Track preview: Anderson, McN, Turpin off and running

Bruce Springsteen kicked off the American leg of his tour in Cincinnati April 8, but he’s far from the only person in the area born to run. High school track and field season is underway as local athletes looking for spring success.

Anderson

• Theresa Gross returns as head coach for the girls team after last holding the reins in 1998. She is charged with rebuilding a program that has struggled to find participants in recent seasons. With 26 athletes out - six of them freshman and several first-year seniors - she has already doubled the team’s size from last year.

Sophomore Cara Schildmeyer returns to lead the distance contingent after a freshman season in which she was Eastern Cincinnati Conference co-runner of the year. Junior Jenna Hazelbaker is back in the shot put and discus. Senior Kely Obbie is the team captain after putting in more than 400 miles of training over the winter.

Senior Madeline Penno – better known as a soccer player – is among the fist-time track athletes; she should help in the sprints and would like to try her hand in the hurdles as well.

“I have yet to get in my mind where we’re going to be at the end of the season, where we could be,” Gross said. “We’re young. We’re inexperienced. But I’m encouraged by their work ethic and and how they’re going about their business.

The boys team under Andy Wolf features 44 athletes on the roster, including eight with significant varsity experience.

“We don’t have very big junior and senior classes,” Wolf said. “We have some experience, but we’re still pretty young even with that. We’re working hard and we’re going to be better at the end of the season than we are now. We want to put people in a good position to succeed.”

A trio of sophomores in twins Nick and Mitch Stone, along with Josh Gittelman, are the top returning distance runners for a team whose strength should lie in the distance events.

Senior shot putter and discus thrower Evan Spangler was five inches from qualifying for the state meet as a junior. Classmate Lonnie Hadnot leads a sprint contingent that also also includes senior T.J. Turner.

Junior Huntley Stevenson returns in the pole vault after missing his sophomore year with a broken leg (not a track injury). Classmate Will Schweitzer is the top returning hurdler, while a third junior - Jack Bridges - won the shot put in a quad meet April 1 at Kings. Freshman Harrison Hill should assist in the sprints and jumps.

Both Wolf and Gross said Walnut Hills should be the prohibitive favorite in the ECC.

McNicholas

• The Rockets have a new head coach in Kyle Jepson, who steps into the lead role after five years as an assistant coach with the program.

His boys team features 21 athletes, six of them seniors.

“That’s maybe a little lower number than what we’d like,” Jepson said. “The good news is the boys all will be able to contribute.”

The strength of the team lies in the distance corps, led by seniors Connor Nelson, Anthony Luster, T.J. McSwiggan and Mark Flatt. Senior pole vaulters Daniel Sandmann and Tanner Cardone should provide points and additional leadership.

Junior thrower Will Algeier returns after qualifying for the regional meet last season. Sophomores Blaise Harpring (high jump, hurdles, sprint relays) and Jonathan Wenzel (100 and 200 meters) bring good speed to the club.

Freshmen Reese Jabin (long jump, sprints), Ben Johnston (hurdles) and Evan Por (hurdles, high jumps) should contribute right away.

“Our seniors will be our best athletes,” Jepson said. “We’re really counting on them to set the example.

“With a lot of the young guys, we’re trying to start them on some of the events that take a lot of technique and practice in the hope of developing them so that two, three years from now, they will be the strength of the team.”

On the girls side, McNick finished second in the GCL CO-Ed and the Division II district meet, falling to Alter in the former and New Richmond in the latter by a combined eight points.

“We graduated 42 of the 103 points we scored at districts, but I think this team will be even a little better than last year,” Jepson said. “We have great depth and we’ve added some really strong athletes.”

One of them is senior Catherine Adams, running her first year of track after winning a cross country district title in the fall. Freshman Adrian Ell comes in with a 5-foot-1 high jump, just an inch off the school record, before ever competing on the varsity level.

Two other freshmen in Megan Rack (distance) and Morgan Vogler (sprints, hurdles and throws) should make an impact from the outset.

“To win both those meets (the GCL and district), which is our goal, we’re going to have to score points in just about every event. We’ve got good sprints, good distances and with somebody like Adrian - where we were shut out in the high jump last year - a good chance to score well in the jumps.”

The Rockets hosted 25 schools in the the Division II Coaches Classic April 4 and 5.

Miami Valley Christian Academy

• Steve Krebsfanger coaches the boys and girls teams at MVCA that consist of 27 total kids.

Both squads train at Short Park in Newtown behind the school grounds.

“We train there and at Little Miami bike trail,” Krebsfanger said. “We’re a homeless track team. Mariemont High School has also been wonderful to us to let us use their track for a couple days.”

The MVCA girls feature two-time league champion sophomore Rachel McCoskey and Annie Lefler, a senior. Both are distance runners. Michele Lee from the basketball team is also a valuable contributor.

On the horizon, Krebsfanger will be bolstered by a strong cross country group coming to the school for next season. Ali Petty is a current freshman making a difference and eighth-grader Laura Vilardo has been a top junior high performer.

The MVCA boys team is led by Alex Ammerman, a sprinter who has committed to the University of the Cumberlands for football. Freshman Matt Hoyle will also help in the 200 and 400 meters.

Throwing the discus and shot put for the Lions is sophomore Lukas Moreland.

Upcoming meets for the Lions are at Cincinnati Country Day April 11 and at Reading April 25.

Turpin

• Brian Weaver assumes the head coaching duties for the Spartan boys team. He inherits a team from Jim Gossett featuring 57 athletes, 34 of whom come into the season with experience.

Distance running will be a strength for the team, led by seniors Alaeldin Tirba and Drew Kiracofe; both are cross country veterans as well.

Junior Andrew Molloy is the top returning sprinter and hurdler. He has company in the sprints from a pair of first-time track athletes better known as Turpin soccer players in seniors Mitch Cordell and Josh McDonald, who won the 100 meters at an April 1 quad meet at Kings High School.

Sophomore A’Drian Baker adds depth in the sprints and is a 19-foot long jumper so far in the early season. Isaiah Bostic joined the treack team after a season a of basketball and in his first-ever attempt at the high jump cleared 5-foot-6, good for third place at Kings.

Seniors Matt Kennedy and Nick Robinson will pole vault, while a pair of freshmen in Al Fehrenbach and Drew Spencer should make an immediate impact in the shot put and discus.

“We’re trying to figure out who is going to be doing what in the field,” Weaver said. “We’ve got a lot of kids and they are working hard. I think we will be competitive in the ECC.

Missy Siemers also has 50-plus members on the Turpin girls team. But she has 30-plus new faces and only three seniors on the squad.

Among them are Elena Polivka, the defending ECC champion in the 3,200 meters and league runner-up in the 1,600. Classmate Isabella King was a regional qualifier in the 800 last season, while senior Jenny Morton joins the track team for the first time after contributing in cross country.

The captains include junior sprinters Ali Maddox and Katie Winner. Classmate Sydney Hinshaw should bolster the sprint corps as awell. Junior Katie Gothard is the third captain; she runs middle distances.

“Our strengths right now are really in our distance and middle distances,” Siemers said. “Our team in general is extremely young. This is the first year we’ve had three junior captains. This is our largest group of throwers ever, but the most experienced one is only a sophomore. It’s about the same in the high jump, long jump and pole vault. We’re starting there from scratch, but we’re really excited about the future in those events.”

If turpin wants to repeat as ECC runner up, some of the youngsters will have to mature quickly to help established

Turpin hosts its fifth annual Girls Rule, Boys Drool girls-only varsity and JV meet for eight schools April 29. Both the Spartan boys and girls compete in the Coaches Classic April 9 and 11.

Walnut Hills

• Coach Bill Valenzano’s Eagles were fourth in the Eastern Cincinnati Conference meet last spring and return co-league Athlete of the Year Ellery Lassiter.

Lassiter is a returning ECC first teamer in the shot put and discus. Seniors Amani Russell and Marquis Austin also return from the second team 4x200 relay. Russell will double in the open 200 and 400 meter runs, with Austin competing in the long and high jumps (ECC second team high jump).

Others to watch are seniors Stephen Akanbi in the 110 and 300 hurdles and Jack Bargemann in the 1600 and 3200 meters.

“We will have a standout athlete in almost every event in 2014,” Valenzano said.

For a fourth consecutive year, coach Amanda Robinson’s Walnut Hills girls won a league title. Robinson took ECC Coach of the Year honors (with Turpin’s Missy Siemers) and thrower Chelsea Carpenter and sprinter Arissa Freeman shared league Athlete of the Year with Anderson’s Cara Schildmeyer.

Carpenter, Freeman, Hannah Schroeder, Taylor Darks, Niamani Mayes, Grace O’Donnell, Rachel Berndsen, Collier Summay and Kelley Coleman all return as starters.

Carpenter is a Western Kentucky commit will look to make another trip to the state meet in the shot put and discus after making ECC first team as a junior. Freeman is a four-event ECC champion in the 100, 200, 4x100 and 4x200. She qualified for regionals in all of the events, then withdrew from the 100 at regionals to help the Lady Eagles 4x400 relay qualify for the state meet.

Darks was first team ECC in the 400, 4x200 and 4x400 and was district and regional champion in the open 400. She finished 11th at the state meet in the 400 and looks to qualify again as a junior.

“Taylor had an amazing basketball season, but is eager to be back on the track and get back to State,” Robinson said.

Senior Mayes is a multi-event contributor who will add leadership and junior Schroeder made second team ECC in the 800 and was sixth in the district meet a year ago.

“We are looking to do what we have done the last four years; win conference championships and go as far as we possibly can in the tournament both individually and as a team,” Robinson said. “We are going to be looking to fill gaps in several events but maintain strength in scoring at least one in each event. Meet scoring will definitely be assisted by being able to score a second person in as many events as possible.”

Kahla Cornett, sister of Kelsey who’s now running at Northern Kentucky University, will help fill gaps for the Lady Eagles’ sprinters as will Niamani Mayes.

“She’s stayed off the radar due to having strong teammates in hurdles and long jump, but will need to step up after graduating Kelsey Cornett, Dominique Jones and Raven Young,” Robinson said.

In addition to Carpenter in the field events, sophomore Rachel Berndsen will pole vault and was the only freshman to qualify to regionals last spring.

Both Walnut Hills squads will participate in the Coaches Classic meet at Winton Woods April 9 and 11.