The track season has come to an end for the Belle Plaine Junior High boys. Battling some early inexperience and some poor weather during the season, the team developed some strengths and leadership abilities, according to Coach Steve Mengler.

Recently, Mengler reviewed the recent season, with assessments of every member of the team.

7^th grade boys track members:

• Lane Bachelder competed in both sprint and distance races.  Unfortunately he was ill for a large chunk of the season.
• Grant Bevins was a surprise in both the distance races and sprints.  He also did a nice job throwing discus for us and placed in a couple of meets.
• Adam Daily was willing to compete in just about any event.  He was a member of several 4 X 800 teams that placed in a number of track meets and became a valuable member of the shuttle hurdle relay team as the year progressed.
• Ross Henning also competed in a variety of distances, including running the mile for us once this year.  He also worked hard to develop his hurdling skills as the year progressed.
• Josh Hotz was someone who was willing to do whatever I asked.  He ran the mile as well as sprints and continued to improve as the season progressed.
• Ryan Janss’s season was cut short by illness, but Ryan demonstrated early that he was quite competent at hurdles and long jumping.  Ryan placed in the top four in both the 7 flight hurdles and the 200 hurdles throughout the season when he competed.
• Matt Meck was another of those athletes eager to have a chance to compete.  Matt was very good at accepting any challenge that I sent his way.
• Matthew Mengler lost part of his season to illness as well.  He was a valued member of the 4 X 800 team that placed in several meets as well as running a shorter leg of the sprint medley relay.  He also spent some time at the long jump pit and placed in one meet.
• Derek O’Brien demonstrated some good quickness as a member of our shuttle hurdle relay and shorter relay events.  Derek’s highlight was probably a fourth place finish in the open 7 flight hurdles at Montezuma which demonstrated how far he had come this year.
• Logan Phillippe discovered quite early in the season a talent for hurdles and competed with Ryan Janss for superiority of the 7^th grade hurdles.  Logan also was very competitive in the 400 meter dash, a difficult race for many as it is a sprint around the entire track and competed in the high jump, clearing a personal best 4 foot 4 inches.
• Nick Pippert was probably our MVP for the 7^th grade squad.  Nick regularly placed quite high in the open 100 and open 200 sprints.  Nick also was our best shot thrower, finally achieving a first place in the final meet at Montezuma after finished second several times.
• Jacob Reineke showed very quickly that he has pretty good speed for a big guy.  Jacob was quite active in our relays and generally ran distances less than 400 meters.  Jacob also picked up on the discus quite early in the season and showed great improvement.
• Austin Vranek got involved in the shot as well as the shorter races.
• Lance Weeda was a versatile member of the team, running hurdles in the shuttle hurdle relay as well as sprints and occasionally the mile.

8^th Grade Participants:

• Austin Beck was a leader on this team, showing the experience he gained last year.  Austin placed consistently in the top three in the long jump and was a sprinter as well, usually placing in the open 100 and open 200 sprints.
• Austin Brown was a first time member of the team and contributed greatly in the shot, usually placing in the top five to score points for the team.  Austin also ran shorter distances in the relays.
• Chase Bryant was another returning person from the 2008 team and showed great improvement over his times from last year.  Chase was very good at running all distances with effort and occasionally filled in on the shuttle hurdle team when another person was needed.
• Zack Clement was one of our shot throwers as well.  Zach showed great improvement in his times from 2008 as well and was one of the harder workers in practice, providing a role model for the younger kids.
• Lance Hinschberger was a first time participant in track and quickly demonstrated several skills.  Lance was slowed by an injury early in the season but quickly discovered that he was a very competent hurdler as well as placing first in the open 400 this year.  He also took up high jumping late in the season and cleared 4 foot 8 inches.
• James Johnson was one of the leaders on the team before an injury finished his season prematurely.  James threw the shot for us as well as joined in several relay teams.
• Reece Kimm was someone who was willing to do just about anything except for the really long distances.  Reece threw the shot at some meets quite competitively, ran hurdles when necessary, and was a valuable member of the relay teams running one hundred and two hundred meter distances.
• Dillon McGrane was a returning athlete from last year’s team as well, greatly improving his times from 7^th grade.  Dillon filled in wherever he was needed, specializing in the 400 and 800, but was a member of the 4 X 100 team that placed second at Gladbrook.  Dillon has great versatility and a willingness to help out where needed.
• Ben Sayers was out for track for the first time and seemed to enjoy it.  He spent some time learning to throw the discuss and ran primarily 100 and 200 meter distances.
• Tyler Schafbuch was another first time participant and quickly discovered that he had a knack for throwing the discus.  Tyler also ran in relays, usually distances less than 400 meters and demonstrated surprising speed.
• Brent Stull would most likely be named by his teammates as the MVP for the 8^th grade.  Brent was very consistent, placing in the top five of both the 800 and 1600 meter runs at every track meet.  Brent also had the unique combination of being our best high jumper (clearing 5 foot) and throwing the discus (season high of 107 feet 4 inches).  This was Brent’s first year of competitive track and showed great promise.
• Brent Wheeler specialized in longer distances this year and made great improvements in his 800 times, chopping almost 45 seconds off his time from 7^th grade.
• Ryan Zumbach was very versatile this year.  Ryan developed his hurdling skills as the season progressed and placed at the English Valley track meet as well as running a variety of distances this year.

This was kind of an unusual year for the track team as we had very few athletes returning from last year’s team, so expectations at the start of the season were fairly low.  However, with the addition of new eighth graders as well as the 7^th grade class our team quickly developed some depth.  Some of the strengths of this year’s team had to be the field events.  Quite often we had two athletes place in the shot and the discus, and we always had at least one place winner in the long jump and high jump.  We also had a very good core of hurdlers, a weakness at the beginning of the season, with most of them returning next year as eighth graders.

Also this year we had excellent leadership from the older athletes, helping the seventh graders whenever assistance was needed.  That help, along with the ability to lead by example, helped the seventh grade to grow in leaps and bounds throughout the short season.  Even though we never finished higher than third place in a track meet, the core is present to produce a successful season next year if the athletes continue to develop.  To insure this happens, everyone needs to continue to stay active and participate in all sports, including baseball this summer, football in the fall, wrestling or basketball in the winter, etc.  Also it is rather obvious that many of our athletes are hitting the weight room and this is paying off great dividends as well.  Several of the eighth graders can help continue the high school tradition of great track programs if they continue to stay out and dedicate themselves to improvement over the next four years.

I would also like to take a moment to thank the supporters that followed our team including all the parents, grandparents, and siblings.  This was not the greatest season for weather at track meets, including the cold wind and sleet at Iowa Valley, the huddling in the school building after being drenched at Montezuma, and the cool weather at English Valley and Conrad.  Regardless of the weather we had a loyal fan base that was loud and supportive, and that means a lot to the athletes.