SPORTS

SECTION C APRIL 2, 2015

PREVIEW

JCC softball team has high hopes

Three players
who broke school
records last season
return for Huskies
by DAN CONDON
Sports Editor
The Jackson County
Central softball team returns a bevy of talent this
spring, including three
players who set school records last season.
The Huskies return all
but three players from a
team that went 15-7 last
season, giving head coach
Shelly Hotzler plenty of
reason for optimism.
I think weve got some
high expectations, she
said. Were looking to possibly place at sections and
get to state.
The Huskies will rely on
an offense that has a balance of speed and power to
carry the team this season.
JCC hit 22 home runs last
season, with 19 of those by
players who are back this
year.
Senior Mo Carlson hit
seven bombs last season,
which tied a school record.
She also drove in a schoolrecord 39 runs.
Freshman Kelsey Kannenberg hit a school-record .526 with five home
runs last season and also
set three pitching records.
Those two will be in the
heart of the order, as will

PHOTO BY DAN CONDON

Returning letter winners for the Jackson County Central softball team are (front, from left): Jadin Bezdicek, Rachel Johnson, Mo Carlson, Bailey Schneekloth,
Megan Edlin and Kaitlin Sundall. Back: Sydney Nyborg, Kathryn Nasby, Blaney Markman, Jayni Anderson, Stephanie Sauter, Elyse Johnson and Kelsey
Kannenberg. Missing: Tearza Brewer.
senior Blaney Markman
(.461 average with five
homers and 22 runs batted
in last season) and junior
Sydney Nyborg (16 RBI
last season).
Thats a pretty solid
core, Hotzler said.
To complement the big
boppers, the Huskies will
have speed at the top and

bottom of the lineup.

Senior Kathryn Nasby
stole nine bases and hit
.342 last season and figures
to be at the top of the order.
Seniors Megan Edlin (who
had a school-record 11 sacrifices last season), Bailey
Schneekloth and Rachel
Johnson, junior Jadin Bezdicek and sophomore Jayni

Anderson also provide

speed for the Huskies.
Weve got some team
speed this year, so that will
be a good thing, Hotzler
said.
Kannenberg posted a
3.34 earned-run average
last season as she pitched
86 innings. Shell be back
to lead the Huskies in the

circle and will be joined

by Nyborg (3.82 ERA)
and eighth-grader Blaney
Johnson. Kannenberg will
also play first base and Nyborg will play third.
Carlson will play first
and Markman will be at
shortstop. Schneekloth and
Bezdicek will both play at
second base. Carlson will

also do some catching and

Bezdicek can play in the
outfield.
Anderson returns as
catcher and Nasby is back
patrolling center field. Edlin will play left field and
Johnson will play in right
after missing most of last
season with a concussion.

See JCC SB on C6

Versatile Huskies hope second-half surge carries over

JCC baseball team
finished strong
last season, brings
back 10 players
by DAN CONDON
Sports Editor
The Jackson County Central baseball team is hoping
a year of experience and a
strong second half to last
season will help as it enters
the 2015 campaign.
The Huskies were winless in their first 11 games
last season, but went 4-3
the rest of the way to finish strong.
Back from that team are
10 players, including the
teams leading hitter and
top pitchers.
Head coach Mike Wierson said his team could
look different in the field
every game this season,
mostly depending on who
is on the pitchers mound.
Basically all of our
pitchers are starters at
one of our other spots, he
said. Depending on who
is pitching, its going to
change our lineup and positions every game.
The Huskies return senior Scott Christopher and
sophomore Chris Gumto
to the mound after the
two were JCCs top hurlers a year ago. Gumto will
also play at third base
and Christopher will play
shortstop, but can play just
about any position.
Sophomore Ryan Christopher will also pitch, as
will seniors Zach Schwarting, Ryan Timko, Jared
Bakalyar, and Nick Arp and
juniors Dalton Mortenson,

PHOTO BY DAN CONDON

Returning letter winners for the Jackson County Central baseball team are (front, from left): Chris Gumto, Easton Bahr, Zach Holm, Ryan Timko and
Andrew Hesse. Back: Jared Bakalyar, Brody Anderson, Ryan Christopher, Nick Arp and Scott Christopher.
Avery Henderson and Levi
Salberg.
Senior Brody Anderson
will play first base, but
Schwarting could also see
time there and in the outfield.
Bakalyar will play catcher and Timko can play
there or at third. Junior
Nate Monson will also see
time at catcher and could
also play in the infield or
outfield.
Senior Andrew Hesse
will play second base and
left field and sophomore

Easton Bahr will play in

the middle infield.
Ryan Christopher will
man center field when
hes not pitching and other
outfielders are senior Zach
Holm, Henderson and Arp.
Salberg will also spend
time at designated hitter
and junior Austin Nunez
will play at second base.
A lot of guys have to
be able to play multiple
positions, Wierson said,
adding that is the case for
most. Weve got a lot of
guys that can play more

than one spot and we have

a lot of quality players.
With so many interchangeable parts, Wierson
said positions and a lineup
will be fluid as the season
goes on.
Its who is performing
and taking advantage of
their opportunities, he
said.
That was the case last
year, as well, as the team
used a variety of lineups
and eventually brought
up Bahr, Gumto and Ryan

See JCC BASE on C3

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Jackson County Central baseball

Head coach: Mike Wierson

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vs. Mt. Lake Area

at Fairmont (doubleheader)
vs. St. James Area
vs. Heron Lake-Okabena
at Windom
vs. Pipestone (doubleheader)
at Redwood Valley
at St. James Area
at Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial
at Worthington
at Luverne (doubleheader)
at United South Central
vs. Windom
vs. Adrian
BSC tournament
at Martin County West
Section 3AA tournament
Class AA state tournament

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Sports Preview

C2

Thursday, April 2, 2015

PHOTO BY DAN CONDON

Members of the Jackson County Central track and field team are (front, from left): Kia Holm, Kailey Koep, Melissa Brandt, Molly Boyum, Rion Bronson, Jessica Christoffer, Hailey
Handevidt, Karli Cavness, Sarah Holmberg and Brielle Scheepstra. Second row: Marte Gabrielli, Sophie Johnson, Glory Meyer, Maximiliene Weber, David Strom, Wyatt Weier, Zoe
Pohlman, Hunter Gustin, Lauren Buhr, Bobbi Murphy and Alyssa Post. Third row: Jade Holthe, Liberty Meyer, Aleigha Henderson, Curtis Pell, Damien Van Westen, Ryder Lesch,
Cheyenne Minniss, James Thomas, Josh Ulbricht and Teague Schultz. Back: Nora Schaer, Dalton Mekosch, Warren Darling, Zach Holm, Andrew Hesse, Brandon Schmit, Demonte
Thomas, Matt Strom and Jordan Hutzler.

JCC girls have talent, boys have eye on the future

by DAN CONDON
Sports Editor
The Jackson County Central track and field teams
enter the season with different goals, as the girls
hope a complete team can
finish well in meets and the
boys hope to build toward
the end of the season.
Head coach Rafe York
likes the talent the girls
have and said a fairly inexperience boys team could
make strides during the
spring.
Girls talent spread out
The JCC girls have talented athletes in just about
every event this season despite returning just three
of its top 10 scorers last
season.
There are a lot of talented kids who are spread
around in a lot of events,
York said. Were very
spread out.
While there are a lot of
good athletes, York said
there isnt a whole lot of
depth on the 21-team roster.

Were not as deep as

Id like to be, but we do
have some depth, he
said. Weve got talent and
theyre young.
The leading returning
scorer is freshman Jessica
Christoffer, who had 113
points last season in distance runs and relays.
Christoffer made it to
the section meet in the
1,600-meter run and in two
relays.
She leads a group of
talented distance runners
that also includes sophomores Karli Cavness,
Maximiliane Weber and
Nora Schaer, freshman Kia
Holm and Molly Boyum
and eighth-grader Melissa
Brandt. Brandt and Holm
joined Christoffer in the
4x800-meter relay at sections last season.
Weve got four or five
distance runners who can
place in every meet, York
said.
Eighth-grader Hailey
Handevidt was ninth in
scoring last season and
freshman Brielle Scheepstra was 10th.
Handevidt will compete

Jackson County Central track and field

Head coach: Rafe York

3-28
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4-7
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4-13
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4-23
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5-4
5-7
5-12
5-21
5-28
6-5 6-6

at U of M indoor meet
at Luverne
at Mt. Lake
at Luverne
at Mt. Lake
at Windom
at Slayton
at Fairmont
JCC meet
at Section 3A true team (in Luverne)
at Worthington
at BSC meet (in Redwood Falls)
Sub-section 9A meet (in Windom)
Section 3A meet (in Luverne)
Class A state meet

in pole vault and sprints

and Scheepstra will compete in hurdles and jumps.
Both qualified for sections
last season, with Handevidt going in the 4x400-meter
relay and 400-meter dash
and Scheepstra qualifying
in long jump.
Also jumping for JCC are
sophomore Sophie Johnson (who made it to sections last year in triple
jump), freshmen Alyssa
Post, Boyum, Cheyenne
Minnis and Bobbi Murphy
and eighth-graders Aleigha
Henderson and Zoe Pohlman.
Sprinters are senior Jade
Holthe, eighth-grader Kailey Koep and the aforementioned Henderson,
Post, Murphy, Pohlman and
Handevidt.
Henderson, Post and
Pohlman ran in the 4x200meter relay at sections last
year and Post also made it
in the 200-meter dash.
Hurdlers are Scheepstra,
Johnson and Pohlman, with
Koep joining Handevidt in
pole vault.
Weve got three hurdlers who might be able
to place at most meets,
York said.
Throwers are Holthe,
Minnis, seniors Marte Gabrielli and Lauren Buhr,
sophomore Liberty Meyer
and freshman Glory Meyer.
Serving as the manager
is senior Sarah Brandt,
who is unable to compete
this season as she recovers
from knee surgery.

Trio to lead JCC boys

The JCC boys return
two of their fop five scorers from last season, but
are pretty inexperienced
after graduating a big senior class.
Were very thin, York
said of his 19-man roster.
We lost a lot. Weve only
got six or seven guys back
from last year.
One of them returning
is senior Warren Darling,
who was third on the team
in points last season. He
went to sections in long
jump and was part of the
4x4 and 4x1 teams that
competed at the section
meet.
Darling has the school
record in long jump and
was the conference champion last season.
The Huskies also return
sophomore Matt Strom,
who was fifth in points
last season. He ran in the
800-meter run at sections
last season, as well as the
4x4.
Both Darling and Strom
will compete in sprints, as
will seniors Andrew Hesse,
Zach Holm and Demonte
Thomas, junior Curtis Pell,
sophomore James Thomas
and freshmen Dalton Mekosch, Rion Bronson and
Damian VanWesten.
Darling will also compete in jumps, as will
Mekosch, junior Jordan
Hutzler and sophomores
Josh Ulbricht and Teague
Schultz. Hutzler will also
compete in hurdles.

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Season started Tuesday

The Huskies started the
outdoor season Tuesday in
Luverne, home of the team
York said will be the toughest to beat in the section.
Theyll be good again,
he said of the Cardinals.
Their girls are outstanding.
Montevideo will be
strong in the boys standings and York expects Redwood Valley to be good
again.
JCC hosts a meet this
season, which is set for
April 30.
The Huskies will compete in the small-school
Big South Conference tournament at Redwood Falls
on May 12 and will compete in the sub-section
meet May 21. The section
meet is May 28 in Luverne.
Assisting York this season are Jack Walsh (throwers), Greg Maday (vault),
Brian Cook (horizontal
jumps and sprints) and
Kerri Kocak (distance).
Josh Wacker is volunteering and doing a great job
with the kids in the weight
room, York said.

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With that in mind, York

said the goal is improvement all season long.
We had a huge senior
class last year so most of
our kids are sophomore or
younger, he said. Were
building for the future and
hoping to establish the
program.

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Strom will compete in

throwing events and will
be joined by senior Brandon Schmit and Demonte
Thomas, James Thomas
and Schultz.
Schmit nearly made it to
state in discus last season,
placing third at the section
meet. He was also seventh
in shot put.
Distance runners are
sophomores Carter Heinrichs and Wyatt Weier,
freshman Hunter Gustin
and seventh-grader David
Strom.
Pell will pole vault (he
was 13th in the section last
season), as will VanWesten and sophomore Ryder
Lesch.
York said the team will
rely on Darling, Matt
Strom and Schmit to score
a lot of points this spring.
Were looking for big
things out of them, he
said. Brandon is one of the
top throwers in the section
and Warren will be one of
the top jumpers.
York said the teams unofficial indoor meet at the
University of Minnesota
last Saturday was important because it gave his inexperience team a chance
to get its feet wet.
A lot of the guys are just
learning their events, he
said. Going up to an indoor meet like yesterday
was a huge help. Jordan
Hutzler, hes learning to
hurdle, triple jump and
high jump all at the same
time.

Sports Preview

Thursday, April 2, 2015

C3

Huskies enter golf season with lofty goals

State on the minds
of JCC golfers
by DAN CONDON
Sports Editor
The Jackson County
Central boys and girls
golf teams have high hopes
as the new season begins,
although the lofty goals are
a bit different.
The JCC boys have aspirations of making it to state
as a team, while the girls
have a chance at sending
multiple individuals to the
state tournament.
The season starts Monday for the girls as they
host Spirit Lake, Iowa. The
boys kick off their season
next Thursday at Spirit
Lake.
Goal is to go to state
Four spots on the sixman varsity team are all
but locked up for the JCC
boys, but head coach Keith
Eggink said the other two
are up for grabs.
Seniors Joe Brinkman,
Austin Olson, Jack Ringkob and Kyle Kapplinger

will make up two-thirds

of the varsity team and all
have at least two years of
varsity experience already.
The last two spots are
pretty open, Eggink said.
In contention are juniors
Caleb Kolander, Matt Ringkob and Keegan Moore,
freshman Zach Torgerson, seventh-grader Jack
Brinkman and, possibly, a
few others.
With four experienced
seniors to lead the way, its
no wonder Eggink said his
boys have made their goal
for the spring clear.
Their goal is to go to
state, Eggink said. Thats
their goal and I support
them on that.
To do so, the Huskies
will have to top Marshall
and New Ulm, among others, in the newly-formatted
section tournament.
This years tournament
is a two-day, 36-hole event,
with the two dates a week
apart. Scores will carry
over from the first 18 holes,
but some golfers and teams
will be eliminated before
the final 18 holes a week
later.
Eggink said hes in favor

of the new format, which

rewards consistency.
It eliminates the oneday wonder, he said. We
definitely have guys that
can throw two good rounds
together.
The top team advances
to state, as do the top five
individuals.
Joe Brinkman has come
close to state before and
will lead the boys again
after medaling four times
last season. Hes qualified
for the section tournament
five times (when golfers
had to advance from the
sub-section meet) and, last
year, averaged 40.9 strokes
per nine holes.
Olson qualified for the
section tournament last
year and averaged 44.1
strokes per nine holes.
Ringkob averaged 42.9 last
year and Eggink said has
put in a lot of time in the
offseason.
The team played on the
golf simulator at the Jackson Golf Club during the
winter, with Ringkob making it a habit.
Jacks out here all the
time, Eggink said. Hes
been playing really well.

Kapplinger averaged
45.6 shots per nine holes,
giving the Huskies a solid
core.
Kolander also got some
varsity experience, shooting 99 in an 18-hole tournament last season.
Although JCC is in the
Big South Conference this
year, their division is comprised of all the teams
from the old Southwest
Conference: JCC, Luverne,
Marshall, Pipestone, Redwood Valley, Windom and
Worthington.
Only matches against
those teams count toward
the conference record,
but the BSC tournament
in Fairmont on May 18
includes all 13 conference
teams. The same goes for
the girls teams.
JCC girls return four
The JCC girls golf team
returns four golfers from
last years 10-0 team and
three are threats to advance to state.
The team will be solid
again, Eggink predicts,
but he said Marshall is the
clear-cut favorite in the
BSC and section.

Theyre by far the favorite, he said. Their top

two girls are really good.
Weve got to have some
phenomenal rounds to beat
them.
Thats not completely
out of the question as the
Huskies return senior Alison Benson, juniors Abby
Brinkman and Emmalie
Benson and sophomore
Abby Benson.
Alison Benson was medalist five times last season
and averaged 45.5 strokes
per nine holes. Brinkman
was medalist four times
and led the team with an
average of 44.7 shots per
nine holes.
Abby Benson medaled
twice last season and averaged 45.6 strokes per nine
holes.
Those three will all be in
the hunt at the end of the
season.
They can compete for a
shot at state, Eggink said.
Weve got three pretty
solid golfers, and Emmalie
can put together some good
rounds.
Eggink said the top three
golfers are quite competitive with each other, but the
key for them this season
will be consistency.
Any day any of them
could be a medalist, he
said. Now we need more
consistency out of all of

them.
Joining the four returners will be freshman Tiara
Menke. The sixth spot is up
for grabs, with the leading
candidates being eighthgrader Samara Hillmer
and seventh-graders Grace
Benson and Julia Bohl.
Along with Marshall,
Eggink said Windom will
be tough in the conference
and section, as will New
Ulm.
New coaches, new
tournament
The Huskies will play in
a two-day, 36-hole tournament in Jordan April 24
and 25. The tournament
is at the site of the state
tourney, which Eggink said
could provide motivation.
Theyll know what
theyve got to strive for,
he said, so thats kind of
nice.
The tournament will also
help prepare the boys and
girls teams for the 36-hole
section tournament, Eggink said.
Eggink is assisted this
season by Mark Kocak,
who has been a coach in
the past.
Im happy that Marks
back to help, Eggink said.
Coaching the junior high
team is Kaitlyn Kiehn, who
played at St. Cloud State
University.

Jackson County Central golf

Head coach: Keith Eggink

4-6
4-9
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4-16
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4-20
4-21
4-24 4-25
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5-7
5-12
5-15
5-18
5-21
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6-9 6-10

vs. Spirit Lake (girls only)

at Spirit Lake (boys only)
at Marshall
at Worthington
at Worthington tournament
vs. Fairmont
at Martin County West
at Jordan tournament
vs. Luverne
at Redwood Valley
at Red Rock Central
vs. Estherville Lincoln Central
at Fairmont tournament
vs. Pipestone (boys only)
vs. Pipestone (girls only)
vs. Windom
at Blue Earth Area
at BSC tournament (in Fairmont)
Sub-section 3AA tournament
(Boys in Willmar; Girls in Buffalo Lake)
Section 3AA tournament (in Buffalo Lake)
Class AA state tournament (in Jordan)

413 Third Street Jackson, MN 56143

Phone: 507.847.4222
PHOTO BY DAN CONDON

Rick Reed, CPA

Mike Brinkman, CPA

Returning letter winners for the Jackson County Central softball team are (front, from left): Alison Benson, Abby Benson,
Emmalie Benson and Abby Brinkman. Back: Austin Olson, Jack Ringkob, Joe Brinkman, Kyle Kapplinger and Caleb
Kolander. Missing: Matt Ringkob.

JCC BASE: Versatile Huskies hope last years second-half surge continues
Continued from C1
Christopher from the B
squad.
Bahr ended up leading
the team with a .400 batting average and had a
team-leading .516 on-base
percentage.
Bakalyar hit .311 last
season and drove in five
runs. Hesse had a .381 onbase percentage, thanks,
in part, to nine walks. Scott
Christopher had a .300 onbase percentage. He and

Hesse both scored 11 runs.

When guys are on base,
Wierson said, they will be
on the move.
We have good team
speed, he said. Well use
that to our advantage. Well
make the other teams make
plays, sometimes to a fault.
If they make a play, they
make a play.
The Huskies had twoa-days for the first two
weeks of practice, which

allowed them to get plenty

of swings in.
Weve been getting a lot
of cuts in, Wierson said,
adding that has been beneficial because the Huskies
werent able to get outside
much to practice in the
first couple weeks.
In the gym and the few
days they were outdoors,
Wierson said the focus was
on the basics.
Fundamentals, he said.

Early in the season, thats

the biggest thing.
The Huskies put those
fundamentals to the test
Tuesday as they opened the
season against Mt. Lake.
They play at Fairmont today (Thursday) against a
team Wierson said will be
one of the tougher teams in
the Big South Conference
and Section 3AA.
JCC opens play against
fellow BSC small-school

teams April 9 at home

against St. James. Also
in the small-school division are Luverne, Pipestone, Redwood Valley and
Windom.
In the big-school division of the conference are
Marshall, Fairmont, New
Ulm, Worthington, St. Peter, Waseca and Blue Earth
Area.
Only games against
small schools will count

toward JCCs conference

record and the Huskies
will play a crossover game
against a big-school team
in May.
Blaise Jacobsen is back
as Wiersons assistant
coach. Kevin Holm and
Nathan Boler are coaching
the B- and C-squad teams.

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Sports Preview

C4

Thursday, April 2, 2015

Wildcats return four all-conference players

by DAN CONDON
Sports Editor
The Heron Lake-Okabena softball team had
its first winning season in
nearly a decade last season
and brings back four players who were honored by
the Red Rock Conference
and their team last season.
But head coach Angie
Rogotzke said, despite the
talent the Wildcats have
back, they are still a young
team with areas to improve.
The biggest area, she
said, is offensively, where
the Wildcats are working
on slapping and bunting

as ways to get runners on

base.
We need to hit, Rogotzke said. Last year we lost
a few games because we
didnt hit the first four innings and then it was too
late. Scoring runs is the
way you win the game.
The Wildcats return senior first baseman Rachel
Mathias, who was named
the teams best offensive
player last season. She
was named to the all-conference team last season,
as were now juniors Megan Haberman (shortstop)
and Ida Rogers-Ferguson
(pitcher).
Haberman was named

Heron Lake-Okabena softball

Head coach: Angie Rogotzke

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the teams best defensive

player last season and Rogers-Ferguson was the most
valuable player.
Shes the leader of the
team, Rogotzke said of
Rogers-Ferguson. She
takes charge out there.
Also back is senior outfielder Lizzie Rossow, who
was an honorable-mention
all-conference player last
season.
Senior Whitney Evers
is back out after not playing last season. Shell play
in the outfield, as will junior Mariah Harvey and
freshman Tessla Crowell.
Crowell will also do some
pitching for HL-O.
Joining Haberman and
Mathias who Rogotzke
said sucks everything up
at first base in the infield
will be freshman Jessica

VanWesten and sophomore

Madison Leighty. Those
two will play second and
third base, but which one is
where was yet to be determined as of late last week.
Sophomore Samantha
Obermoller will play catcher and sophomore Brooklynn Elder will play in the
infield.
The Wildcats have just
11 players and dont have
a junior varsity team, so
there isnt a whole lot of
depth.
We cant get anyone
hurt, Rogotzke said.
The strength of this
years team, Rogotzke said,
is its defense. That proved
to hold true in a couple
scrimmages in Rochester
against Rochester Mayo
and Chatfield.
We played really well

defensively, she said. Defense is our strength.

But, Rogotzke said, defense is still something that
will continue to be worked
on all season.
We have errors, she
said. Weve got to get
the for-sure outs that we
have.
With four all-conference
players back and a strong
defense, Rogotzke said the
goal is to improve on last
years 8-6 record.
We want to do better
than last year, she said.
Well hold our own. Well
beat some teams that wont
be expecting it.
Rogotzke said Edgerton
and Red Rock Central are
the conference favorites,
but added Murray County
Central will again be in
the mix.

The Wildcats open their

season against MCC next
Tuesday at home in Okabena. After playing Windom,
the Wildcats host powerhouses RRC and Edgerton/Southwest Christian
at home, giving HL-O four
tough home games to start
the season.
The Wildcats play RRC
and Edgerton/SWC in
back-to-back road games
in April and end the regular season at Tracy.
The section tournament
starts May 15 and state is
June 4 and 5.
Rogotzke said as long as
the team has a good time,
everything will be fine.
I just want them to have
fun and play their heart out
and the other things will
come, she said.

vs. Murray County Central

vs. Windom
vs. Red Rock Central
vs. Edgerton/SWC
at Worthington
at Mt. Lake Area
at Murray County Central
at Martin County West
vs. Martin Luther
at Adrian/Ellsworth
vs. Adrian/Ellsworth
at Madelia
at Red Rock Central
at Edgerton
vs. Russell-Tyler-Ruthton
vs. Mt. Lake Area
at Tracy-Milroy-Balaton
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Class A state tournament (in Mankato)

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PHOTO BY DAN CONDON

Returning letter winners for the Heron Lake-Okabena softball team are Tessla Crowell, Lizzie Rossow, Megan Haberman,
Ida Rogers-Ferguson and Samantha Obermoller. Missing: Rachel Mathias.

HL-O baseball team hopes experience pays off this spring

Wildcats return 11
players from last
years diamond team
by DAN CONDON
Sports Editor

PHOTO BY DAN CONDON

Returning letter winners for the Heron Lake-Okabena baseball team are (front, from left): Gage Dronen, Isaac Fest, Angel Esqueda, Marcelo Esqueda and
Trey Cranston. Back: Adam Hietbrink, Logan Knutson, Brady Haberman, Ryan DeWall and Austin Hietbrink. Missing: Jacob Getzel.
and Volk.
Outfielders are juniors
Brady Haberman and
Ryan DeWall, junior Gage
Dronen, Cranston and Taylor DeWall.
Were just trying to
get better, Rogers said.
Were another year older.
Were looking for those
younger guys to step up.
The Wildcats opened
the season Tuesday at
Worthington and have their
home opener next Monday
against Minneota.
The Red Rock Conference opener is April 7 at
Murray County Central
and then April 9 HL-O
hosts Adrian, which Rog-

ers said is the team to beat

in the conference.
The Wildcats also play at
Adrian on April 30.
The Wildcats have a
tournament April 11 in
Welcome and play in a
tournament May 16 at Canby.
The section tournament
starts May 20 and the state
tournament begins June
11.
Lon Eichenberger is assisting Rogers at the varsity level. Octavio Jimenez
is coaching the junior-varsity team, which Rogers
said will have a number of
games this spring.

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Heron Lake-Okabena baseball

Head coaches: Kevin Rogers

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HL-O Wildcats

batting order.
Fest will play shortstop
and pitch for the Wildcats.
Also on the mound will
be seniors Jacob Getzel
and Trey Cranston, sophomores Logan Knutson,
David Volk and Adam Hietbrink and freshman Taylor
DeWall.
Junior Angel Esqueda
will play catcher for the
Wildcats and twin brother
Marcelo Esqueda could
also spend time behind
the plate. Marcelo will also
play third base.
Hietbrink will play first
base, Knutson will play
second and other infielders are Getzel, Cranston

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For the Heron Lake-Okabena baseball team, a year

of experience will hopefully pay off this season.
The Wildcats were young
last season and went 2-18.
But seven of those games
were decided by three or
fewer runs and four were
by just one run.
With a year of experience, first-year head coach
Kevin Rogers is hoping the
Wildcats can come out on
top of some of those close
games and turn in a solid
record.
To do so, HL-O will rely
on what Rogers said looks
like a solid defense.
Our defense is a
strength, he said. Weve
got some good, young
arms.
Rogers said the team
is still pretty young, but
hopes by the time the playoffs roll around the Wildcats will be pretty good.
We want to play good,
steady, smart ball, he
said. We want to try to be
in every game. We want to
improve and get to where
we want to be at the end of
the season.
The Wildcats will be led
by senior Isaac Fest, who
was an all-Red Rock Conference player last season
when he stole 33 bases.
Rogers said Fest will be
at the top of the order, but
not much is certain after
that.
Once we get going well
find out how these kids do,
he said of determining a

at Worthington
vs. Minneota
at Murray County Central
vs. Adrian
at MCW tournament
at Jackson County Central
at RRC/WWG
at Edgerton/SWC
at Russell-Tyler-Ruthton
vs. Mt. Lake Area
vs. Murray County Central
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at Canby tournament
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Class A state tournament

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Sports Preview

Thursday, April 2, 2015

C5

PHOTO BY DAN CONDON

Returning letter winners for the Heron Lake-Okabena track and field team are Logan Knutson (from left), MaKayla Edwards, Cheyenne Schaffer, Rachel Salentiny, Taylor Johanning,
Brianna Preston, Bailey Collin and Vanessa Juarez. Missing: Matthew Poppe, Kaylan Untiedt and Sarah Schmid.

Distance runners, throwers to lead Wildcat track and field teams

Girls can run

The HL-O girls track
and field team returns
an exceptional group of
distance runners, which
helped the Wildcats to a
strong showing in cross
country last fall.
The depth of distance
runners give the Wildcats
a good shot at state in the
4x800-meter relay, which
they just missed last season.
Freshmen Rachel Salentiny, MaKayla Edwards,
Cheyenne Schaffer and
Brianna Preston finished
third at the section meet in
the 4x8 last season, missing a trip to state by one
spot. The four are joined by
freshman Vanessa Juarez
and seventh-grader Emma
Golda as distance runners.
The 4x8 team has a goal
to take one more step up,
head coach Gary Hildebrandt said.
Edwards won the subsection in the 1,600-me-

freshman Ashley Wagner.

The same holds true, he
said, for distance coach
Les Knutson, sprint coach
Donna Cook and hurdles
coach Melissa Untiedt.
Weve got it all covered, Hildebrandt said.
Weve got all those different events, and now theyre
all covered.
Hildebrandt said he expects the girls to do well
this season.
The underlying goal
for the team is to be able
to take a step up in team
standings, he said. Weve
got everybody back and
some new ones. We can
score some points in a lot
of events now.
But to do so will require
hard work every day.
They have to have a
consistent desire to work
hard, Hildebrandt said.
Theyre good; weve got
some very capable girls.
Boys are inexperienced
The HL-O boys return
just two letter winners
from last season, but have
added a couple of talented
seniors.
Back is sophomore distance runner Logan Knutson, who placed second
at the sub-section meet
and 12 th at sections in
the 1,600-meter run last
spring.
The Wildcats also return

junior Matthew Poppe, who

was third in the sub-section meet in shot put and
discus despite not joining
the team until the season
had already started. Also
throwing for the Wildcats
will be freshman Pablo
Esqueda.
Freshman Tyler Brunk
also competed last season
and will run distance races
and compete in jumps this
spring.
New this year are seniors Dakota Schmid
(sprints, hurdles, throws
and jumps), Hunter Timko (springs and jumps)
and Isaac Fest (jumps and
sprints), who Hildebrandt
can do well.
Itll be kind of fun to see
what they come up with,
Hildebrandt said.
The Wildcats dont have
a lot of boys to start with
and could run in to trouble
in meets on the same day as
baseball. Knutson, Schmid
and Fest are all baseball
players.
If we have everyone
there, we can score some
points, Hildebrandt said.
Thatll be kind of fun.
The best thing about the
inexperienced Wildcats,
Hildebrandt said, is their
willingness to work hard
and improve.
Theyre wide-eyed and
ready to learn, he said.
The team does have

some work to do, but has

enough talent to do well,
its coach said.
They have to learn their
events, Hildebrandt said.
And they have to realize
they can compete with
other kids in our area.
The season started with

an indoor meet last week

and the first outdoor meet
was Tuesday.
HL-O will compete in the
Red Rock Conference meet
May 15 in Slayton. The subsection meet is May 21 in
Pipestone and the section
meet is May 30 in Luverne.

Heron Lake-Okabena track and field

Head coaches: Gary Hildebrandt

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HL-O Wildcats

A loaded group of long

distance runners will lead
the Heron Lake-Okabena
girls track and field team
and one outstanding runner will lead the boys. Also
expected to rack up points
for both teams will be an
elite thrower.

ter run last season, was

second at the Red Rock
Conference meet and fifth
at sections. Salentiny was
the section champion in
the 3,200-meter run and
finished second at sub-sections and fifth at sections.
Preston placed third
in the conference in the
3,200-meter run.
The foursome of Edwards, Salentiny, Schaffer
and sophomore Kaylan Untiedt was fourth in the subsection in the 4x400-meter
relay last season.
Joining Untied as sprinters are Schaffer, seniors
Sarah Schmid and Vonique
Swenson, sophomore Bailey Collin and freshman
Taylor Johanning.
Jumpers are Schaffer,
Untiedt, Edwards, Schmid,
Johanning and Swenson.
Untied will also compete
in hurdles.
Collin leads the throwers after placing third at
the conference meet last
season. She tied her career
high in an indoor meet last
week, which head Hildebrandt said is in part to
volunteer throwing coach
Katie Kaluza.
Shes been great, Hildebrandt said of the coach.
Thats huge.
He said having a coach
who specializes in throws
will help Collin and fellow throwers Schmid and

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Sports Preview

C6

Thursday, April 2, 2015

JCC SB: High hopes

Continued from C1

PHOTO BY DAN CONDON

Returning letter winners for the Heron Lake-Okabena golf team are Kailey Wendland (from left), Brooke Freking, Ben
Sheldahl, Hailey Ruesch and Sarah Madsen.

Wildcat girls looking for success,

boys are looking for experience
by DAN CONDON
Sports Editor
The Heron Lake-Okabena girls golf team will
rely on a bit of experience
as the new season begins,
while the Wildcat boys are
hoping to position the team
for the future.
The girls are led by section qualifier Kailey Wendland, who was fifth at the
Red Rock Conference meet
last season. They also return three others from last
years three-win team.
The boys return senior
Hunter Timko and freshman Ben Sheldahl, but
have four others who are
new to the sport.
Wendland to lead
Wildcat girls
Senior Wendland leads
a HL-O girls team that
head coach Jared Bourquin
thinks can do well this
spring.
Along with Wendland,

the Wildcats return junior

Hailey Ruesch and sophomores Sarah Madsen and
Brooke Freking.
They have much more
experience than last year,
he said. Kailey will be
the foundation of the girls
team, but Brooke, Sarah
and Hailey, with a year
under their belt, should be
able to compete.
The Wildcat girls also
have seventh-graders Sam
Freking and Lexy Ruesch
and sixth-graders Meakin
Bang and Arianna Stearns
out this spring.
Its nice to have four
younger girls to refill the
numbers, Bourquin said.
Bourquin said the key for
success this spring will depend on if the four returners can make a jump to the
next level.
Kailey, we need to get
her from the mid 40s to the
low 40s and high 30s, he
said. We need the other
three in the upper 40s and
low 50s.

Heron Lake-Okabena golf

Head coach: Jared Bourquin

Proud Sponsors of

HL-O Wildcats

3-31
at Red Rock Central
4-6
at Westbrook/Walnut Grove
4-9
vs. Hills-Beaver Creek
4-13
vs. Adrian/SWC
4-16
vs. Mt. Lake Area
4-20
vs. Windom
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vs. Hills-Beaver Creek
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at Murray County Central
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at Adrian/SWC
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vs. Martin County West
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at Westbrook
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at Fulda
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at Mt. Lake Area
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at Worthington
5-15
at Martin County West
5-20
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5-27
Section 3A tournament (in Marshall)
6-9 6-11
Class A state tournament (in Becker)

Fo r t h a t t o h a p p e n ,
Bourquin said, the girls
just need to work on their
consistency. Part of that
preparation already took
place since last season, as a
few of the girls took lessons
in the offseason.
Bourquin said Wendland
has a real shot at state this
season and said Madsen
has a good chance to show
quite a bit of improvement.
Boys to learn on the go
Timko and Sheldahl return for the HL-O boys, but
the Wildcats had a pair of
players graduate and two
others not come out this
spring, leaving the team
quite inexperienced.
New to the sport and
team this year are freshmen Wyatt Schumacher
and seventh-grader Chase
Little. Seventh-graders
Ethan Koep and Ethan
Untiedt both were out last
season but too young to
compete.
Were short on experience, Bourquin said. Just
competing in meets consistently will be a huge goal.
Bourquin said the teams
success wont necessarily
be measured in terms of
wins and losses, but improvement.
We want to keep making
strides, he said. Were
not worried about low
scores, necessarily.
What Bourquin will have
his players focus on is playing smart.
Not throwing shots
away, he said. Improve
their game; work on the
swing. We want them to get

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consistent.

Head coach: Shelly Hotzler

Home meets at North
Valley Golf Course
For the second straight
season, the Wildcats
will call North Valley in
Lakefield home.
Being back at the
course provides the returners familiarity with
the course, but also provides a good place for
the entire team to practice with the team or
on their own.
We get to play these
holes for every practice, Bourquin said,
adding he encouraged
the Wildcats to come to
the course on weekends
for even more practice.
Bourquin, who is in
his second season as
HL-O head coach, is
assisted by Brad Wendland.
Season started Tuesday
The Wildcats were
scheduled to start the
season Tuesday with a
meet at Red Rock Central. They play at Westbrook/Walnut Grove
next Monday and the
home opener is April
9 against Hills-Beaver
Creek.
The Red Rock Conference meet is scheduled
for May 12 at Prairie
View in Worthington.
The sub-section meet
is May 20 in Worthington and the Section 3A
tournament is May 27
in Marshall. The state
tournament is June 9
and 10 in Becker.

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against Fairmont.
The Huskies are in the
small-school division of
the Big South Conference,
which includes Luverne,
St. James, Redwood Valley, Windom and perennial
powerhouse Pipestone.
JCC hosts Pipestone May
7 in what figures to be a
battle of the top two teams
in the division.
Hotzler said the top team
from the big-school division is New Ulm a team
that also figures to contend
for the section championship. Also in the big-school
division are Marshall,
Fairmont, Worthington,
St. Peter, Waseca and Blue
Earth Area.
Just two days after hosting the Arrows, JCC will
host its tournament, which
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Hotzler is assisted at the
varsity level by Cory Pauling. Erica Colby is coaching the B-squad team.

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Kannenberg, Carlson
and Markman were named
to the all-conference team
last season and Nasby and
Nyborg were honorablemention selections.
The Huskies will also
have senior outfielders Angelica Schwering and Tearza Brewer, junior infielders Haley Bass and Elyse
Johnson, junior outfielder
Stephanie Sauter, sophomore infielder Jacey Edlin,
sophomore outfielder Kaitlin Sundall and freshman
outfielder Bailey Berkner
on the roster.
While Hotzler said the
offense will be solid again
this spring, she said the
teams defense is always
something that can be improved.
Defense in general is
something to work on, she
said. Were always looking
to get that better.
The Huskies opened the
season Tuesday at Mt. Lake
Area and are back on the
diamond today (Thursday)
with their home opener

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