Jon Gremmels
For the Herald
September 02, 2008 10:44 am
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CLINTON — Devon Sattler predicts improvement. Of course, in the always-tough Mississippi Athletic Conference, gaining one spot in the boys cross country standings can be a huge step.
But, Clinton High School has a goal a bit higher than that as it enters the boys cross country season.
“We should definitely do better in the conference,” said Sattler, a senior.
“If we get in the top five, I'll be real happy,” said coach Wes Golden, who guided the River Kings to a seventh-place MAC finish a year ago. “It's a legitimate goal.”
The River Kings open the season today, when they host the Schoolhouse Open at Emma Young Park. The event begins with the girls freshman-sophomore race at 5 p.m., followed by boys freshmen-sophomores, varsity girls and varsity boys.
It will give Sattler and his teammates their first chance to see how they stack up against other teams.
Sattler is one of three returning seniors on the roster, and although expected to be a top-five runner in the lineup, he might be overshadowed by the other two. James Smith is considered the No. 1 runner, and Ethan Holmes was a state track champion in the hurdles.
“James worked really hard this summer,” Golden said. “I expect him to surprise people. And, Ethan ran with us last year, but he's a great addition with his experience from track and field.”
Sattler agreed that it was a plus having a state-champion-caliber athlete as a teammate.
“It's good having a guy who has been there and pushed himself,” Sattler said.
Sattler, too, is hoping to surprise some people this fall.
“I feel stronger from last year,” he said. “I feel I can accomplish more.”
The River Kings have a fourth returning runner in junior Sean Determan.
“He started well the last two years but has battled injuries,” Golden said. “If he keeps healthy, he could be the 'X' factor.”
There also are newcomers who enter the season as unknowns. The leading contenders among them, according to Golden, are senior Trenton Weaver, sophomore R.G. Genko and freshmen Andrew Howes and Blake Tinderholt, each of whom has had “solid efforts in practice and have a real chance at making the top five,” according to Golden.
“We have a few decent freshmen out this year,” Sattler said. “We should have a pretty solid seven on varsity. I think that's definitely an improvement from last year.”
They'll just have to wait and see if it's enough improvement to catch the likes of state champion Pleasant Valley or the other top teams in the MAC, such as Bettendorf, Burlington and Muscatine.
AREA PREVIEWS
CAMANCHE
Camanche squeezed ahead of Bellevue Marquette for second place in the Big East Conference last year, and the Indians are hoping to continue their success. Juniors Codie Adams (fifth) and Vince Schawl (eighth) both finished in the top 10 in the conference meet. Adams went on to place 47th at the Class 2A state meet, while Schawl just missed advancing to state with an 11th-place finish at the district meet.
“We got a taste of success last year,” coach Mark Metzger said. “We were in the top three or four in many invitationals, and we were fifth at the district meet. We hope to raise the bar a little bit this year.
“Prince of Peace is the team to beat. Hopefully, we can get closer to them. I don't know if we have enough to get them.”
Senior Cody Snodgrass is another returning top-five runner from a year ago. He took 18th at the Big East meet. Metzger will look at several newcomers to fill the other four spots, but he has 13 runners out, up three from a year ago.
Juniors Patrick Knapp and Tony Stoll; sophomores Kevin Beardslee, Kevin Carrington and Luke Snodgrass; and freshmen Nick Bianchi, Josh Ellis, Mitchell Raymond, Brody Schawl and Alex Stahl round out the roster.
CENTRAL DEWITT
Graduation and other losses took a heavy toll on Central DeWitt. Sophomore Ben Niemann is the only returning runner from the seven-man squad that represented the Sabers at last fall's Iowa Class 3A state meet and placed 14th. Niemann was the Sabers' third runner across the finish line, finishing 81st as part of a pack of teammates that placed 78th, 81st, 82nd, 83rd and 85th.
“Ben was one of our top runners last year,” coach Jim Hetrick said. “We lost some kids that shouldn't be gone. One went back to Davenport and another had grade problems.” In addition, senior captain Marshall Nicolay has physical problems that might keep him out of action.
Senior Travis Frazier got limited experience last season, and the Sabers have another senior in exchange student Frank Futselaar. Newcomers on the squad are junior Justin Black, sophomore Nick Jewell and freshman Ryan Hamby.
With four new teams, the WaMaC Conference is a little difficult for coaches to predict this season, but Hetrick said he figured the Sabers should be one-quarter to one-third down the standings.
NORTHEAST
Coach Kerry Kennedy is hoping that experience will help the Rebels move up in the conference standings. They were eighth in the Big East a year ago.
“We're a pretty experienced team,” he said. “We have nine varsity guys. I think we can contend.”
Baron Loots, a member of the Rebels' track state championship 3,200-meter relay team last spring, is one of four seniors on the roster, joining Brent Blanchard, Chavez Boehmer-Diedrich and Trent Mussman, who comes over with a new co-op arrangement with East Central. Rounding out the team are junior Alex Gluesing, sophomore Seth Mommsen and freshmen Matt Bowman and Matt Cain.
“The majority is fairly experienced,” Kennedy said. “I know what we're getting with a bunch of seniors back. And even though Matt Bowman is just a freshman, he's been running cross country and this is his third year.”
PRESTON
Northeast's gains from the East Central program are Preston's loss, as the Raiders changed their sharing arrangement this year.
“It's a new venture for us,” coach Mike Kelly said of his squad, which has just five runners.
Sophomore Zach Henningsen, 14th in the Big East last year, is the top returner, and another sophomore, Joe Geier, also returns. Kelly also will take a look at his son Cole, a sophomore, and two newcomers. Senior Brady Oldag, a 6-foot-6 senior who is the top basketball player at the school, has come out (“He wants to get in shape for basketball,” Kelly said), and freshman Michael Burken also is new.
“We'll probably try some of them just JV early, then see how they do,” Kelly said.
PRINCE OF PEACE
With two of the best Class 1A runners in Iowa, Prince of Peace is pretty much guaranteed of having a pair of low scores to start every meet, and the Irish are considered the favorites in the Big East Conference with returning champion Drew Sikkema (16:57) and third-place finisher Riley Bly (17:21). They are two of the top runners in the state, too. Sikkema placed fourth in Class 1A last year, the highest finish of any returning runner in the class, and Bly took eighth.
Sophomore Eric Sikkema returns after earning all-conference honors last year with an 11th-place finish and then crossing the line as the fifth scorer on Prince of Peace's team that placed fourth in the state.
“Because of the two superstars, we will be ranked high, and our expectations are high,” coach Dave Lawrence said. “But (except for Eric Sikkema), the next six all are gone. Two quit to lift weights for basketball, and the others graduated. There's a lot of competition for those spots. We have good contenders for the fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh spots.”
Battling for those positions are senior Stephen Peters; junior Isaac Jankowski; sophomores Kevin Schnier, Sean Williams and Anthony Sinn; and freshmen Joe Schnier, Jacob Lehmkuhl and Konnor Lemke.”
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