Boys numbers strong; girls have potential in Spencer track and field team

A decent number of athletes from every grade level make up this year's track and field team from Spencer. With a healthy amount of returning veterans, the team is expecting a few individuals to return to state competition while the rest of the team is hoping to gain more experience.

There are 27 boys and girls on the Rocket team this year. From the group, coach John Zastrow said they have several returning athletes, a few foreign exchange students and a few other first-time track and field runners on the roster.

'We have three foreign exchange students and two more foreign exchange students who are managers, so we have five on the team,' he said. 'We have eleven girls, five seniors, three juniors, one sophomore and two freshmen. We also have a decent group of boys.'

Looking at the athletes on an individual level, Zastrow said there is a lot of potential among them. Some of them, he said performed very well last season and look to continue their work this year, while others have an athletic background that should yield results.

'Experience-wise we have Kaizer (Eickleberry), Will Gorst and Noah Schultz for the guys,' he said. 'We have a strong class of juniors. The kids like Landon (Behselich)

The Spencer track and field team this season consists of (front from left) Sabrina Alessio, Aurora Porcu, Alyssa Kobs, Jadyn Zschernitz, Elisha Blanchard, Emily Wehrman, Leah Zastrow, Caitlin Clark, Daniella Guzman, Theresa Knecht, Carter Griepentrog, Alexander Baumgarten, Tim Yorgey (back), Hannah Reckner, Dietrich Ohm, Will Gorst, Landon Behselich, Elliot Bauer, Niklas Pohl, Levi Anderson, Kaizer Eickleberry, Devyn Schmidt, Noah Schultz, Kyle Nieman and Aleric Ott. Malachai Anderson is not pictured.

and Malachai (Anderson) who worked hard in the off season and they have gotten stronger and faster. Caitlin (Clark) has done some weight training and Theresa (Knecht) has been working on her form.'

While nearly every athlete has a place, Zastrow said there are a couple areas that have yet to be decided for the team. Relays and some field events are in need of players to fill in the roles, and it may take some time to find runners to make the perfect fit.

'Not sure for relays yet. We have kids for the 4X100 and we have Schultz this year so we have some really good sprinters,' he said. 'I think we will try to fill in a lot of those relays with the upperclassmen.'

Near the end of the season, Zastrow said he hopes the work the kids have been putting in will pay off. As a team, he said the boys have the best chance to place at conference while the girls numbers will force them to look for individual successes on the track and field.

'Colby will be good,' he said. 'In the boys conference we hope to be a top three team. The girls, we don't have the numbers so we will probably fall in the back half of the conference. For the girls, though, we will have a few score points. I think Leah (Zastrow), and Emily (Wehrman) have the best chance and maybe Elisha (Blanchard) in the discus.'

Beyond conference, Zastrow said he is hoping for a few athletes to qualify for sectionals and make it to the state level. Leah Zastrow, he said, should remain a top contender for the state title in pole vault as long as she remains injury-free.

'Leah, she was competitive in state and near the record for the pole vault last year,' he said. 'We want to get her back to state and get her a new record and title.'

There are nine seniors on the team this year: Kaizer Eickleberry, Will Gorst, Noah Schultz, Dietrich Ohm, Sabrina Alessio, Aurora Porcu, Daniella Guzman, Leah Zastrow and Emily Wehrman. The team also has seven juniors: Elliot Bauer, Malachai Anderson, Carter Griepentrog, Kyle Nieman, Elisha Blanchard, Jadyn Zschernitz and Alyssa Kobs. Alex Baumgarten, Landon Behselich, Aleric Ott, Jonathon Jonas, Devyn Schmidt and Hanna Reckner are the sophomores on the team and the freshmen are Niklas Phol, Tim Yorgey, Levi Anderson, Caitlin Clark and Theresa Knecht.