BKW track team content to pick up where it left off
By Jordan J. Michael
BERNE The Berne-Knox-Westerlo boys’ and girls’ track and field team finally got a day to flourish outdoors last Thursday.
The team had been training hard inside since March 8 until the temperature shot up into the 70s last Thursday just in time for coaches Scott Hannay and Bill Dergosits to hold time trials for the athletes.
“It’s tough to keep 60 kids happy for that long inside because they get restless,” said Hannay, the boys’ head coach. “We were all crammed into our little gym for so long. The kids have been preparing for today with lots of calisthenics and stretching.”
The Bulldogs started holding time trials a couple of years ago because it helps separate the athletes into short, middle, and long-distance groups for the season. It helps Hannay and Dergosits uncover strengths and weaknesses.
“I want to know where these kids gas out,” Hannay said. “Who has the most endurance when we get to the third or fourth trial run? We start to see a differential at that point. We want to see how far these athletes can stretch themselves.”
Dergosits, the girls’ coach, told The Enterprise that he likes to crunch the numbers when the day is done. “The times and averages will tell me how the kids work through pain,” he said. “This is a very important day because it gives us a baseline to follow for the entire season.”
“We’re trying to find failure who will die?” said Hannay. “Some of these kids don’t die and can do a trial run like 10 times over.”
Boys
The boys’ team finished the 2009 season as Class CC champions and nine veterans from that team are back for 2010. The Bulldogs also won the Western Athletic Conference championship and hope to compete for it again.
The team will be missing the top point production of state pole-vault champ, Josh Glick; thrower Greg Hannay; runner Dave Haverly; and sprinter Tim David all of them went to college.
“We need a little work in the field events,” said Hannay.
Connor Devine and Sean Reynolds will lead the group of distance runners who just came off a cross-country sectional championship last fall. Devine, Reynolds, Derek Struck, and Taylor DellaRocco will look to “dominate” the WAC distance events, according to Hannay.
Senior Eric Scanlon, Ted Wiederhold, Joe Sprung, Jesse Montesano, Matt Farnam, and Mitchell June will be throwing shot put and discus for BKW this year. “It’s mainly a group of ninth and 10th-graders looking to learn how to throw far,” said Hannay.
Senior Curtis Clark will compete in the 100-meter and 200-meter sprints and relays, and Brandon Kallner and Geoff Bentley will be running in the short sprints and jumps. Ryan LaBelle, Kallner, and Josh Von Haugg will be jumping the hurdles.
Filling the deep gap in the pole-vault competition will be Ben Becker. Senior Kevin Mason and Kallner will be in the long jump and new jumpers LaBelle, Nate Hayduke, and Blake Whitbeck will participate in the triple and high jumps.
Girls
The Lady Bulldogs finished second at the WAC championships last season and have several athletes returning this year. The team also has plenty of new athletes who will provide talent.
Dergosits said that Lydia Gerardi is BKW’s only senior this year. “The girls who scored most of our points last year are still around,” he said.
The Lady Bulldogs are deep in distance running, which has become a tradition for the team. Ninth-grader Courtney Tedeschi will compete in events ranging from the 800-meter to the 3000-meter. Tedeschi is a top performer in the WAC and Section II in both track and cross-country.
Sophomore Abby Swint and Angela Cunningham will be joining Tedeschi in distances this year, along with Courtney’s younger sister, Allie, a seventh-grader.
Tiara “TT” Conklin, Ciarra Harrington, Marisa Henkin, Victoria McCormick, and Alex Luciano will handle sprints and jumps for BKW. Gerardi, Erin Salo, Mary Salo, and Sabrina Graham will be throwing for the team.
Dergosits said last Thursday that rival Fonda-Fultonville will be moving to a different league next season. BKW finished second to Fonda at the WAC championships last year in a dramatic battle. “We’re hoping to send them off in second,” Dergosits said.
“I’m very pleased with the times so far,” said Dergosits. “They look better than I can remember.”