Jonathan Alder’s boys track and field squad is pictured from left, front row, Leighton Kordack, Mason Hermiller, Matthew Perkey, Sergey Dutt, Jonas Watkins, Brady Tremayne and Trenton Moodispaugh; second row, Cooper McBride, Luke Goode, coach Alicia Tremayne, coach Tyler McIntosh, head coach Justin Creps, Lucas White and Chase Gray; third row, Teagan Headings, Carter Detweiler, Joey Walker, Ben Jackson, Will Jackson and Roman Van Rookhuizen. Not pictured, Aidan Becker, Johann Boeckl, Mason Daniel, Simon Fenik, Gavin Hawkins, Wyatt Hunt, Cameron Jewell, Wyatt Kaizer, Jackson McCoy, Giovanni Placek and Omar Rodriguez. (Photo submitted)
The Lady Pioneer track and field team is pictured from left, front row, Peyton Sifrit, Madeleine Freyhof, Sharon Keefer, Allie Piccolantonio, Sarah Malone, Addison Farmwald, Olivia Danner, Alissa Dresvyannikova, Kate Curtiss and Olivia Hicks; second row, Bree Kruse, Mattie Shoemaker, Helena O’Connor, Liza Streit, Morgan Spencer, Sarah Sowers, Lauren Murphy, Laura Detweiler, Sarah Anderson and Jessica Kelley; third row, Lauren Wynk, Madison, Mikayla Jewell, Avery Murdock, Kendall Keene, Coach Alicia Tremayne, head coach Tyler McIntosh, coach Justin Creps, Natalie Heflin, Alex Shaw, Reggan Gray and Bri McGinnis; fourth row, Jo Zuro, Hannah Green, Ashley Warren, Mary Ferrito, Olivia Zuro, Natalie Walker, Hannah Yates and Kelley Kimberly. Not pictured, Ava Catanella, Rosalia Chunlian, Angel Church, Emma Kennedy, Hailey Lisska, Julia Mattox, Ava Riddlebaugh, Annie Saxour, Keira Tilton and Avery Wynk. (Photo submitted)
Jonathan Alder’s boys and girls track program returns a state champion from 2021.
Joey Walker captured the Division II boys high jump title a year ago.
Walker, though, is not the only veteran returning for the Pioneers.
Other boys lettermen include Will Jackson, jumps, throws and distance; Wyatt Kaizer, jumps and throws; Cameron Jewell, sprints; Lucas White, hurdles; Jonas Watkins, middle distance; Matthew Perkey, middle distance; Sergey Dutt, distance; Brady Tremayne, distance; and Cooper McBride, pole vault.
Girls lettermen are Hannah Green, jumps; Avery Murdock, throws; Kendal Keene, throws; Jessica Kelley, sprints; Madeleine Freyhof, sprints; Jo Zuro, sprints; Hailey Lisska, jumps and sprints; Laura Detweiler, hurdles; Hannah Yates, hurdles; Reggan Gray, middle distance; Emma Kennedy, middle distance; Natalie Heflin, middle distance; Liza Streit, distance; Avery Wynk, distance; and Helena O’Connor, pole vault.
Newcomers to the program include the following:
Boys
-Johan Boeckl, hurdles and sprints; Trenton Moodispaugh, sprints and jumps; Luke Goode, middle distance; Chase Gray, distance and jumps; Ben Jackson, sprints, hurdles and jumps; and Roman Van Rookhuizen, sprints and hurdles;
Girls
-Mary Ferrito, sprints and middle distance; Lauren Wynk, distance; Peyton Sifrit, sprints and jumps; Mikayla Jewell, sprints and middle distance; and Natalie Walker, jumps.
Along with Walker, the boys team returns Jewell, a former Central Buckeye Conference 400-meter champion, and a distance squad that includes Dutt, Tremayne, Watkins, Good and Perkey.
They won the Central Buckeye Conference cross-country championship last fall.
Kaizer is stepping up in the shot put and discus, while McBride has made great strides in the pole vault.
White, Watkins and Johan Boeckl are solid in the hurdle events.
“Our girls team is extremely deep and well-rounded in all areas,” said coach Justin Creps.
The Lady Pioneers return veterans from a 2021 team that won the conference title and finished as runner-up in the D-II district meet.
Kelley, Freyhof, Zuro, Lisska, Heflin Detweiler headline a very talented sprint squad.
Green is looking to build off a strong debut season last year in the high and long jumps.
Murdock is throwing the discus and shot well.
Streit, Gray, Kennedy and Wynk are leading a distance squad that won the CBC and district cross-country titles. They also qualified for the state CC meet.
“Mary Ferrito may be the best athlete on the team and we’re really excited to find ways to enhance our line-up with her abilities and competitiveness,” said Creps.
The coach said the CBC will once again be strong from both the boys and girls standpoints.
“It always is,” he said. “There are a lot of hard-working, talented, and well-coached programs in the CBC who have our respect. We’ll work on being the best we can be and see how we stack up in May.
“We always want to give our best and improve as the season goes by,” said the coach. “We want to compete for conference and district titles and make our families and community proud.
“We’d love to see as many kids as possible still competing when the calendar turns to June (and the state meet),” he added.