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CHS track and field teams off and running

EDITOR'S NOTE: See more team previews in a special Spring Sports Preview section included with the newspaper's March 24 edition.

Spring is here and the Chester High School boys and girls track and field teams have already been hitting the road in preparation for the outdoor season.

CHS girls head coach Jenny Stumpe has a roster of 18 girls, while boys head coach Ben Hunter has 27 boys.

Both teams have been practicing for about two weeks and were gearing up for their opening meet on March 23, when Chester hosts a home meet at the Dr. Charles R. Young Memorial Track and Field Complex at CHS.

The Lady Yellow Jackets roster lists just two seniors, six juniors, two sophomores and eight freshmen. Seniors Morgan Atchison and Hannah Schweizer return to lead the girl's squad.

Atchison will lead the Lady Yellow Jacket hurdle department and will compete on the sprint relays.

Schweizer will be a primary thrower in the discus and shot put.

Juniors include Taylor Dunning (middle distance events), Jessica Kattenbraker (high jump and middle distance), Tayler Howie (sprints), Abby Myers (pole vault, sprints), Kaitlyn Hoffman (high jump, triple jump, long jump and sprints) and Maddie Hoffman (shot put, discus).

"I am excited about this year's team," Stumpe said. "We are low in numbers compared to the last two years, but the girls I have are top notch.

"All 18 girls are working hard and have the drive to succeed. They all seem to want it."

There are only two sophomores, Kara Knop and Alexis Alverez, and both are relative rookies on the squad. Knop will compete in the hurdles and sprints, while Alverez - a new student at CHS - will specialize in sprints and jumps.

The freshman class boasts eight new track and field members for the Lady Yellow Jacket squad. The athletes come from all three Chester elementary schools - Chester Grade School, St. Mary's Catholic School and St. John Lutheran School.

Those eight athletes are Avery Runge (distance), Audrey Hopper (middle distance), Taylor Hennrich (sprinter), Destiny Williams (sprints), Addie Blechle (middle distance), Liz Mitchell (pole vault, sprints), Jocelyn Landeros (distance) and Ashtyn Jany (jumps, sprints).

"All of my athletes have set a goal to win the Black Diamond Conference for the seventh year in a row or accomplish a 'seven-peat' as conference champs," Stumpe said. "They also want to be on the podium at the IHSA state meet."

Hunter is pleased with his roster five seniors, 12 juniors, six sophomores and four freshmen.

The seniors are few in numbers, but rich in experience. Savion Smith, Chris Lang, and Jacob Golding were members of the Yellow Jacket 800-meter relay team that went to state last year Charleston.

Lucas Doiron, who graduated last May and now runs at Greeneville College, rounded out that relay team.

Senior Demontae Martin will likely replace Doiron on that relay this year and Hunter expects that they should be very competitive in 2017. The senior class is completed with Joe Copple.

"We have a small, but strong senior class," Hunter said. "Our strength will be in the sprints and the jumps.

"Our junior class is our largest class and I am hoping to get a lot out of that group, especially in the distance events."

Smith is expected to excel in sprints and jumps, while Lang will focus primarily on the sprints. Golding will feature on sprints and jumps as will Martin.

Finally, Copple will compete in the sprint events.

In the junior class, Mitchell Colonel Lance Bohnert, Russ Stallman, Zach Zappa, Josh Haberberger and Joe Soellner who will all focus on the distance events.

Garret Welker and Alex Hamilton will concentrate on the throwing events.

Tim Robinson (sprints), Joey Reid (sprints), Nick Heffernan (jumps, sprints) and Clayton Richelman (jumps, sprints).<br /> There are six sophomores on the Yellow Jacket squad this season - Hunter Munie, Jacob Wingerter, Jacob O'Riley, Chase Colvis, Gunner Dickenson and Eathan Thompson.

Munie, Colvis and Dickenson are throwers, while O'Riley and Thompson will be sprinters. Wingerter will be utilized in both the sprints and the jumping events.

For the freshmen, Ronin Doiron (distance), Gage Bollman (sprints), Chris Schwier (sprints) and Trent Bierman (distance), are beginning their CHS track careers this year.

"Our Yellow Jacket throwers are fairly raw, but they have been putting a lot of time into training for the throwing events," Hunter said. "I am hopeful that they will get us some points in our meets.

"Overall, I think we will be competitive and will have some success at all levels."

The Yellow Jackets will host six meets this year, including the Rocky Bridges Relays on March 28. On April 6, CHS will host the annual Chester Freshman/Sophomore Invitational and the Yellow Jackets will host another regular meet on April 18.

Other home meets will be the Bi-County Meet (April 25) and a Class 1A girls sectional on May 12.&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160;&#160; &#160;&#160;

Pictured is the 2017 Chester High School boys track and field team. First row, from left, Chris Schwier, Eathan Thompson, Jacob O' Riley, Mitchell Colonel, Hunter Munie, Gage Bollman, and Joe Copple. Second row, from left, Lance Bohnert, Trent Bierman, Jacob Wingerter, Josh Haberberger, Nick Heffernan, and Ronin Doiron. Third row, from left, head coach Ben Hunter, Russ Stallman, Garret Welker, Zach Zappa, Clayton Richelman, Chase Colvis, and assistant coach Steve Spears. Not pictured: Savion Smith, Chris Lang, Jacob Golding, Demontae Martin, Alexander Hamilton, Tim Robinson, Joey Reid, Joe Soellner, and Gunner Dickenson. Jim Beers Photo