Coaches: ESD favorites are Yankton, Watertown

By Journal staff

The Eastern South Dakota Conference girls' championship could come down to a battle between Watertown's sprinters and Yankton's distance runners.

Watertown, which won the league title a year ago, has returning champions in seven events. Brittany Page was a three-event winner (100, 200, 400), and Leslie Brost picked up a pair of titles (pole vault, triple jump). The Arrows' Jessica Tetzlaff was the shot put champ, and Kalie Cox, who may be out with an injury this year, won the 300 hurdles.

Betsy Bies won the 1,600 and 3,200 for Yankton a year ago, and Brookings' Shara Thompson captured the discus.

A glance at the ESD teams:

Watertown

Coach: Vic Godfrey, 20th year.

Last season's record: Third in state.

Season's outlook: "We have some great individuals, but not much balance," Godfrey said.

Returning letterwinners: seniors Amy Marquardt (pole vault), Kaylyne Ronke (pole vault), Jordan Strandburg (sprints), Jessica Tetzlaff (shot put); juniors Leslie Brost (pole vault, triple jump), Kalie Cox (hurdles, relays, currently out with injury), Teresa Mallett (throws, jumps), Teresa Moeller (shot put), Britany Page (sprints), Peggy Ronke (pole vault, high jump); sophomores Tara Heiser (sprints), Taylor Kellogg (sprints), Maggie Lauseng (sprints), Kaitlane Rigdon (long jump, triple jump), Jessica Thyen (1,600), Taylor Woelsch (long jump, triple jump), Abby Winkels (high jump); freshmen Emma Struwe (800), Marcelena Glab (high jump).

Letterwinners missing: Megan Lauseng (Augustana), Larin Wegher.

Conference favorite: Yankton, Watertown and Brookings, Godfrey said.

Brookings

Coach: Jason Sebern.

Last season's record: Fourth in ESD, sixth in state.

Season's outlook: "We hope to be competitive in the ESD and state," Sebern said. "Our numbers are a concern."

Returning letterwinners: Laura Ackerwold (relays), Yvonne Dashtell (relays), Chelsea Dunkle (distance), Caitlin Gilmartin (relays), Sami Juhnke (relays), Laura Niemeyer (relays), Ashley Odegaard (long jump, 100), Amy Jo Reuter (400, 800), Abby Sanderson (long jump, triple jump), Shara Thompson (discus), Katie Whaley (relays).

Conference favorite: "Pierre is loaded with quality athletes and outstanding coaches," Sebern said.

Mitchell

Coach: Eric Palmer, fifth year.

Season's outlook: "I am hoping for an improvement from last year," Palmer said.

Returning letterwinners: seniors Brittany Brickman, Shanna Iberg, Andrea Neugebauer, Haley Williams; junior Melissa Muehler; sophomores McKaylyn Bruce, Tessa Dee, Kendra Knight, Amelia Ladd, Amelia Miller, Mollie Rice, Steph Uher, Caitlin Way.

Letterwinners missing: Kayla Haines (BHSU).

Conference favorite: Pierre, Palmer said.

Brandon Valley

Coach: Troy Sturgeon, first year as head coach.

Season's outlook: "Our numbers are really good," Sturgeon said. "We will build on an outstanding group of very talented young girls. These young girls will be able to step in varsity roles and immediately make a difference. Our outlook is very bright and we might surprise a few people."

Returning letterwinners: seniors Noel Bentele (shot put, discus), Lonny Vannegtenwriter (1,600); juniors Leann Severson (400, 800), Kersten Hanson (100, 200), Jane Swenson (shot put, discus); sophomores Stephanie Bachman (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, long jump), Jordan Peterson (100 hurdles, 300 hurdles), Sudan Bun (100, 200, long jump, triple jump), Paige Peiper (long jump), Mallory Ageton (triple jump, 400), Kelly Herr (shot put, discus); freshmen Lauren Heib (400, 800), Lexy Morrison (400, 800); eighth graders Holly Sass (100, 200), Kasey Pressler (800).

Letterwinners missing: Lindsey Waggoner, Claire Severson (Augustana), Katie Furley (Augustana), Cassandra Heene.

Conference favorite: Yankton and Aberdeen, Sturgeon said.

Pierre

Coach: Craig Ullmann, third year.

Season's outlook: "We are a young team without a lot of depth," Ullmann said. "We have a good young core to work with. Our strength is our throwers and sprinters. We are excited to see how our young talent will react to the powers of track and field this year."

Top returning letterwinners: seniors Jen DeHueck (middle distance), Sierra Moeller (hurdles, sprints), Loryn Scheutzle (shot put, discus); juniors Katie Buhler (distance), Jenna Chalcraft (sprints), Polly Gill (shot put, discus), Drew Miller (fourth in state in discus), Abbie Mitchell (middle distance); sophomores Alexa Berg (distance), Raven Cummings (sprints, long jump), Steph Paluch (jumps).

Top newcomers: junior Morgan McLain (sprints), freshman Mollie Holden (sprints, jumps), eighth grader Jordyn

Anderson (sprints).

Letterwinners missing: Torri Ice (Nebraska), Arianna Hunt (Sioux Falls), Nicole Erbele (Nebraska), Alicia Johnson (USD).

Conference favorite: "Yankton is always tough in the distance events and Watertown is deep in the sprints and has good quality in the field," Ullmann said.

Aberdeen Central

Coach: Jim Appl, 15th year.

Assistant coaches: Jeff Sahli, Greg Murley, Bill Martens, Brian Lowery, Darren Tipton, Tanya Krage, Jill Hermansen.

Season's outlook: "We are fortunate to have seven seniors who can cover all the events except for the hurdles and 1,600 and 3,200 runs," said Appl. "When you combine a lot of new and young athletes on the track team with our experienced coaching staff, we will be able to improve weekly."

Returning letterwinners: seniors Brittany Bauer (throws), Emily Geffre (middle distance), Christina Kusler (jumps, sprints), Whitney Morsching (high jump, triple jump), Dani Pauley (high jump, relays), KaSara Sutton (sprints, relays), Kayla Weisbeck (sprints, relays).

Conference favorite: "Watertown, with all of its experience and quality, followed by Huron and Yankton," Appl said.

Huron

Coach: Bob DeBoer, fifth year.

Assistant coaches: Ryan Mors, Roger Loecker, Steve Peters, Tom Baszler, Char Carda, Dan Thelen, Mike Carda, Demi Moon.

Season's outlook: "We should be competitive again," DeBoer said. "We have a strong core of athletes and a large group of young athletes we think will be able to contribute by the end of the season. We will try to develop more team depth as the season rolls along. We will have to find ways to replace the scoring of the five seniors who graduated."

Returning letterwinners: seniors Becky Dufek (sprints, relays), Jen Miner (jumps), Loren Vaillancourt (sprints, hurdles); juniors Kelsey Robish (distance), Luvie Williams (sprints); sophomores Emily Carda (shot put, discus), Heidi DeBoer (sprints, relays, jumps), Bethany Gross (sprints, jumps), Brigette Gross (hurdles, pole vault), Mandy Hebbert (pole vault), Allyson Waldner (shot put, discus); freshmen Tiffany Lawrence (sprints, relays), Mandy Robish (sprints, relays), Tyann Buddenhagen (distance, relays).

Promising prospects: sophomore Katlyn Cavizel (shot put, discus); freshmen Abby Eide (pole vault), Samantha Miller (distance), Molly Reimer (distance), Crosby Skipper (distance), Danielle Smith (distance), Kristen Steffen (shot put, discus), Kelsey Worrell (pole vault, hurdles).

Letterwinners missing: Morgan Carlson (DWU), Samantha Diede (S.D. Mines), Tamiko Kopfmann (SDSU), Janelle Stickler (BHSU), Rachel Tschetter, Ashley Wurts, Kaydee Grayson, Erica Robish.

Conference favorite: "I look for the ESD race to be tight between defending champion Watertown and runner-up Yankton," DeBoer said. "If Brandon Valley and Huron can find ways to replace losses in the field events, they could challenge the top two."

Editor's note: A preview was not received from Yankton.

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