GILMAN TRACK & FIELD PREVIEW - Pirates gain youthful energy, added depth to start season

GILMAN TRACK & FIELD PREVIEW

Big junior and freshman classes give the Gilman Pirates considerably more depth than they had a year ago at this time and a willingness to try different events will give head coach Mike Gingras added flexibility in filling out lineups as the team starts what it hopes will be an exciting spring of track and field.

A total of 23 student-athletes, 13 boys and 10 girls, signed up to compete in the sport and a good chunk of them got their first marks of the season during Friday’s Neillsville Indoor Invitational. The Pirates won five events while taking fourth in the boys team standings and fifth among girls teams in a meet featuring seven Cloverbelt Conference schools.

The roster shows a mix of veterans, 10 freshmen as well as some older newcomers who certainly should bring some positive attributes to the program.

“We are quite optimistic with the upcoming year,” Gingras said Monday. “Our numbers are greater and we have a big group of freshmen, which is refreshing. Our freshmen are a very eager group and willing to do or try any event, which is a blast from a coaching perspective.”

Adding to the early enthusiasm was the rare ability to actually work outside in the first two weeks of practice, though having spring break during week one hampered participation somewhat. Still, the outside work the Pirates did get in puts them ahead of where they were at this point last year.

The girls lost one of the program’s alltime best, Gracie Tallier, to graduation, but they bring back two of their top talents in senior thrower Bailey Angell and junior Claire Drier.

Angell, who just added the title of state powerlifting champion to her résumé, is a three-time state qualifier in the shot put, a two-time state discus qualifier and a three-time medalist in those appearances. The Minnesota-Duluth recruit is obviously looking for a big finish to her career and got it started with a shot put victory in Friday’s meet with a throw of 37 feet, 3 inches.

Drier aims to build on two years of success in the long jump and both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. She was a sectional qualifier in the 300-meter hurdles, taking seventh, and in the long jump, taking eighth, last May. She also was part of Gilman’s sectional-qualifying 1,600-meter relay team, which placed 11th.

Junior Jaylen Copenhaver was also on that team and is one of two juniors on the girls side. Copenhaver is back with two years of jumping and sprinting experience. The Pirates are excited to see what Patty Kloss can do when she becomes eligible in April after moving to the district from Augusta last spring. From there, the Pirates are quite young, but Gingras and assistant Tom Tallier believe there is talent to work with. Sophomore Kyra Rabuck is back after filling a sprint/ long jump role last year. She also was part of that sectional relay team last May. Sophomore Aubrey Steinbach made her track debut Friday with an impressive thirdplace finish in the high jump, clearing the bar at 4 feet, 4 inches. The freshman group includes Addy Vick, Kylee Copenhaver, Aubrey Mann and Rilla Syryczuk. Vick made a splash Friday by winning the long jump competition with a leap of 14 feet, 10 inches, plus she showed no fear by attempting the high jump without ever practicing it before the meet. She got her first legal jump at 3-10.

The boys are even younger than the girls. Quintin Franzen returns as a solid senior who should again score well in sprints and hurdles. Franzen was a sectional qualifier in the 300-meter intermediate hurdles last year, taking 14th. He placed in both the 45-meter dash and hurdles Friday as well as the two-lap dash.

Junior Brady McAlpine will bring some speed back to the track as well. He got a win Friday in the two-lap dash and took fifth in the 45-meter dash. Senior Troy Duellman, who has solid sprint and relay experience, is also on the initial roster.

Mitchell Moran is a returning junior who has always been willing to fill any role. On Friday, it was the 1,600-meter run, which was actually held outdoors, where he placed fifth. New juniors this season are Trevor Vick, who Gingras said has the potential to be a strong triple jumper and did well in his first high jump competition Friday, and speedster Chad Konsella, who will try to bring the flash he showed on the football field in the fall to the track.

Sawyer Winger is the lone sophomore in the group. He hit a personal-best 5-8 while placing second in Friday’s high jump competition and Gingras said Winger has at least 5-10 in him. Winger had a strong freshman season in sprints and relays. Winger joined McAlpine, Vick and Wyatt Orth on Gilman’s winning four-lap relay team Friday.

The list of six freshmen starts with Taydyn Angell, who won his first high school shot put competition Friday with a throw of 39-4. Orth, Logan Halida, Frank Weir, Elijah Madlon and James Wojcik round out the roster with the coaches excited to see what events they’ll find their homes in.

“We are hoping to have a couple of stronger relay teams and we have quite a few kids interested in the pole vault which we will begin as soon as the weather cooperates,” Gingras said. The Pirates expect to have most, if not all, of their athletes ready for action Saturday at UW-Stout’s Northern Badger Small School Classic. There is the potential for Pirates to compete back in Menomonie on March 28 for UW-Stout’s Elite meet. The outdoor season is set to begin April 11 with the first of three meets Gilman is set to host this spring.

The April 30 Gilman Invite and the May 20 WIAA Division 3 regional meet are the others. The Eastern Cloverbelt Conference meet will be in Colby this year, while Cameron again hosts the sectional on May 23. Gilman’s girls finished fourth in the conference and fifth in the regional last spring, while the boys were eighth in the conference and 10th in the regional.