Bonduel High School track and field coach Jim Watry is excited to see what his athletes can do this season, that is if they can ever get outside.
“Right now, the biggest opponent we have is the weather,” Watry said. “The snow is not going anywhere fast. Even if we get the track open, the field events are invisible right now.”
Watry, as he did a year ago, cleared the Bonduel track with a snowblower in the hopes that it would help speed up the process. A couple of inches of snow Tuesday night dashed those hopes.
Until the snow melts, the teams are limited to indoor meets like the one the Bears had Tuesday night at Seymour. The boys took second in the five-team field and the girls were third.
“Numbers-wise, we have a pretty good sized boys team,” Watry said. “Around 30, which is always good. The girls team we have 17, which is on the small side. It’s going to be a challenge to fill all the events, but we’ll see what develops.”
Hunter Berry, a junior who qualified for sectional in the 1,600-yard run and was the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 champion in the 3,200 last season, is off to a good start. He won 1,600 Tuesday with a time of 5:17.84.
Berry should lead a strong group of distance runners for Bonduel, including senior Isaac Palmer, junior Sam Falck and junior Austin Marcks, who were members of the Bears’ state cross-country team in the fall. Palmer won the 800 run Tuesday.
Also back on the boys team, which finished third in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 last year, is junior Dan Tauchen, who was a sectional qualifier in the high jump a year ago.
The team added three seniors to the team in Jacob Zeitler (sprints, long jump), Frank Scarlupka (hurdles) and Christian Wilber (sprints).
Watry is also interested in seeing what seniors Ryan Mathew (800 run), Jeremiah Letter (800 run) and Zack Olsen (sprints, shot put) can do this season.
“We’ve got a lot of talent on the boys side,” Watry said. “We’ll just have to see how it all fits together.”
Senior Mallory Mews, who was a sectional qualifier a year ago and three-time state qualifier in cross-country, is the top distance runner for the girls, who were fourth in the CWC-8 last year.
Also back is senior Amber Heller, who came close to setting the school’s shot put record with a 35-foot, 4-inch throw last season. The record is 36-3.
Beyond that, Watry says the girls team is a bit of a mystery right now.
“On the girls side, we have a lot of unknowns,” he said.
Two newcomers who could make an impact are freshman twins Hayley and Emily Sorenson.
“They are very talented young ladies,” Watry said. “Emily was our fastest sprinter last night. Hayley was our top high jumper.”
Emily Sorenson finished fourth in the 55 dash. Hayley was third in the high jump.
Another freshman impressing early is Ashlie Mastey, who finished second in the 400.
Watry said it is too early to make predictions or rule anyone in or out.
“We’ve had five days of practice; we’re no where near in shape yet,” Watry said.
The Bears are in no rush, at least until the snow is gone.
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