BERNE — The Berne-Knox-Westerlo track team did not have anyone qualify for states but that did not stop Coach Bill Tindale from being pleased with the season and looking forward to the future.
"We’re a young team," the coach said. "But we won the Marsh Galotta Invitational at Middleburgh. It was a good year. We have a lot of young guys."

The Bulldogs might be young but a senior led the way this spring.

Travis DeRusso finished his sensational career at BKW with a fourth-place finish in the 400-meter run at the state qualifier in Johnstown on Thursday. DeRusso did win the event and the 800 meters at the Class CC Section II meet earlier in the season. He also set the school record in the 400 during the season with a time of 50.8 seconds.

Peter Primiano also set a school record during the season. Primiano’s 21 feet, 7 3/4 inches in the long jump puts him on top of the school leaderboard.

Senior Ian Smith was a captain and provided leadership for the Bulldogs.
"He did a good job for us," Tindale said.

Freshmen and sophomores made their marks for the boys’ team.

Jared Finke competed at the state qualifier and ran the 3,200- and 1,600 –meter runs. He ran 10:32 in the 3,200 and 4:51 for the 1,600.

Josh Glick set a school record in the pole vault and also competed in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays.
"At sectionals, we finished in the middle of the pack," Tindale said. "We’ll improve over the next couple of years."

The girls’ team was also led by a contingent of underclassmen.

Sophomore Ada Lauterbach won the Class CC sectional title in the steeple chase. She also ran a 5:02 in the 1,500 meters for the second best time in school history.

Junior Sarah Hannay holds the school record in the shot put and also won the league title in the event.

BKW also had two ninth-graders who scored points at meets this season.

Alyssa Wetterau and Monique Devine are tied for the school record in the pole vault; they both have gone over 6 feet, 6 inches.

The girls’ team had a lot of success. The Bulldogs finished second in the league and won the Southern Division. They also won the Marsh Galotta and Cherry Valley Invitationals.

The Bulldogs also got good leadership from senior Sarah Furman, who became a top two-mile runner.
"She scored a lot of points at several meets for us," Tindale said. "She also won the two mile at some invitationals. She had a phenomenal senior year. It was the best of her career."

Tindale is looking forward to the future, despite losing some key seniors.
"It’ll be tough to lose Travis and Pete," the coach said. "They did a good job for us as did a couple of other seniors. But 75 percent of our points were scored by freshmen and sophomores.
"It’s great on one hand because the future looks bright," Tindale said. "But I’d would’ve liked the junior and senior classes to be a little stronger. It’ll be great if we can get more kids into it. It’s not the quality of the athletes; we just need more of them."