A trip back to the WIAA state track meet is the goal for three Gresham/Bowler athletes.
Juniors Cody Montez and Drew Payne each qualified for state in individual events last year, while Payne and senior Austin Olsen qualified as part of the 4x100-meter relay team.
Montez finished 14th in the 3,200-meter run at last year’s state meet after spending the season chasing the program’s record time of 10:07.00. His best time was 10:09.80 in last year’s sectional.
“I didn’t make the podium last year,” Montez said. “This year I want to make the podium. That’s my goal.”
Payne’s trip to state caught everyone by surprise. A sophomore participating in track for the first time, Payne qualified for state in the long jump and finished in eighth place.
“It was a huge surprise for me,” Payne said. “I just figured I’d try long jump, and it turned out I could jump 20 feet.”
Payne said he has a lot of room for improvement.
“This year I’m looking to perfect my form,” Payne said. “Last year, I just kind of went with it.”
Payne and Olsen were half the 4x100-meter team with graduated seniors Sawn Bucholtz and Martin Stevens.
“That was the first time we took a relay team to state,” Gresham/Bowler coach Heidi Pleshek said.
Also back for the boys are seniors Andrew Pleshek (high jump), Aaron Bestul (thrower), Blade Cameron (thrower/runner), Brandon Miller (thrower/runner), Trace Miller (high jump/relays), junior Joe Serrano (sprints/relays) and sophomore Levi Ludvigsen (middle distance runner).
The girls team will depend on five returning letter-winners: senior Lindsay Anderson (sprints/discus), juniors Winter DeRoos (high jump) and Shannon Caskey (throws/hurdles), and sophomores Tatelyn Ferguson (800 run) and Chelsea Peters (hurdles/relays).
Also back is senior LaKeisha Williams, who was on the team her sophomore year.
Freshman Alyssa Roe has also caught the coach’s attention.
“You give her a workout and she does it and doesn’t complain,” Pleshek said. “I haven’t seen her run yet, but she’s obviously a distance runner. I’m excited to see what she can do.”
Gresham/Bowler’s numbers overall are down this year. Just 15 boys and eight girls are out, the smallest squad Pleshek has had in her nine years as head coach.
“When I started in Gresham — and it was just Gresham — we had numbers like this,” Pleshek said. “This is really small for us.”
While waiting for snow to melt and tracks to dry, the team will open the season with an indoor meet March 31 at Antigo.
“It’s nice to have an indoor meet this year,” Pleshek said. “There’s something to look forward to. We’re working towards something. As opposed to last year when it was, ‘Here’s when the first meet is supposed to be, but it’s not going to happen.’”
Categories
