Angell, Tallier return; Pirates like relay potential

GILMAN TRACK & FIELD PREVIEW

The Gilman Pirates start the 2022 track and field season knowing they have at least two state-caliber individuals on the girls side of things. Finding the right pieces to create some state-caliber relays is among the goals they are looking forward to meeting as the spring progresses.

Back to a normal spring calendar for the first time since 2019, the Pirates have begun the new year with a roster of 20 student-athletes under the direction of ninth-year head coach Mike Gingras and top assistant Tom Tallier.

Thirteen of those athletes are boys while seven are girls.

The Pirates kicked things off Tuesday at the Neillsville Indoor Invitational and will attend UW-Stout’s Small School Northern Badger Indoor Invitational on Saturday to get a feel for what they have. The outdoor season is tentatively set to start with a meet in Augusta on Thursday, April 7.

The girls will be led by junior record-setter Gracie Tallier and sophomore Bailey Angell, the fourth-place finisher last June in the Division 3 discus and a shot put state qualifi er. In her first varsity season, Tallier put her name to school records in the 100-meter dash (12.6) seconds, 200-meter dash (26.63 seconds) and long jump (15 feet, 10 inches), won Eastern Cloverbelt Conference championships in all three events and was part of the 1,600-meter relay team that won a conference title and advanced to state, placing 14th.

Tallier made the 200-meter final at the WIAA Division 3 state meet, placing ninth, and she qualified in the 100-meter dash as well, finishing 17th.

Angell capped an outstanding freshman year with a bigtime throw of 110-10 to get onto the state podium in the discus. She won the event in five of Gilman’s meets last spring and added five shot put victories as well, topping out at 34-3.25, which put her in fourth place at the sectional meet. She took 18th at state at 32-4.75.

From there, Gilman will be looking for some new talent to emerge, and Gingras believes there is some of that on roster, which includes senior thrower Emma Grunseth, first-year junior Ellie Drier and freshmen Claire Drier, Jaylen Copenhaver and Olivia Buske. The Pirates are hoping to piece together at least one top-notch relay team around Tallier, the Driers and Copenhaver.

“We are hopeful this year to put together a girls short relay team that should be quite competitive,” Gingras said. “In addition to returning state competitors Bailey and Gracie, we have some freshmen girls that will be very competitive this year. We are very excited about this year.”

The boys have some solid athletes to build around. The roster features 10 sophomores through seniors, many of whom were solid contributors in 2021.

Gilman should have some depth in the shot put and discus events, led by brothers Zack and Caleb Marion and senior Bryce Chovan. Zack Marion, a senior, was Gilman’s top shot putter last season, hitting a top distance of 34-11.75. Chovan, in his first season, developed into the team’s top discus thrower, hitting 97-1 at the May 18 Gilman Invitational. He also got to 30-6 in the shot put at the June 8 conference meet in Colby.

Caleb Marion, a sophomore, ended his freshman year by getting over the 90-foot mark in discus and was just shy of 30 feet (29-11.25) with his best effort in the shot put.

“We have all of our throwers returning this year and a couple of additional people going to give it a whirl,” Gingras said.

On the track, senior Dominic Franzen, junior Braeden Person and sophomores Troy Duellman and Quintin Franzen are the most familiar names that return for the Pirates.

Dominic Franzen was one of Gilman’s most improved athletes in 2021, earning sectional berths in both the 100- and 200-meter dashes. He finished third in the conference in both events (11.88 and 23.67 seconds), won regional champions in both at Cadott (11.77 and 24.06 seconds) and took seventh in the 100 (11.8) and eighth in the 200 (24.14) at the Cameron sectional. He also entered a few 110-meter high hurdles races last spring and threw the shot put 34-4 in Tuesday’s meet at Neillsville.

Person, Duellman and Quintin Franzen also competed in the 100- and 200-meter dashes. Person and Duellman also ran a couple of 400-meter dashes and were part of most of the Pirates’ 800- and 1,600-meter relays. The 800-meter team, which included Branden Ustianowski and Franzen, finished 14th at the sectional meet. Duellman and Quintin Franzen did some pole vaulting as well for Gilman last spring.

Along with filling a sprint relay role last year, Ustianowski is the Pirates’ top returning jumper. He got as far as 18-4.25 in the long jump and cleared 5-4 in the high jump.

“We are also trying to develop a competitive boys relay team this year as well,” Gingras said.

Newcomers to this year’s roster include senior Gabe Brunner, junior Damien Swensen and freshmen Max Ustianowski, Brady McAlpine and Mitchell Moran.

Unfortunately, Gilman will not host any meets this year after its track was damaged last spring. So far, 10 outdoor meets at places like Stanley-Boyd, Neillsville, Cadott, Edgar, Bloomer, Eleva-Strum and Medford are on the schedule ahead of the conference meet at Colby on May 17. Flambeau will host this year’s Division 3 regional on May 23 and Colfax gets this year’s sectional meet on May 26. The state meet returns to its normal first weekend of June, which is June 3-4 this year.

2022 GILMAN TRACK & FIELD

March 22 @ Neillsville Indoor, Girls 3rd, Boys 5th March 26 @ UW-Stout Indoor, 9 a.m.

April 7 @ Augusta, 4:15 p.m.

April 14 @ Neillsville, 4 p.m.

April 19 @ Eleva-Strum, 4:15 p.m.

April 22 @ Stanley-Boyd, 4:15 p.m.

April 26 @ Medford, 4:15 p.m.

April 28 @ Bloomer, 4 p.m.

May 6 @ Stanley-Boyd, 4:15 p.m.

May 9 @ Edgar, 4:30 p.m.

May 10 @ Spencer, 4:30 p.m.

May 13 @ Cadott, 4:30 p.m.

May 17 ECC @ Colby, 4:30 p.m.

May 23 Flambeau regional May 26 Colfax sectional June 3-4 State meet @ UW-La Crosse

Gilman’s Zack Marion releases the third of his four throws in the shot put competition at Tuesday’s indoor meet in Neillsville. This throw went 33 feet, 2 inches. His best one went 33-8.5 and earned sixth place.MATT FREY/THE STAR NEWS