PANORA — Panorama boys head track coach Greg Thompson faces a situation entirely different than the one he faces as the Panther girls coach.
“The boys team doesn’t have the depth that the girls team has, so we will need to pick and chose which events we really want to try to score points in,” he said recently. “We have enough good, talented athletes to put some good relays together, but then that takes away from the individual events.”
The balancing act is likely to continue throughout the season, but memories of a stout finish to the 2017 campaign is serving as motivation for this spring.
Spencer Hunt returns after placing 16th in both the 200 and 400 at the state meet last year, with Dan Jensen back after a 21st place effort in the shot put.
“Josh Carstens is coming off placing 21st in the state cross country meet last fall, and he will help us, and will senior Danny Nordquist,” Thompson added. “I have also seen some good things from Koltin Sloss and Luke South in practices.”
Junior Gracen Wellberg and freshman Zac Rizzuti are both newcomers who, Thompson said, have already begun to show promise. Wellberg expressed a desire to concentrate on jumping events, but has looked good on the track and will be expected to help the team at 100, 200 and 400 meters. Rizzuti will be in the long jump and serve also as a long sprinter, especially in the 800.
Thompson began coaching the Panther boys in 2011 and has led the team to a WCAC title (2015) and a state qualifying meet title (2015). He is assisted by Chris Webner (field events), Caden Duncan (sprints and strength/conditioning) and Lindsey Duncan (middle distance/distance and strength/conditioning).
He noted defending state champion Madrid — despite losing a handful of high-scoring individuals — returned a good nucleus and is considered the prohibitive WCAC favorite. Thompson said he expects Earlham to have a well-balanced team, with Van Meter figuring into the mix as well, while the Woodward Academy is “hard to predict until we get some results” but that the Knights traditionally field strong sprinters and hurdlers.
Panorama opens competition Monday at the Earlham Early Bird before visiting Perry for the Davis Family Relays March 29. They will then host the Kip Janvrin Invitational April 3. All three meets will start at 4:30 p.m.
