The West Fork boys track and field team increased its roster size to 32 athletes out this season from 24 out last season. For the Warhawks this is their largest team since 2022 (31).
The Warhawks return six seniors including Trevor Despenas, Xavier Haller, Koby Harley, Jarren Hitzhusen, Jasper Jones and Kelton Pederson.
Head Coach Caleb Hovenga on the ambition of seniors and their mentorship towards teammates.
“This year has probably been the best year for buy-in into the culture that Coach Ortloff and I are trying to put together here. We’ve got some really good senior leaders. They really want to be really good at this. They’re working really hard because their end goal is getting down to run in Des Moines. They want to look good in their area and that’s the goal there,” says Hovenga. “They’re trying to pull all these juniors, sophomores and freshman up with them. They’re teaching them all the aspects of a meet, not just how to run fast and turn left, but also the recovery portion, the warm up and the cool down. The leadership has been a big piece in all of that. Whatever we’re doing must be working, now we’ve just got to make them love it a little bit.”
The Warhawks top individual placings so far this spring are by Despenas who placed fourth in the 400m (53.03) and Haller placed fifth in the high jump (6-00) at the Wartburg Invite on March 25 to conclude the indoor season.
Hovenga on other returners and their event specialties.
“Owen Schmidt, is our hurdle guy and spends most of his night there. Rylan Dorenkamp is one of our sprint aces, coming back this year. He saw some stuff in Des Moines last year, so now he’s pretty hungry to get back down there. Blaine Schulz is back, he looks great out of the blocks already, coming in pretty fresh. Brett Behr has been a huge guy for us. He is a big relay guy and can fill in a couple gaps where we need it. All those guys will carry a pretty heavy load for us this year, and they’re ready to take on even a little bit more.”
West Fork’s first outdoor meet is scheduled to be at Osage on Tuesday.
