12 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Forest City Summit Britt News-Tribune

June 23, 2010

Spring sports2012

Forest City and West Hancock High Schools

A supplement to the Britt News Tribune and Forest City SummitApril 4, 2012

FFoorreesstt CCiittyy BBooyyss TTrraacckkThursday, April 5 – At

Clarion-GoldfieldInvitational; April 10 – atClear Lake Invitational;April 13 – Forest City IndianInvitaional; April 17 – atCharles City Invitational;April 20 – at Armstrong-Ringsted Invitational; April26 – at Drake Relays; April27 – at Hampton-DumontInvitational; April 30 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; May 1 – atAlgona Invitational meet;May 4 – North IowaConference meet at Osage;May 10 – Class 2A Districtmeet, TBA; May 17-18 –State Meet at Drake in DesMoines.

WWeesstt HHaannccoocckk BBooyyss TTrraacckkApril 5 – at Clarion-

Goldfield Invitational; April12 – at Lake MillsInvitational; April 13 – atForest City IndianInvitational; April 17 – atBelmond-KlemmeInvitational; April 24 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; April 26 – atDrake Relays; April 27 – atHampton-DumontInvitational; Apri 30 – atWest Hancock Invitational;May 3 – at Algona Bishop-Garrigan Invitational; May 4– North Iowa Conference

meet at Osage; May 10 – at1A District meet. May 17-18– State meet at DrakeStadium, Des Moines.

FFoorreesstt CCiittyy GGiirrllss TTrraacckkApril 10 – at Clarion-

Goldfield Invitational; April13 – at Algona Bishop-Garrigan Invitational; April16 – At Gilbert Invitational;April 20 – at Estherville-Lincoln-CentralInvitational; April 24 – atForest City IndianInvitational; April 27 – atHampton-DumontInvitational; April 30 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; May 1 – atMason City HighInvitational; May 7 – NorthIowa Conference meet atOsage; May 10 – at Class 2ADistrict meet, TBA; May 17-18 –State Meet at DrakeStadium, Des Moines.

WWeesstt HHaannccoocckk GGiirrllss TTrraacckkApril 10 – at Clarion-

Goldfield; April 13 – AtAlgona Bishop-GarriganInvitational; April 17 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; April 20 – atLake Mills Invitational;April 24 – at Forest CityIndian Relays; April 26 – atDrake Relays, Des Moines;April 27 – at Hampton-Dumont Invitatinal. April

30 – at West HancockInvitational, Britt; May 1 –at Mason City HighInvitational; May 7 – atNorth Iowa Conferencemeet, Osage; May 10 – atClass 1A District meet; May17-18 – State Meet at DrakeStadium, Des Moines.

FFoorreesstt CCiittyy BBooyyss GGoollffApril 9 – at Garner-

Hayfield; April 10 – vs. LakeMills; April 14 – at Spencer;April 16 – at Clarion-Goldfield; April 17 – vs.North Iowa; April 19 – atNorth Iowa Invitational,Gruis Course; April 21 – AtAlgona Invitational; April 24– vs. Belmond-Klemme;April 28 – at West Hancock,Britt; April 30 – vs.Newman Catholic; May 3 –at North Iowa, GruisCourse; May 5 – atHampton-Dumont.

WWeesstt HHaannccoocckk BBooyyss GGoollffApril 9 – at Belmond-

Klemme; April 10 – atMason City Newman; April13 – vs. Garner-Hayfield;April 17 – at Lake Mills;April 20 – vs. CorwithWesley-Luverne; April 27 –West Hancock Invitational,Britt; May 3 – at NorthIowa, Gruis Course; May 5 –at Hampton-DumontInvitational; May 7 – at

North Iowa Conferencemeet, Britt; May 8 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; May 11 –Sectional meet; May 18 –District meet, TBA.

FFoorreesstt CCiittyy GGiirrllss GGoollffApril 9 – at Garner-

Hayfield, Garner; April 10 –vs. Lake Mills; April 16 – atClarion-Goldfield,Clarmond; April 17 – vs.North Iowa; April 19 – atNorth Iowa, Gruis Course;April 24 – vs. Belmond-Klemme; April 28 – atAlgona Bishop-Garrigan;April 30 – vs. Mason CityNewman; May 7 – at Osage;May 11 – vs. Forest CityInvitational.

WWeesstt HHaannccoocckk GGiirrllss GGoollffApril 9 – at Belmond-

Klemme; April 10 – atMason City Newman; April13 – vs. Garner-Hayfield;April 17 – at Lake Mills;April 20 – vs. Corwith-Wesley-Luverne; April 23 –at Forest City IndianInvitational; April 27 – WestHancock Invitational, Britt;May 7 – at Osage; May 8 –at Garner-HayfieldInvitational; May 11 –Section meet, TBA; May 14– at District meet; May 21 -at Region meet.

2012 spring sports schedules

2 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April 4, 2012 • 11

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BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSSix of the eight Forest City

boys who qualified for last year’sstate track and field meet havegraduated, and Indian coach KenKasper says his 2012 team hassome holes to fill.

But that doesn’t mean hethinks this spring’s team will bein a rebuilding mode. Especiallywith 55 athletes out for boystrack.

“We probably have more versatilitythis year than we’ve ever had,” Kaspersaid. “And with our depth, we hope wecan score more points than we did lastyear. We want to double place in asmany events as we can.”

Losses to graduation include MylesScarano, who qualified for state lastyear in both the 3,200 and 1,600meters.

“He’ll be tough to replace, as all ourseniors will,” Kasper said. “We’ll needto find some distance runners who canrun those events.

“Like most of our events, we have a

lot of kids who are competing forspots there and that’s only going tohelp us get better.”

The Indians lost some talented 400and 800 runners last year, includingAaron Anderson, Aric Moeller andCole Anderson.

The returning state qualifiersinclude hurdler Jon Krein and highjumper Jacob Gapp, both seniors thisseason.

Krein took second in the 400 hur-dles at the district meet last season.Gapp’s highlight last year was jumpinga school-record and personal best of6-feet-7-inches at the North IowaConference meet.

Gapp also qualified for state duringhis freshman, sophomore and junioryears. Krein enters the season as atwo-time state qualifier.

The other returning state qualifieris sophomore Riley Moore, a middledistance runner. Moore was part of theIndians’ 4x800 state-qualifying teamlast year that also included departedseniors Aaron Anderson, ColeAnderson and Scarano.

Gapp will lead the Indians in thefield events, along with senior shotand discus thrower Justin Putney andjunior shot thrower ColtonWesterberg.

“Jacob has already jumped 6-4 this

year, so he’s ahead of schedule,”Kasper said. “And Justin and Coltonalready have some good throws undertheir belts in the indoor meets we’vehad.”

In the long jump, the Indians willlook to seniors Parker Farland andGapp and junior Jon Mathiasen.

On the track is where the Forest Cityboys will show their versatility, Kaspersaid.

“We have guys who can run any-where from the 100 to the 800 andlonger distance runners who can runanything from the 3200 to the 400,”

SEE FC TRACK, P.10

Photo by Chris Todd

The 2012 Forest City High School boys track team. The team was scheduled to open the season with a home meet on March 30.

Track team seeks to replace state qualifiersCoach saysteam veryversatile

in the open 800 meterswith a second place fin-ish.

Eckels got bumpedout of the state meet bysome complex qualify-ing rules.

“We would have hadmore kids qualify forstate if they had justtaken the top 12 kids ineach class,” Sanger said.“That’s what they’vedecided to do this year.”

Other sprinters for the

Eagles will be DevinRichter, Ben Kreitlowand Seth Goepel.

“We think we’ll have apretty good lineupthere,” Sanger said.“Seth and Devin are rel-atively new to the pro-gram.”

The Eagles shouldalso be set in the middledistances, with theexception of the 4x800relay, Sanger said.

Some of the runnersprojected for the 400and 800 events include

Eckels, Drew Redenius,and possibly JoeyDeHart.

In the distance events,Sanger said, senior ZachPaulus is new to theprogram but showspromise

“He’s been runningwell so far, and he’s real-ly working hard at it,”Sanger said. “DeHartwill also compete in thedistance events.”

The Eagles finishedthird in the North IowaConference meet last

season and fourth atdistricts. Sanger wouldlike to improve both fin-ishes this spring.

“It looks like Osagewill be the team to beatin the conference,”Sanger said.

“Forest City finishedjust ahead of us last yearand we’d like to reversethat this year. NorthIowa could also havesome strong athletes inindividual events.”

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSThe West Hancock boys track team had a rough

district meet last season and is hoping to reboundwith a better post-season this year.

The Eagles sent just two individuals and threeevents to the Class 1A State meet. They were PatSmith in the discus, and Aric Siegrist in both the1,600 and 3,200 meter runs.

Smith was eighth at state last year and is lookingfor a return trip to state while Siegrist graduated lastspring and is running track and cross country forNorth Iowa Area Community College.

“Our numbers were down a little last year butthey’re up this spring,” said Eagle boys track andfield coach Bob Sanger. “And we’ve got some newkids out and, so far, they’ve shown some promise.”

Last season, Sanger had some trouble filling outhis relay rosters but that shouldn’t be the case thisyear.

“The only question mark there is our 4x800relay,” Sanger said. “We still need to find some kidswho can compete in that event.”

The Eagles will be led in most meets by theirweight men. And Smith isn’t the only shot and discthrower the Eagles have back.

Junior Chris Schleuger will throw the shot and istrying out the discus this spring, while ColbieHarms will throw both.

“We expect all three guys to score a lot of points

for us,” Sanger said. “And all three will have a shot atstate this season. Both Chris and Colbie were closelast year.”

Senior Jake Patterson will return and perform inthe hurdle and shuttle hurdle relays as well as thehigh jump.

Senior sprinter Zach Schleuger hopes to wrap up aprolific sports career at West Hancock.

“Zach is another athlete who has a chance forstate,” Sanger said. “He’ll compete in the 100 and200 dashes and the sprint relays. He could also beone of our shuttle hurdle runners.”

That event should be a strong one for the Eagles,Sanger said. Returning from the team that was thirdat districts last year are Ben Ruter, Patterson andZach Schleuger. Also returning to run the hurdles isJacob Hejlik.

Sanger added that Ruter will also compete in thesprints and sprint relays.

Another veteran returning is junior Josiah Eckels,who finished just out of the money for state last year

10 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April 4, 2012 • 3

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Kasper said.The Indians will have

some gaps to fill withtheir sprinters, Kaspersaid. Both ColeAnderson andMontgomery held thosepositions last year.

“We’ll probably haveto rely on some youngerkids in the sprints,”

Kasper said. “But severalkids are stepping up tofill those spots.”

In the middle dis-tances, the Indians havemany prospects, but willbe anchored by veteranslike Krein, Riley Moore,Jake Thompson,Westerberg andMathiasen.

The distance eventsare another area where

the Indians have someholes. But sophomoreChad Ullmann will becounted on heavily inboth the 1,600 metersand 3,200 meters.

“He’s really steppedup into the distanceevents,” Kasper said.

Ullmann emerged asthe top runner this fallon the Indian boys crosscountry team.

Kasper says anotherasset his team hasshown thus far has beenleadership.

“We have some veter-ans and some youngerkids who are taking onthose roles,” he said.

WH TRACK: FROM P.3

FC TRACK: FROM P.2

SEE WH TRACK P.10

Photo by Chris Todd

The 2012 West Hancock boys track team. The team was scheduled to open the season on March 30 in Forest City.

Numbers increase for West Hancock boys trackSanger says team showspromise for the season

Jackson added thatseveral freshmen couldsee varsity time in 2012.They include MorganKingston, Rachel Koch,Maddie Buffington andAmanda Wilson.

Koch will be a factor inthe sprints and the 400meter run while EmmaSougstad could also helpin the sprints and sprintrelays. Wilson will alsohelp out in the sprints,Jackson said.

If the Indians are lack-ing at any events it mightbe some of the fieldevents, including the longjump and high jump.

“We’ll probably have to

go with some of ouryounger athletes in thoseevents,” Jackson said. “Itwill be fill by committee,at least early in the sea-son.”

In the 1,500 and 3,200meter events, Jacksonsaid senior VictoriaSopko and Autumn Bustawill provide solidentrants.

“We’re looking forgood things from thisteam,” Jackson said. “Wewant to place well at theconference meet, thenqualify as many athletesas we can at regions forstate.”

FC GIRLS TRACK: FROM P.4

F.C. boys track team has some gaps in sprints, distance events

West Hancock expects strengths in individual events

F.C. girls hope for regional qualifiers

one shot at a time. Wedon’t want one bad shotor one bad hole to hurtthe rest of the round.”

Last season, MasonCity Newman and LakeMills were the top teamsin the North IowaConference. That shouldbe the case again thisyear.

“Newman always hassome good golfers com-ing up and Lake Millshas some talented girls

coming back,” he said.Things are a little dif-

ferent with the ForestCity High boys team,which returns three var-sity starters.

Lost to graduation,coach Mallory Loviksaid, were seniors DanRust, Jacob Tweeten andZach Lundgren. Loviksaid Rust was her No. 3golfer last year whileTweeten and Lundgrenwere her No. 5 and 6players, respectively.

Last season, theIndian boys qualified forthe state golf tourna-ment as a team.

“The guys had a greatseason last spring,”Lovik said. “They prettymuch surpassed all myexpectations, but theywere a dedicated andhard-working group allseason.”

The varsity returneesare senior Joey Dakken,and juniors ThomasO’Rourke and AdamBusta.

Dakken was the num-ber one golfer for the

Indians last season. “I’mglad that Joey hasalready decided wherehe’ll play next year,”Lovik said. “I think thatwill take some pressureoff him and he’ll just beable to relax and enjoythe game.”

O’Rourke was theIndians No. 2 scorer inmost meets last season.Lovik said he has plentyof potential.

“He hits the ball along way off the tee,”Lovik said. “And over

the offseason and so farthis season I’ve beenimpressed with howhard he’s been workingon his short game.

“If he can ever get allpart of his game togeth-er, he’s capable of put-ting up some very lowscores.”

Busta was the Indians’No. 4 player most of lastseason. Lovik also likeshis game.

“He’s a very quietleader for us,” she said.“And he has a solidmental approach to hisgame.”

While Lovik says shehas high expectationsfor the group comingback, she doesn’t set anyspecific goals.

“I think we just wantto get better with everypractice and everymeet,” she said. “And weset our goals on a dailybasis. If you do that,then the rest of yourgoals should take care ofthemselves.”

FC GOLF: FROM P.6

Lovick says team strong

“I THINK WE JUST WANT TO GET BETTER WITHEVERY PRACTICE AND EVERY MEET.”

— MALLORY LOVIK

File photo by Chris Todd

Forest City golfer Joey Dakken golfs in a meet last season.

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSFFOORREESSTT CCIITTYY —— Forest City High girls track and

field coach Scott Jackson says his team can chal-lenge for a North Iowa Conference title this season,despite heavy losses to graduation last spring.

“West Hancock will probably be the favorite inour conference,” Jackson said. “But we expect to beright in that mix to finish in the top half of the con-ference if not higher.”

The Indians return eight athletes who qualifiedfor the Class 2A State Meet last year.

“We have a good solid corps returning,” Jacksonsaid. “Even though we don’t have a lot of seniors,the seniors that will return will be good leaders forthis team. They’ve already shown that.”

The Indians this year will be led by senior hur-dler/400-meter dash runner Amanda Busta. Lastseason, Busta emerged as one of the top junior hur-dlers in Class 2A after placing at state in that event.

Busta also qualified for state in the 400 hurdlesand was a member of the Indians’ state-qualifying4x400 and shuttle hurdle relay teams.

“Amanda just goes out all the time, whether it’s afundamental drill in practice or a meet,” Jacksonsaid. “She leads by the example she sets and is agreat role model for some of our younger girls.”

Another senior Maranda Chapin, qualified forstate last year in both the shot put and the discus.Her and fellow senior Haley Church will anchor the

Indians in the field events.“They’ll be a solid 1-2 punch for us in the shot

and discus,” Jackson said. “We look forward to themscoring a lot of points for us this year.”

Last season, Chapin took second at districts in thediscus with a toss of 111-feet-80inches and added athird place in the shot put with a toss of 35-5.

That got the Indians off to a good start at districtsand it continued with the 4x800 relay taking thirdplace and qualifying for state.

Members of that team were Liz Olson, MadelineAberg, Bethany Hall and Carter Anderson.

Returning off that team will be Olson, Aberg and

Anderson.“Those three runners will also be strong in the

open 800,” Jackson said. “It gives us depth in thatevent and we have high hopes for all those runners.”

Also qualifying for state last year was the shuttlehurdle relay team. That team returns intact andincludes Molly Lewison, Jessica Tweeten, JessicaKingston and Busta.

Jessica Kingston also qualified for state in the 400meters, taking second place at districts with a timeof 1 minute, 7.72 seconds.

4 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April, 4, 2012 • 9

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The 2012 Forest City High School girls track team. The team is expected to compete for the conference title.

Forest City girls track team contender for titleCoach: Conference title withinreach for this year’s team

SEE FC GIRLS, P,10

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSBBRRIITTTT -- Jon Burgardt

and Melissa Miller mightnot be totally familiarleading their respectiveWest Hancock golfteams this spring, butthey are doing it never-theless.

Both were the topgolfers on last year’steams, and each are sur-rounded this year byyounger teammates.

“We have a lot ofinexperience this sea-son,” said WestHancock girls and boysgolf coach JimTimmerman.

Thursday afternoon,Miller was golfing with asophomore teammate,Cassie Jackson.

“Cassie has reallyimproved her game fromlast year,” Miller said.“Basically, I just try toinstill some of ouryounger golfers with theconfidence they’ll needto get better.

“And I let them knowthat I’m there if theywant any pointers ondriving or chipping andputting, for instance,”she said.

Miller is the lone sen-ior on this year’s girlsteam.

“Some of the youngergolfers are really doingwell right now,” Millersaid. “They’re all show-ing up to practice everyday and putting a lot ofwork in.”

Timmerman talkedabout his two topupperclassmen.

“Melissa is probablymore reserved than Jonand not quite as vocal,”Timmerman said. “Butboth do a great job oftaking on leadershiproles.”

Burgardt is just a jun-ior this year and says afew members of thisyear’s Eagle boys teamare just beginners.

“I’m just trying tohelp the younger guyscorrect basic things likethe swing,” he said.“They’ve all come a longway just since the startof practice two and ahalf weeks ago.”

Last season, Burgardtwas an all-North IowaConference golfer andmade the section meet.This year, he wants toget one step further.”

“I really want to getdown to state this year,”he said. “The strong-point of my game isprobably my irons but Icould still use somework on my putting.”

“Jon is pretty long andaccurate off the tee, andhe’s got a pretty goodiron and chippinggame,” Timmermansaid.

“Last year, he leftsome good rounds outon the course because hemissed some birdie andpar putts and didn’tscore as high as he couldhave. But he’s beenworking hard at it.”

Timmerman saidMiller is very long offthe tee and is an excel-lent putter.

“And her short gameis good but she’s just gotto be more consistent inhitting greens in regula-tion,” the coach said.

“Both Jon and Melissaare going to have strongseasons, and ouryounger golfers arelucky they have them tolook up to.”

File photos by Chris Todd

Left, Melissa Miller and bottom photo,Jon Burgardt, will be two veteransamong younger players on the WestHancock golf teams this season.A leading role

Burgardt, Miller bring experience to Eagle golf“MELISSA IS PROBABLYMORE RESERVED THANJON AND NOT QUITE ASVOCAL. BUT BOTH DO A

GREAT JOB OF TAKING ONLEADERSHIP ROLES”

— JIM TIMMERMAN

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSFFOORREESSTT CCIITTYY —— Jacob Gapp stands just 5-feet-

10 inches.But the Forest City senior can high jump a lot

higher than that.He had a leap of 6-feet-7 inches as a junior last

year and that tied the school record.“When you’re on the runway, and the bar’s set at

6-6 or 6-7, that looks really high,” he said last week.“But you just have to put that out of your mind

and concentrate on what you need to do and yourtechnique.”

Gapp has qualified for the Class 3A state meeteach of his freshman, sophomore and junior years.He has specific goals for his senior season.

“I want to make Drake Relays this year, because itwill be my first time there,” he said.

“And I want to jump at least 6-8 so I can hold theschool record alone. After that, I want to qualify forthe state meet and place well there in May.”

During his first year as a freshman, Gapp showedpromise by leaping a best height of six feet. Hissophomore year, he increased that to 6-3.

Then there was the 6-7 leap last year, whichoccurred at the North Iowa Conference meet.

“The weather wasn’t that good, but that particu-lar day, my steps and my timing just happened to bereally on,” he said.

According to Forest City boys track coach KenKasper, Gapp has a unique way of jumping.

“First of all, he’s able to jump very high with agood vertical leap,” Kasper said. “Second, he’s ableto hang up in the air for longer than most jumpers.”

At state his sophomore year, Gapp jumped 6-6 toclaim third place in Class 3A.

That particular day, the high jump runway had tobe stripped of water by a squeegee several timesbecause of a hard rain.

“For some reason, Jacobjumps his best when theweather isn’tgood,” Kasper said. “Ithink he’s able to maintainhis focus while the otherjumpers get psyched outby possibly slipping ontheir jumps.”

“When it’s time forJacob to jump, no matterwhat the weather is, hefigures it’s his turn to pro-duce.”’

Gapp remembers statehis sophomore year.

“It was really wet, and we jumped about 3 p.m. inthe afternoon,” he said.

“It had been raining on and off all day, but justbefore I started the competition, it started to rainreally hard.

“I’m really not sure why I jump better when theweather’s bad. I just don’t worry that much aboutslipping, where the other jumpers might.”

Gapp has also started to do some long jumpingthis season, and he had some success with that inthe indoor season.

He said he had a jump of 18-8 at the Iowa StateIndoor Meet and then increased that to 19-8 at the

Wartburg Indoor meet two weeks ago.“Long jumping is different, but I want to keep

increasing my distances as the season goes on,” hesaid. “I really want to help the team by scoring asmany points as I can.”

“There’s no reason Jacob can’t be a good longjumper as well,” Kasper said. “We look forward tosee how that progresses this year.”

Kasper also thinks Gapp has a future in highjumping in college.

“I see his success continuing to the next level,”Kasper said. “Jacob has good raw talent as a highjumper and he can combine that with good focusand a very strong work ethic.”

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSAll the pieces to the

puzzle are there in 2012for the West Hancockgirls track and field team.

Now, coach MarkSanger just has to putthose puzzle pieces in theright places.

“We have a lot of girlsreturning and several ofour state meet relaysreturn intact from lastyear,” Sanger said. “Butuntil we have a few meets,we won’t know who goeswhere.”

“There’s always competitionbetween different kids as to who runswhat. Our athletes have to earn theirspots and nothing is a given at thispoint.”

Last season, the Eagles qualifiedfive relay events and two individualevents to the Class 1A State Meet.

But one of the unaccomplishedgoals last season was at the North

Iowa Conference meet. The Eaglestook second place to a senior-ladenForest City team.

“Our first concern right now is get-ting ready for our meets during theregular season,” Sanger said.

“But we really want to win theNorth Iowa meet this year, and it’s notan easy thing to do,” he said. “That’sone of our top goals, as is winning theregion meet like we did last year.

“We also want to qualify as many

girls as we can for the state meet andplacing well in the state team stand-ings is also one of our goals.”

The returning state meet-qualifyingindividuals for West Hancock areKamille Kronemann in the 1,500meters and Maribel Zamago in theopen 800 meter run.

Kronemann finished 12th at statelast year in the 1500 meters with atime of 5 minutes, 13.73 seconds.Zamago was 18th at state in the 800

with a time of 2:29.18.The Eagles’ shuttle hurdle relay and

4x200 both took fourth places at statelast year. Returnees to the shuttle hur-dle relay include April Burgardt, AbbyPaca and Derica Jakoubek. Lost tograduation on that team was TaylorFormanek.

Returnees from the 4x200 relayinclude seniors Sarah Mallen, AhnaBruns, Courtney Zadow and juniorKellie Schmit.

8 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April 4, 2012• 5

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The West Hancock High School girls track team has depth this season.

Eagle girls track should have good resultsTeam featuresreturningmembers

File photo by Chris Todd

Jacob Gapp competes in the high jump and long jump for Forest City track. Gapp has quali-fied for the state meet in the high jump for three straight years.

Leaping higherGapp is force in the high jump, long jump forForest City High School boys track team

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSThe West Hancock girls and boys golf teams

return some promising players from last year’steams, and coach Jim Timmerman says he’s excitedabout the season.

The girls team finished with a 4-6 record last sea-son and took seventh at the North Iowa Conferencemeet and fourth at a Class 1A District meet.

Varsity returnees are senior Melissa Miller, AlyssaWood, Cassi Jackson, Samantha Hernandez andKate Schrader.

Last season, Miller’s scoring average was 51 for

nine holes while Wood’s scoring average was 73.Jackson’s nine-hole average was 77, Hernandez 79

and Schrader 88.

The Eagles will also have some newcomers on theteam. They include freshman Michaela Andreasen,sophomore Alissa Lauderback and sophomoreMarilou Zamago.

Timmerman hopes for a high finish in the confer-ence but the Eagle girls will get plenty of competi-tion from Forest City, Mason City Newman andGarner-Hayfield.

“They should all field strong teams,” Timmermansaid.

The Eagle boys team finished 6-17 last year andfifth at the North Iowa Conference meet and fourthat sectionals.

The varsity returnees are junior Jon Burgardt, whoaveraged 44 for nine holes, and Mason Muth, whoaveraged 49.

Newcomers to the team this year include TristenEden, Adam Kline and Caleb Blocker.

Timmerman said the goal of both the boys andgirls teams is to “continue to improve as the season

progresses. We want to be playing our best golf atthe end of the season.”

“Members of both teams need to continue to workon weaknesses during practice and make thosestrengths,” he said.

“We need to become more consistent at makinggood swings at the ball and that will result in bettershots and better putting.”

Timmerman added that Mason City Newman,Forest City and Osage should all field tough teams inthe conference.

“Garner-Hayfield and Lake Mills will be in themix as well,” he said.

The outstanding individual on the boys sideappears to be North Iowa’s Eric Krull, last year’sconference champion.

6 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April 4, 2012 • 7

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The Forest City High School girls golf team. Coach Tom Pauley says the team is in a rebuild-ing year.

Photo by Chris Todd

The Forest City High School boys golf team.

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSThe Forest City boys and girls golf

teams are looking for strong seasonsagain this spring, according to the twocoaches.

The girls team, coached by TomPauley, will be in a bit of a rebuildingmode.

The team lost four seniors throughgraduation last spring and return justone varsity starter in junior Bailey

Sheimo.“We’re looking for some girls to step

it up and contribute at the varsitylevel,” Pauley said. “It’s still early inthe season, so we still have a lot ofwork to do. We think we have somekids who can eventually contribute.”

Pauley said Sheimo had an up anddown last year but is capable of lead-ing this year’s team with some lowscores.

“We’re looking for more consisten-

cy from Bailey this year, just in termsof round to round,” he said. “She has agood game and a good swing and nowshe just needs to go out there andwork hard at it.”

Pauley said Sheimo hits the ballstraight for the most part.

“That’s one of the assets of hergame,” Pauley said. “She can work alittle more on her short game.”

Pauley said the team’s goal this sea-son is just to keep getting better as

individuals and as a team.“We’ll probably take our lumps

early in the season,” he said. “It’sprobably going to be a learningprocess, especially early.

“It will be a challenge to keep theirminds positive when things aren’tgoing well. But that’s also somethingelse we’ll try to learn.

“We want to stay positive and playSEE FC GOLF, P.10

F.C. girls golf to rebuild; boys team returns top players

Photo by Chris Todd

The 2012 West Hancock girls golf team.Photo by Chris Todd

The 2012 West Hancock boys golf team.

Coach seespromise forWest Hancockgolf season

“WE WANT TO BE PLAYING OUR BESTGOLF AT THE END OF THE SEASON.”

— JIM TIMMERMAN

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSThe West Hancock girls and boys golf teams

return some promising players from last year’steams, and coach Jim Timmerman says he’s excitedabout the season.

The girls team finished with a 4-6 record last sea-son and took seventh at the North Iowa Conferencemeet and fourth at a Class 1A District meet.

Varsity returnees are senior Melissa Miller, AlyssaWood, Cassi Jackson, Samantha Hernandez andKate Schrader.

Last season, Miller’s scoring average was 51 for

nine holes while Wood’s scoring average was 73.Jackson’s nine-hole average was 77, Hernandez 79

and Schrader 88.

The Eagles will also have some newcomers on theteam. They include freshman Michaela Andreasen,sophomore Alissa Lauderback and sophomoreMarilou Zamago.

Timmerman hopes for a high finish in the confer-ence but the Eagle girls will get plenty of competi-tion from Forest City, Mason City Newman andGarner-Hayfield.

“They should all field strong teams,” Timmermansaid.

The Eagle boys team finished 6-17 last year andfifth at the North Iowa Conference meet and fourthat sectionals.

The varsity returnees are junior Jon Burgardt, whoaveraged 44 for nine holes, and Mason Muth, whoaveraged 49.

Newcomers to the team this year include TristenEden, Adam Kline and Caleb Blocker.

Timmerman said the goal of both the boys andgirls teams is to “continue to improve as the season

progresses. We want to be playing our best golf atthe end of the season.”

“Members of both teams need to continue to workon weaknesses during practice and make thosestrengths,” he said.

“We need to become more consistent at makinggood swings at the ball and that will result in bettershots and better putting.”

Timmerman added that Mason City Newman,Forest City and Osage should all field tough teams inthe conference.

“Garner-Hayfield and Lake Mills will be in themix as well,” he said.

The outstanding individual on the boys sideappears to be North Iowa’s Eric Krull, last year’sconference champion.

6 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April 4, 2012 • 7

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The Forest City High School girls golf team. Coach Tom Pauley says the team is in a rebuild-ing year.

Photo by Chris Todd

The Forest City High School boys golf team.

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSThe Forest City boys and girls golf

teams are looking for strong seasonsagain this spring, according to the twocoaches.

The girls team, coached by TomPauley, will be in a bit of a rebuildingmode.

The team lost four seniors throughgraduation last spring and return justone varsity starter in junior Bailey

Sheimo.“We’re looking for some girls to step

it up and contribute at the varsitylevel,” Pauley said. “It’s still early inthe season, so we still have a lot ofwork to do. We think we have somekids who can eventually contribute.”

Pauley said Sheimo had an up anddown last year but is capable of lead-ing this year’s team with some lowscores.

“We’re looking for more consisten-

cy from Bailey this year, just in termsof round to round,” he said. “She has agood game and a good swing and nowshe just needs to go out there andwork hard at it.”

Pauley said Sheimo hits the ballstraight for the most part.

“That’s one of the assets of hergame,” Pauley said. “She can work alittle more on her short game.”

Pauley said the team’s goal this sea-son is just to keep getting better as

individuals and as a team.“We’ll probably take our lumps

early in the season,” he said. “It’sprobably going to be a learningprocess, especially early.

“It will be a challenge to keep theirminds positive when things aren’tgoing well. But that’s also somethingelse we’ll try to learn.

“We want to stay positive and playSEE FC GOLF, P.10

F.C. girls golf to rebuild; boys team returns top players

Photo by Chris Todd

The 2012 West Hancock girls golf team.Photo by Chris Todd

The 2012 West Hancock boys golf team.

Coach seespromise forWest Hancockgolf season

“WE WANT TO BE PLAYING OUR BESTGOLF AT THE END OF THE SEASON.”

— JIM TIMMERMAN

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSFFOORREESSTT CCIITTYY —— Jacob Gapp stands just 5-feet-

10 inches.But the Forest City senior can high jump a lot

higher than that.He had a leap of 6-feet-7 inches as a junior last

year and that tied the school record.“When you’re on the runway, and the bar’s set at

6-6 or 6-7, that looks really high,” he said last week.“But you just have to put that out of your mind

and concentrate on what you need to do and yourtechnique.”

Gapp has qualified for the Class 3A state meeteach of his freshman, sophomore and junior years.He has specific goals for his senior season.

“I want to make Drake Relays this year, because itwill be my first time there,” he said.

“And I want to jump at least 6-8 so I can hold theschool record alone. After that, I want to qualify forthe state meet and place well there in May.”

During his first year as a freshman, Gapp showedpromise by leaping a best height of six feet. Hissophomore year, he increased that to 6-3.

Then there was the 6-7 leap last year, whichoccurred at the North Iowa Conference meet.

“The weather wasn’t that good, but that particu-lar day, my steps and my timing just happened to bereally on,” he said.

According to Forest City boys track coach KenKasper, Gapp has a unique way of jumping.

“First of all, he’s able to jump very high with agood vertical leap,” Kasper said. “Second, he’s ableto hang up in the air for longer than most jumpers.”

At state his sophomore year, Gapp jumped 6-6 toclaim third place in Class 3A.

That particular day, the high jump runway had tobe stripped of water by a squeegee several timesbecause of a hard rain.

“For some reason, Jacobjumps his best when theweather isn’tgood,” Kasper said. “Ithink he’s able to maintainhis focus while the otherjumpers get psyched outby possibly slipping ontheir jumps.”

“When it’s time forJacob to jump, no matterwhat the weather is, hefigures it’s his turn to pro-duce.”’

Gapp remembers statehis sophomore year.

“It was really wet, and we jumped about 3 p.m. inthe afternoon,” he said.

“It had been raining on and off all day, but justbefore I started the competition, it started to rainreally hard.

“I’m really not sure why I jump better when theweather’s bad. I just don’t worry that much aboutslipping, where the other jumpers might.”

Gapp has also started to do some long jumpingthis season, and he had some success with that inthe indoor season.

He said he had a jump of 18-8 at the Iowa StateIndoor Meet and then increased that to 19-8 at the

Wartburg Indoor meet two weeks ago.“Long jumping is different, but I want to keep

increasing my distances as the season goes on,” hesaid. “I really want to help the team by scoring asmany points as I can.”

“There’s no reason Jacob can’t be a good longjumper as well,” Kasper said. “We look forward tosee how that progresses this year.”

Kasper also thinks Gapp has a future in highjumping in college.

“I see his success continuing to the next level,”Kasper said. “Jacob has good raw talent as a highjumper and he can combine that with good focusand a very strong work ethic.”

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSAll the pieces to the

puzzle are there in 2012for the West Hancockgirls track and field team.

Now, coach MarkSanger just has to putthose puzzle pieces in theright places.

“We have a lot of girlsreturning and several ofour state meet relaysreturn intact from lastyear,” Sanger said. “Butuntil we have a few meets,we won’t know who goeswhere.”

“There’s always competitionbetween different kids as to who runswhat. Our athletes have to earn theirspots and nothing is a given at thispoint.”

Last season, the Eagles qualifiedfive relay events and two individualevents to the Class 1A State Meet.

But one of the unaccomplishedgoals last season was at the North

Iowa Conference meet. The Eaglestook second place to a senior-ladenForest City team.

“Our first concern right now is get-ting ready for our meets during theregular season,” Sanger said.

“But we really want to win theNorth Iowa meet this year, and it’s notan easy thing to do,” he said. “That’sone of our top goals, as is winning theregion meet like we did last year.

“We also want to qualify as many

girls as we can for the state meet andplacing well in the state team stand-ings is also one of our goals.”

The returning state meet-qualifyingindividuals for West Hancock areKamille Kronemann in the 1,500meters and Maribel Zamago in theopen 800 meter run.

Kronemann finished 12th at statelast year in the 1500 meters with atime of 5 minutes, 13.73 seconds.Zamago was 18th at state in the 800

with a time of 2:29.18.The Eagles’ shuttle hurdle relay and

4x200 both took fourth places at statelast year. Returnees to the shuttle hur-dle relay include April Burgardt, AbbyPaca and Derica Jakoubek. Lost tograduation on that team was TaylorFormanek.

Returnees from the 4x200 relayinclude seniors Sarah Mallen, AhnaBruns, Courtney Zadow and juniorKellie Schmit.

8 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April 4, 2012• 5

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Photo by Chris Todd

The West Hancock High School girls track team has depth this season.

Eagle girls track should have good resultsTeam featuresreturningmembers

File photo by Chris Todd

Jacob Gapp competes in the high jump and long jump for Forest City track. Gapp has quali-fied for the state meet in the high jump for three straight years.

Leaping higherGapp is force in the high jump, long jump forForest City High School boys track team

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSFFOORREESSTT CCIITTYY —— Forest City High girls track and

field coach Scott Jackson says his team can chal-lenge for a North Iowa Conference title this season,despite heavy losses to graduation last spring.

“West Hancock will probably be the favorite inour conference,” Jackson said. “But we expect to beright in that mix to finish in the top half of the con-ference if not higher.”

The Indians return eight athletes who qualifiedfor the Class 2A State Meet last year.

“We have a good solid corps returning,” Jacksonsaid. “Even though we don’t have a lot of seniors,the seniors that will return will be good leaders forthis team. They’ve already shown that.”

The Indians this year will be led by senior hur-dler/400-meter dash runner Amanda Busta. Lastseason, Busta emerged as one of the top junior hur-dlers in Class 2A after placing at state in that event.

Busta also qualified for state in the 400 hurdlesand was a member of the Indians’ state-qualifying4x400 and shuttle hurdle relay teams.

“Amanda just goes out all the time, whether it’s afundamental drill in practice or a meet,” Jacksonsaid. “She leads by the example she sets and is agreat role model for some of our younger girls.”

Another senior Maranda Chapin, qualified forstate last year in both the shot put and the discus.Her and fellow senior Haley Church will anchor the

Indians in the field events.“They’ll be a solid 1-2 punch for us in the shot

and discus,” Jackson said. “We look forward to themscoring a lot of points for us this year.”

Last season, Chapin took second at districts in thediscus with a toss of 111-feet-80inches and added athird place in the shot put with a toss of 35-5.

That got the Indians off to a good start at districtsand it continued with the 4x800 relay taking thirdplace and qualifying for state.

Members of that team were Liz Olson, MadelineAberg, Bethany Hall and Carter Anderson.

Returning off that team will be Olson, Aberg and

Anderson.“Those three runners will also be strong in the

open 800,” Jackson said. “It gives us depth in thatevent and we have high hopes for all those runners.”

Also qualifying for state last year was the shuttlehurdle relay team. That team returns intact andincludes Molly Lewison, Jessica Tweeten, JessicaKingston and Busta.

Jessica Kingston also qualified for state in the 400meters, taking second place at districts with a timeof 1 minute, 7.72 seconds.

4 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April, 4, 2012 • 9

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The 2012 Forest City High School girls track team. The team is expected to compete for the conference title.

Forest City girls track team contender for titleCoach: Conference title withinreach for this year’s team

SEE FC GIRLS, P,10

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSBBRRIITTTT -- Jon Burgardt

and Melissa Miller mightnot be totally familiarleading their respectiveWest Hancock golfteams this spring, butthey are doing it never-theless.

Both were the topgolfers on last year’steams, and each are sur-rounded this year byyounger teammates.

“We have a lot ofinexperience this sea-son,” said WestHancock girls and boysgolf coach JimTimmerman.

Thursday afternoon,Miller was golfing with asophomore teammate,Cassie Jackson.

“Cassie has reallyimproved her game fromlast year,” Miller said.“Basically, I just try toinstill some of ouryounger golfers with theconfidence they’ll needto get better.

“And I let them knowthat I’m there if theywant any pointers ondriving or chipping andputting, for instance,”she said.

Miller is the lone sen-ior on this year’s girlsteam.

“Some of the youngergolfers are really doingwell right now,” Millersaid. “They’re all show-ing up to practice everyday and putting a lot ofwork in.”

Timmerman talkedabout his two topupperclassmen.

“Melissa is probablymore reserved than Jonand not quite as vocal,”Timmerman said. “Butboth do a great job oftaking on leadershiproles.”

Burgardt is just a jun-ior this year and says afew members of thisyear’s Eagle boys teamare just beginners.

“I’m just trying tohelp the younger guyscorrect basic things likethe swing,” he said.“They’ve all come a longway just since the startof practice two and ahalf weeks ago.”

Last season, Burgardtwas an all-North IowaConference golfer andmade the section meet.This year, he wants toget one step further.”

“I really want to getdown to state this year,”he said. “The strong-point of my game isprobably my irons but Icould still use somework on my putting.”

“Jon is pretty long andaccurate off the tee, andhe’s got a pretty goodiron and chippinggame,” Timmermansaid.

“Last year, he leftsome good rounds outon the course because hemissed some birdie andpar putts and didn’tscore as high as he couldhave. But he’s beenworking hard at it.”

Timmerman saidMiller is very long offthe tee and is an excel-lent putter.

“And her short gameis good but she’s just gotto be more consistent inhitting greens in regula-tion,” the coach said.

“Both Jon and Melissaare going to have strongseasons, and ouryounger golfers arelucky they have them tolook up to.”

File photos by Chris Todd

Left, Melissa Miller and bottom photo,Jon Burgardt, will be two veteransamong younger players on the WestHancock golf teams this season.A leading role

Burgardt, Miller bring experience to Eagle golf“MELISSA IS PROBABLYMORE RESERVED THANJON AND NOT QUITE ASVOCAL. BUT BOTH DO A

GREAT JOB OF TAKING ONLEADERSHIP ROLES”

— JIM TIMMERMAN

in the open 800 meterswith a second place fin-ish.

Eckels got bumpedout of the state meet bysome complex qualify-ing rules.

“We would have hadmore kids qualify forstate if they had justtaken the top 12 kids ineach class,” Sanger said.“That’s what they’vedecided to do this year.”

Other sprinters for the

Eagles will be DevinRichter, Ben Kreitlowand Seth Goepel.

“We think we’ll have apretty good lineupthere,” Sanger said.“Seth and Devin are rel-atively new to the pro-gram.”

The Eagles shouldalso be set in the middledistances, with theexception of the 4x800relay, Sanger said.

Some of the runnersprojected for the 400and 800 events include

Eckels, Drew Redenius,and possibly JoeyDeHart.

In the distance events,Sanger said, senior ZachPaulus is new to theprogram but showspromise

“He’s been runningwell so far, and he’s real-ly working hard at it,”Sanger said. “DeHartwill also compete in thedistance events.”

The Eagles finishedthird in the North IowaConference meet last

season and fourth atdistricts. Sanger wouldlike to improve both fin-ishes this spring.

“It looks like Osagewill be the team to beatin the conference,”Sanger said.

“Forest City finishedjust ahead of us last yearand we’d like to reversethat this year. NorthIowa could also havesome strong athletes inindividual events.”

BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSThe West Hancock boys track team had a rough

district meet last season and is hoping to reboundwith a better post-season this year.

The Eagles sent just two individuals and threeevents to the Class 1A State meet. They were PatSmith in the discus, and Aric Siegrist in both the1,600 and 3,200 meter runs.

Smith was eighth at state last year and is lookingfor a return trip to state while Siegrist graduated lastspring and is running track and cross country forNorth Iowa Area Community College.

“Our numbers were down a little last year butthey’re up this spring,” said Eagle boys track andfield coach Bob Sanger. “And we’ve got some newkids out and, so far, they’ve shown some promise.”

Last season, Sanger had some trouble filling outhis relay rosters but that shouldn’t be the case thisyear.

“The only question mark there is our 4x800relay,” Sanger said. “We still need to find some kidswho can compete in that event.”

The Eagles will be led in most meets by theirweight men. And Smith isn’t the only shot and discthrower the Eagles have back.

Junior Chris Schleuger will throw the shot and istrying out the discus this spring, while ColbieHarms will throw both.

“We expect all three guys to score a lot of points

for us,” Sanger said. “And all three will have a shot atstate this season. Both Chris and Colbie were closelast year.”

Senior Jake Patterson will return and perform inthe hurdle and shuttle hurdle relays as well as thehigh jump.

Senior sprinter Zach Schleuger hopes to wrap up aprolific sports career at West Hancock.

“Zach is another athlete who has a chance forstate,” Sanger said. “He’ll compete in the 100 and200 dashes and the sprint relays. He could also beone of our shuttle hurdle runners.”

That event should be a strong one for the Eagles,Sanger said. Returning from the team that was thirdat districts last year are Ben Ruter, Patterson andZach Schleuger. Also returning to run the hurdles isJacob Hejlik.

Sanger added that Ruter will also compete in thesprints and sprint relays.

Another veteran returning is junior Josiah Eckels,who finished just out of the money for state last year

10 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April 4, 2012 • 3

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Kasper said.The Indians will have

some gaps to fill withtheir sprinters, Kaspersaid. Both ColeAnderson andMontgomery held thosepositions last year.

“We’ll probably haveto rely on some youngerkids in the sprints,”

Kasper said. “But severalkids are stepping up tofill those spots.”

In the middle dis-tances, the Indians havemany prospects, but willbe anchored by veteranslike Krein, Riley Moore,Jake Thompson,Westerberg andMathiasen.

The distance eventsare another area where

the Indians have someholes. But sophomoreChad Ullmann will becounted on heavily inboth the 1,600 metersand 3,200 meters.

“He’s really steppedup into the distanceevents,” Kasper said.

Ullmann emerged asthe top runner this fallon the Indian boys crosscountry team.

Kasper says anotherasset his team hasshown thus far has beenleadership.

“We have some veter-ans and some youngerkids who are taking onthose roles,” he said.

WH TRACK: FROM P.3

FC TRACK: FROM P.2

SEE WH TRACK P.10

Photo by Chris Todd

The 2012 West Hancock boys track team. The team was scheduled to open the season on March 30 in Forest City.

Numbers increase for West Hancock boys trackSanger says team showspromise for the season

Jackson added thatseveral freshmen couldsee varsity time in 2012.They include MorganKingston, Rachel Koch,Maddie Buffington andAmanda Wilson.

Koch will be a factor inthe sprints and the 400meter run while EmmaSougstad could also helpin the sprints and sprintrelays. Wilson will alsohelp out in the sprints,Jackson said.

If the Indians are lack-ing at any events it mightbe some of the fieldevents, including the longjump and high jump.

“We’ll probably have to

go with some of ouryounger athletes in thoseevents,” Jackson said. “Itwill be fill by committee,at least early in the sea-son.”

In the 1,500 and 3,200meter events, Jacksonsaid senior VictoriaSopko and Autumn Bustawill provide solidentrants.

“We’re looking forgood things from thisteam,” Jackson said. “Wewant to place well at theconference meet, thenqualify as many athletesas we can at regions forstate.”

FC GIRLS TRACK: FROM P.4

F.C. boys track team has some gaps in sprints, distance events

West Hancock expects strengths in individual events

F.C. girls hope for regional qualifiers

one shot at a time. Wedon’t want one bad shotor one bad hole to hurtthe rest of the round.”

Last season, MasonCity Newman and LakeMills were the top teamsin the North IowaConference. That shouldbe the case again thisyear.

“Newman always hassome good golfers com-ing up and Lake Millshas some talented girls

coming back,” he said.Things are a little dif-

ferent with the ForestCity High boys team,which returns three var-sity starters.

Lost to graduation,coach Mallory Loviksaid, were seniors DanRust, Jacob Tweeten andZach Lundgren. Loviksaid Rust was her No. 3golfer last year whileTweeten and Lundgrenwere her No. 5 and 6players, respectively.

Last season, theIndian boys qualified forthe state golf tourna-ment as a team.

“The guys had a greatseason last spring,”Lovik said. “They prettymuch surpassed all myexpectations, but theywere a dedicated andhard-working group allseason.”

The varsity returneesare senior Joey Dakken,and juniors ThomasO’Rourke and AdamBusta.

Dakken was the num-ber one golfer for the

Indians last season. “I’mglad that Joey hasalready decided wherehe’ll play next year,”Lovik said. “I think thatwill take some pressureoff him and he’ll just beable to relax and enjoythe game.”

O’Rourke was theIndians No. 2 scorer inmost meets last season.Lovik said he has plentyof potential.

“He hits the ball along way off the tee,”Lovik said. “And over

the offseason and so farthis season I’ve beenimpressed with howhard he’s been workingon his short game.

“If he can ever get allpart of his game togeth-er, he’s capable of put-ting up some very lowscores.”

Busta was the Indians’No. 4 player most of lastseason. Lovik also likeshis game.

“He’s a very quietleader for us,” she said.“And he has a solidmental approach to hisgame.”

While Lovik says shehas high expectationsfor the group comingback, she doesn’t set anyspecific goals.

“I think we just wantto get better with everypractice and everymeet,” she said. “And weset our goals on a dailybasis. If you do that,then the rest of yourgoals should take care ofthemselves.”

FC GOLF: FROM P.6

Lovick says team strong

“I THINK WE JUST WANT TO GET BETTER WITHEVERY PRACTICE AND EVERY MEET.”

— MALLORY LOVIK

File photo by Chris Todd

Forest City golfer Joey Dakken golfs in a meet last season.

2 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Summit • News-Tribune News-Tribune • Summit Spring Sports 2012 April 4, 2012 • 11

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BY CHRIS TODD

2012 SPRING SPORTSSix of the eight Forest City

boys who qualified for last year’sstate track and field meet havegraduated, and Indian coach KenKasper says his 2012 team hassome holes to fill.

But that doesn’t mean hethinks this spring’s team will bein a rebuilding mode. Especiallywith 55 athletes out for boystrack.

“We probably have more versatilitythis year than we’ve ever had,” Kaspersaid. “And with our depth, we hope wecan score more points than we did lastyear. We want to double place in asmany events as we can.”

Losses to graduation include MylesScarano, who qualified for state lastyear in both the 3,200 and 1,600meters.

“He’ll be tough to replace, as all ourseniors will,” Kasper said. “We’ll needto find some distance runners who canrun those events.

“Like most of our events, we have a

lot of kids who are competing forspots there and that’s only going tohelp us get better.”

The Indians lost some talented 400and 800 runners last year, includingAaron Anderson, Aric Moeller andCole Anderson.

The returning state qualifiersinclude hurdler Jon Krein and highjumper Jacob Gapp, both seniors thisseason.

Krein took second in the 400 hur-dles at the district meet last season.Gapp’s highlight last year was jumpinga school-record and personal best of6-feet-7-inches at the North IowaConference meet.

Gapp also qualified for state duringhis freshman, sophomore and junioryears. Krein enters the season as atwo-time state qualifier.

The other returning state qualifieris sophomore Riley Moore, a middledistance runner. Moore was part of theIndians’ 4x800 state-qualifying teamlast year that also included departedseniors Aaron Anderson, ColeAnderson and Scarano.

Gapp will lead the Indians in thefield events, along with senior shotand discus thrower Justin Putney andjunior shot thrower ColtonWesterberg.

“Jacob has already jumped 6-4 this

year, so he’s ahead of schedule,”Kasper said. “And Justin and Coltonalready have some good throws undertheir belts in the indoor meets we’vehad.”

In the long jump, the Indians willlook to seniors Parker Farland andGapp and junior Jon Mathiasen.

On the track is where the Forest Cityboys will show their versatility, Kaspersaid.

“We have guys who can run any-where from the 100 to the 800 andlonger distance runners who can runanything from the 3200 to the 400,”

SEE FC TRACK, P.10

Photo by Chris Todd

The 2012 Forest City High School boys track team. The team was scheduled to open the season with a home meet on March 30.

Track team seeks to replace state qualifiersCoach saysteam veryversatile

12 • April 4, 2012 Spring Sports 2012 Forest City Summit Britt News-Tribune

June 23, 2010

Spring sports2012

Forest City and West Hancock High Schools

A supplement to the Britt News Tribune and Forest City SummitApril 4, 2012

FFoorreesstt CCiittyy BBooyyss TTrraacckkThursday, April 5 – At

Clarion-GoldfieldInvitational; April 10 – atClear Lake Invitational;April 13 – Forest City IndianInvitaional; April 17 – atCharles City Invitational;April 20 – at Armstrong-Ringsted Invitational; April26 – at Drake Relays; April27 – at Hampton-DumontInvitational; April 30 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; May 1 – atAlgona Invitational meet;May 4 – North IowaConference meet at Osage;May 10 – Class 2A Districtmeet, TBA; May 17-18 –State Meet at Drake in DesMoines.

WWeesstt HHaannccoocckk BBooyyss TTrraacckkApril 5 – at Clarion-

Goldfield Invitational; April12 – at Lake MillsInvitational; April 13 – atForest City IndianInvitational; April 17 – atBelmond-KlemmeInvitational; April 24 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; April 26 – atDrake Relays; April 27 – atHampton-DumontInvitational; Apri 30 – atWest Hancock Invitational;May 3 – at Algona Bishop-Garrigan Invitational; May 4– North Iowa Conference

meet at Osage; May 10 – at1A District meet. May 17-18– State meet at DrakeStadium, Des Moines.

FFoorreesstt CCiittyy GGiirrllss TTrraacckkApril 10 – at Clarion-

Goldfield Invitational; April13 – at Algona Bishop-Garrigan Invitational; April16 – At Gilbert Invitational;April 20 – at Estherville-Lincoln-CentralInvitational; April 24 – atForest City IndianInvitational; April 27 – atHampton-DumontInvitational; April 30 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; May 1 – atMason City HighInvitational; May 7 – NorthIowa Conference meet atOsage; May 10 – at Class 2ADistrict meet, TBA; May 17-18 –State Meet at DrakeStadium, Des Moines.

WWeesstt HHaannccoocckk GGiirrllss TTrraacckkApril 10 – at Clarion-

Goldfield; April 13 – AtAlgona Bishop-GarriganInvitational; April 17 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; April 20 – atLake Mills Invitational;April 24 – at Forest CityIndian Relays; April 26 – atDrake Relays, Des Moines;April 27 – at Hampton-Dumont Invitatinal. April

30 – at West HancockInvitational, Britt; May 1 –at Mason City HighInvitational; May 7 – atNorth Iowa Conferencemeet, Osage; May 10 – atClass 1A District meet; May17-18 – State Meet at DrakeStadium, Des Moines.

FFoorreesstt CCiittyy BBooyyss GGoollffApril 9 – at Garner-

Hayfield; April 10 – vs. LakeMills; April 14 – at Spencer;April 16 – at Clarion-Goldfield; April 17 – vs.North Iowa; April 19 – atNorth Iowa Invitational,Gruis Course; April 21 – AtAlgona Invitational; April 24– vs. Belmond-Klemme;April 28 – at West Hancock,Britt; April 30 – vs.Newman Catholic; May 3 –at North Iowa, GruisCourse; May 5 – atHampton-Dumont.

WWeesstt HHaannccoocckk BBooyyss GGoollffApril 9 – at Belmond-

Klemme; April 10 – atMason City Newman; April13 – vs. Garner-Hayfield;April 17 – at Lake Mills;April 20 – vs. CorwithWesley-Luverne; April 27 –West Hancock Invitational,Britt; May 3 – at NorthIowa, Gruis Course; May 5 –at Hampton-DumontInvitational; May 7 – at

North Iowa Conferencemeet, Britt; May 8 – atGarner-HayfieldInvitational; May 11 –Sectional meet; May 18 –District meet, TBA.

FFoorreesstt CCiittyy GGiirrllss GGoollffApril 9 – at Garner-

Hayfield, Garner; April 10 –vs. Lake Mills; April 16 – atClarion-Goldfield,Clarmond; April 17 – vs.North Iowa; April 19 – atNorth Iowa, Gruis Course;April 24 – vs. Belmond-Klemme; April 28 – atAlgona Bishop-Garrigan;April 30 – vs. Mason CityNewman; May 7 – at Osage;May 11 – vs. Forest CityInvitational.

WWeesstt HHaannccoocckk GGiirrllss GGoollffApril 9 – at Belmond-

Klemme; April 10 – atMason City Newman; April13 – vs. Garner-Hayfield;April 17 – at Lake Mills;April 20 – vs. Corwith-Wesley-Luverne; April 23 –at Forest City IndianInvitational; April 27 – WestHancock Invitational, Britt;May 7 – at Osage; May 8 –at Garner-HayfieldInvitational; May 11 –Section meet, TBA; May 14– at District meet; May 21 -at Region meet.

2012 spring sports schedules