,” he said.

Challenges

With only 16 girls out for track and field this year, “we will certainly be at a disadvantage as far as filling every event with high quality athletes,” Krall said.

“We will do our best to fill as many events as possible, and the (girls) we will fill them with are pretty good, but depth will again be an issue for us,” he said.

The boys are expected to be strong in the sprint events because of the strong returning sprinters, Krall said.

“With so many new athletes with no high school track and field experience, we will need to acclimate ourselves quickly to make up for the points our seniors scored last year,” he said.

Goals

Season goals always start with a conference championship, staying healthy and continuing to work hard, Krall said.

“After that, you start to focus on qualifying for the state meet. We hope that we can send a few athletes (or) relays down to LaCrosse to be competitive on a state-wide scale,” he said.

“We think that in a few areas, we have the ability to get on the medal podium at the state meet, but a lot of things need to go right for us to achieve that goal,” he said.

Top contenders

Mondovi and Elk Mound always have good girls’ track teams when it comes to the Dunn-St.Croix Conference meet, “so they always have to be viewed as contenders,” Krall said.

“Every team in our league has individual pieces that are really good. It’s tough to count out anyone in our league … we just hope to be able to scrape up enough points to be close at the end of the season,” he said.

As for the boys’ team, St. Croix Central moving out of the Dunn-St.Croix Conference “is a welcome sight for all of us that remain in the conference,” Krall said.

St. Croix Central “had been so good for so long with huge numbers of kids out that it made it difficult to compete year in and year out,” he said.

The Elk Mound track team possesses “a lot of elite athleticism,” Krall noted.

Elk Mound “would probably be considered the favorite this season, but I don’t feel as though we are far away from having a chance,” he said.

Teams

Girls: Salome Bogden, Bryana Buchanan, Courtney Dressel, Dempsey Fogarty, Ally Heidorn, Emma Hurlburt, Mackenzie Jensen, Erica Kallstrom, Rachel Knutson, Taylor Meyer, Hailey Prince, Cassidy Reitz, Marianne Scharlau, Megan Schleusner, Abbagail Schotter, Jezz Tweed.

Boys: Jeremy Artist, Aliymu Davis, Kedar Davis, Brett Foyt, Grady Gibson, Luke Heidorn, Spencer Herrick, Tucker Hovde, Jacob Jensen, Hunter Lieffort, Thomas Jensen, Alex Knudson, Jacob Larson, Isaac Lee, Adam Pretasky, Michael Lyrek, Trevin Mounce, Napoleon Nosker, Kamdon Quast, Trevor Rothbauer, Dalton Schotter, Jelani Smit, Jacob Steinke.