Colby girls bring experience, boys to rely on new faces
By Nathaniel Underwood
While there is still snow on the ground, the weather has not deterred the Colby track and field team from ramping up into form for the 2025 season. Starting with a pair of meets this week in Marshfield, the Hornets have plenty of indoor competitions to sink their teeth into before the outdoor season begins.
While the girls team will have plenty of familiar faces for those who have followed the squad last season, the boys squad will feature a much younger group of athletes who will be looking to make an impact.
Juniors Daelyn Rieck, Pearl Feiten, Annamarie Schmitt and sophomore Ali Adams all competed at the Division 2 sectional in Colby last year for the girls team and will return this year. Sophomore Xander Buchanan is the only member of the boys team who is back after qualifying for sectionals last season. Rieck will be looking to continue her dominant high school track and field career after competing at the Division 2 state tournament in both the discus and the shot put at the conclusion of her freshman and sophomore campaigns.
A current school record holder and with the experience of two state tournaments now under her belt, Rieck will once again be in the hunt for the top spot in the state in both throwing events. Last season in La Crosse, she finished in second place in the shot put and fourth in the discus.
"She should have a good season, I think," co-head coach Bryon Graun said. "Being in Division 3 this year especially, that helps a lot." After a number of years competing as one of the smallest Division 2 schools, the Hornets will now find themselves in Division 3 for this coming postseason, something that the team will be looking to turn into more deep playoff runs.
Feiten, Schmitt and Adams will be part of a distance group that figures to be the heart of the Colby squad on the track. The trio were part of the 4x800-meter relay that took 12th at last year's sectional race and Feiten grabbed 11th in the 400-meter dash. They also took home numerous accolades at the Cloverbelt conference meet, where Adams was part of the 4x800-meter relay that took first team all conference and also took third in the 3200-meter run. Feiten finished in the top-three in both the 400 and 800-meter events and Schmitt took second and third in the 3200-meter and 1600-meter runs. The Hornets depth in the distance events runs deeper than just the three athletes that competed in last year's sectionals, however. Alexis Vanderhoof and Jenelle Ertl
See COLBY TRACK PREVIEW / Page 14
2025 COLBY BOYS TRACK AND FIELD TEAM - This year's 2025 Colby boys track and field team is, in the back row, left to right, Angel Chavez Ramirez, Carlos Martinez, Carsen Thomsen, and Oliver Steen. In the third row, from left to right, are Carter Hill, Xander Buchanan, and Rolyn Hopperdietzel. In the second row, from left to right, are Derian Ochoa, Felix Perez, Adrian Weix and Jacob Raatz. In the front row, left to right, are Josh Sarkkinen, Ray Adams, Dany Nunez, and Rhys Rau. Missing from the picture is Chase Heeg. The Hornets' co-head coaches are Chrisie Wright and Bryon Graun.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD Colby track preview
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were part of the all-conference 4x800-meter relay team last year and will be back in 2026.
Veronica Mateer also returns after holding down the triple jump and competing in the hurdles for Colby in 2024. Edynn Hinker took fourth for the Hornets in the shot put at last year’s Cloverbelt conference and will be back to continue to contribute to the Colby squad.
“Hopefully [Annamarie] can pick up where she left off in the fall when she had such a great cross country season,” Graun said. “And with our other distance runners, I think we should be able to put a decent 4x800 together. Pearl’s a senior, Veronica’s a senior and she’s hurdled before. Ali is looking to come back from injuries during cross country and Lexi as well. Edynn’s a great kid and she might be able to make a bit of noise in the conference and regionals.”
As with last season, the girls squad will have to find depth in the short distance events on the track. Making a move for a conference title will need some additional contributions in the sprints events, even if the Hornets can dominate in the field events and the long distance competitions on the track.
Meanwhile, the boys team will have to rely more on their newcomers this season. Seth Hopperdietzel and Max Adams both competed for the boys’ team at last year’s sectional competition and Hopperdietzel went on to take seventh at the state meet in the pole vault, but both were seniors last season. They and a number of other seniors made up the core of the 2024 squad, so this year the Hornets will have to turn to new faces to lead them.
Buchanan is one candidate after reaching sectionals and taking third at the Cloverbelt conference meet in the high jump at the end of his freshman campaign. Fellow sophomore Royln Hopperdietzel also was a key part of what the Hornets were able to accomplish last season, taking third as part of the 4x100-meter relay team and fourth in the triple jump at the Cloverbelt conference meet.
“On the boys side, Xander and Rolyn are only sophomores but they are very talented athletes,” Graun said. “They’ve got springs and you already kind of saw that last year. Almost everybody else is new though. We’re saying they're veterans and they’re sophomores.”
Jacob Raatz will also return for the Hornets and will likely continue to contribute in the long distance events.
However, Colby will turn to a number of fresh faces in many events this season, especially in sprints and throws.
“A couple of the freshman boys, Chase Heeg, he could work to be a decent sprinter, Dany could be a decent sprinter, and Carsen can maybe do something too,” Graun noted. “But we’ll try to take what we have and try to challenge them a little bit and have fun.”
The boys had their first action of the season on Tuesday night when they traveled to Marshfield for their first indoor meet of the season. The girls will follow with a trip to the Tigers’ home on Thursday, March 27. The girls meet is set to begin at 4:30 p.m. and results from both competitions will be in next week’s issue. Both squads will then travel to UW-Stout on Saturday, March 29 for one of their largest meets of the season. Competition is set to begin at 9 a.m. on Saturday.
2025 COLBY GIRLS TRACK AND FIELD TEAM - This year’s 2025 Colby girls track and field team is, in the back row, left to right, Lizzy Kloth and Edynn Hinker. In the third row, from left to right, are Veronica Mateer, Alexis Vanderhoof, Carisa Steen, Carla Lozano Perez and Annamarie Schimtt. In the second row, from left to right, are Jenelle Ertl, Camila Meraz Albarran, Karen Torres, Romina Perez, Osiris Perez Galb and Zuleyca Rojas. In the front row, left to right, are Ali Adams, Nicole Verhoef, Isabelle Kloth, Anali Mendoza and Frida Mezau. Missing from the picture are Pearl Feiten, Daelyn Rieck and Shaylee Cooper.
STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD
