Track team hopes to stay strong
A good showing at the league meet is key, says Head Coach Dennis Boldt
Staff writer
The Hillsboro High School track team will again be led by Dennis Boldt who is in his 12th year as distance and head coach.
With the help of his returning assistant coaches, Mike Jilka coaching the hurdles and sprints; Corey Burton, pole vault and javelin; Don Penner, shot put and discus; Collette Burton, triple jumps and sprints; new comer Vaughn Jost, high jump and long jump, Boldt hopes to fulfill the goals outlined in the manual issued to all the athletes and coaches.
Simply put, Boldt said he wants the squad to be competitive and to promote a team atmosphere. The 2002 team has 42 members, 28 boys and 14 girls.
Boldt said his philosophy for the track program for grades 7-12 has remained the same. In middle school, he wants athletes to explore the different events and have the opportunity to find the events in which they can become good and then work at it.
Also, he emphasizes having the same coaches for middle school and high school to maintain some consistency in the track and field program.
Boldt said when the athletes reach the high school level, they have explored their options and they can now work on excelling as track and field athletes.
Looking back at the track and field program over the years, that philosophy has paid off for the coaching staff at HHS.
Last year, was a phenomenal year for the boys' track team and a great year for the girls' team.
The boys' team lost six seniors through graduation last year. Three of them were top scorers for the team.
"Ryan Jilka won two gold medals at state," Boldt said. "Garrett Call and Scott Winter were consistent scorers for us. Also, junior Alan Yoder scored good for us, too."
"But we have a good group of sophomore boys, who will be picking up some points for us this year," he said.
For the girls, the team lost one senior, Julie Hett, who was a state medalist for four years.
"The girls' team had a good season," Boldt said. "They were overshadowed by the tremendous success of the boys' team, but they did great."
The team finished in the top three of seven track meets last year and won three of them. Returnees Angela Kroeker and Andrea Peachey were good scorers for the team last year, according to Boldt.
"Last year was one of the best years, overall, for the girls' team," Boldt said, "losing Hett will be a big loss for us."
"But Charity Davis, the only freshman girl on the team, will make an impact, especially in the relays and in long jump," he said.
Boldt said the highest priority for the team this year is to do well at the league meet.
"It (the league meet) is a good barometer of how we are doing," he said. "It has been a good judge, year by year, on how well teams will do for the rest of the season."
Boldt said both the girls' and boys' team have the opportunity to repeat the success of last year's team. He said it will depend on two things — the teams staying healthy, with no injuries, and every athlete who qualifies having a good day at state.
The Trojans open their season at 4:30 p.m. on April 2 at the Canton-Galva track meet held in Moundridge.
