Lynnville-Sully athletes ready for spring sports

SULLY — Eight state track meet qualifiers are among the combined 57 athletes on the 2016 editions of the Lynnville-Sully track teams. The Hawk girls have three of the four runners returning from three state medal winning relays while the Hawk boys return a state medalist in the 100-meter dash.

Lynnville-Sully’s golf teams are under a new coach, Justin Hagedorn, in 2016. The Hawks will have both a boys’ and a girls’ team this season. There was no girls team a year ago.

Lynnville-Sully’s track teams just competed in their one and only indoor meet — the South Iowa Cedar League conference meet — Monday at Grinnell. The Hawk track athletes open the 2016 outdoor season Tuesday with the girls going to Belle Plaine and the boys are at Pella Christian.

The annual Lynnville-Sully Invitational, which is coed, is April 5 at Sully.

The Hawk girls’ golf team swings into action March 31 at a meet hosted by Pella at Pella Country Club. Both Lynnville-Sully’s girls and boys play in a golf meet April 4 at North Mahaska.

Girls Track

Senior Kasiah Ehresman and juniors Makenzy Rozendaal and Brenna Lanser help set two school records in the 4x200-meter relay and sprint medley relay at the 2015 state Class 1A track meet. Senior Marissa Vos qualified for the state meet in the 3,000-meter run. Sophomore Mariah Vos and Ehresman competed in the 4x800-meter relay at the state meet a year ago.

Lynnville-Sully has 15 returning athletes from its 2015 SICL Conference championship team and Class 1A qualifying meet championship. The Hawk girls had SICL relay championships in 4x100, 4x200 and 4x800 and Marissa Vos is the defending SICL champion in the 3,000 meters.

“Experience is certainly one of our strengths. We have six freshman and three other newcomers with strong abilities and experience to step in where needed,” Lynnville-Sully girls’ head coach Darin Arkema said. “We have a good mix of abilities between sprinting, middle distance, distance and hurdling events, so filling all the events on the track and being competitive there.”

The 4x200 relay finished third at the 1A state meet while the 4x100 placed fifth and the sprint medley relay was eighth. Lynnville-Sully’s 4x800 finished 15th at the state meet. Marissa Vos was 23rd in the 1A 3,000 meters.

Arkema, who enters his ninth season guiding the Hawk girls’ track program, said the Hawks lost almost all of their participants and point scorers in the field events from last year. He said field events were such a strong area last year, so the hunt is on for people to get involved in those events and get production from them.

Other members of the Lynnville-Sully girls’ track team are senior Shelby Foster, juniors Haley James, Alexis Hardenbrook, Ida Byggeth and Julie Ranch-Holm and sophomores Camyrn Russell, Jataya Meyer, Haley Breeden and Madison Johnson. Freshmen on the team are Shiloh Cunningham, Carson Fisk, Emily Van Gorp, Kaylee Maasdam, Makayla Rozendaal and Shaleah Van Wyk.

Arkema’s assistant coach is Jill Schuring.

Boys Track

Eight upperclassmen lead Lynnville-Sully’s boys into the 2016 track season. Seniors Sage Ehresman, Noah Engle, Ross Van Wyk and Canyon Kuhlmann and juniors Colten Arment, Caden Dunsbergen, Ryan Hofer and Luke Jones are back for the Hawks.

Ehresman, Engle and Dunsbergen return from the state-meet qualifying 4x100-meter relay team. Ehresman captured a 1A state medal — fifth — in the 100-meter dash and qualified for the 1A state shot put event.

“The season is young and so is our team,” Lynnville-Sully boys’ head coach Mike Parkinson said. “We bring a lot of experience back from last season, and expect our older, more experienced athletes to help guide our young runners, jumpers and throwers.”

Ehresman won the South Iowa Cedar League championships in discus and shot put. Engle was third in the discus as the boys finished third in the SICL team race. Van Wyk is among the top sprinters back.

Engle, Arment, Dunsbergen and Hofer are main components in the Hawks’ shuttle hurdle relay. Arment and Hofer are the top 110-meter high hurdles back. Kuhlmann was a state qualifier in cross country and leads the distance runners as he competes in the 3,200-meter run. Jones ran on the boys’ cross country team and is back in the 800 meters.

“We’ve set high expectations and our guys understand them. They are working hard on the track and in the weight room,” Parkinson said. “The indoor conference meet and the two early outdoor meets will give us something to measure our progress.”

The Hawks also return six sophomore lettermen from a year ago in Elijah Collins, Carson Dunsbergen, Cody Gibbs, Corey McCoy, Sage Zylstra and Cayden Johnson. Lynnville-Sully has 33 boys on the roster with six more returning athletes in junior Isaac Collins, Trevor Squires and sophomores Drake Ehresman, Kemper Lukehart, Aaron Van De Krol and Jesse Van Wyk.

Newcomers to the boys’ team are senior Kyle Kramer and juniors Bryson Barnett and Max Knapp. Kramer and Barnett will help in the distance races while Knapp is expected to provide depth in the sprint events.

The Hawks are young in the field events. Carson Dunsbergen and Johnson, both sophomores, are the leading jumpers back. Collins, Squires and Van De Krol will compete in the throwing events. The throws and high jump events are coached by assistant Jeff Corbett.

Freshmen on the team are Jason Craver, Mason Dunsbergen, Rylan James, Eyon Moore, Nick Rea, Evan Squires, Nate Stock, Gage Vander Leest, Tyson Vander Linden and Grant Wehrle.

“We look forward to another great spring to go out and compete. The SICL Conference is one of the best around, and the level of competitiveness at our conference meets is rarely rivaled at district track meets,” Parkinson said. “We expect to be challenged at every meet, which will help us continue to improve.”

Golf

Junior Kaylee Van Maanen is the lone returning letter winner for Lynnville-Sully’s girls golf team. Van Maanen was one of two girl golfers for the Hawks in 2014, but there was no team in 2015.

Under first-year head coach Justin Hagedorn, Van Maanen is joined by seven others on the Lynnville-Sully’s girls team. Hagedorn said he is looking forward to having the girls team back in action after not having enough for a team last year.

Juniors Mikayla Smith, Christine Jaennette and Ida Byggeth, sophomore Rebecca Morningstar and freshmen Tessa Van Maanen, Kayla Van Dyke and Maddeline Mintle comprise the 2016 Hawk girls golf team.

“On the girls side, a strength we have is our attitude,” Hagedorn said. “Since many of our golfers are out for their first season of golf, they have a very positive attitude which is a lot of fun to be around. Our weakness is the lack of experience.”

Seniors Caleb Jansen and Kyle Van Dyke lead the Lynnville-Sully boys into 2016. They along with sophomore Holden Jansen are the returning golfers from a year ago. Three freshmen — Dane Fuchs, Abram Collins and Cade Dibello — join the team.

“I expect Holden to slide into a more prominent role this year and score regularly for the team,” Hagedorn said. “We have strong senior leadership. Our two seniors will gel guide our young group of players into becoming better golfers and better citizens.”

Hagedorn said it is always hard to predict the season beforehand, but the Lynnville-Sully golfers are going to work hard, have fun and hopefully improve as golfers. He said this season will be a success if his student-athletes develop as people and players.

The Hawk boys finished third at the South Iowa Cedar League conference meet last year.

“The league looks to be competitive this year without a team that stands out,” he said. “The individual champion and runner up from last year are back, so I expect the individual race to be competitive as well. I always say golf is a game where the course, the weather and the day determine who shoots the best. I expect the conference to be no different.”

Lynnville-Sully has three coed meets on its home golf course — Lynnville’s Diamond Trail Golf Course.

Contact Jocelyn Sheets at
641-792-3121 ext. 6535 or jsheets@newtondailynews.com