MOVING ON UP
Berthoud aiming to improve on state finishes
Coming off back-to-back third-place finishes at the 3A state track meet, the Berthoud girls team hopes this is the year they ascend to the top of the podium.
With a good mix of youth and experience returning, the team figures to have more than enough firepower to replace some of their senior leaders from a year ago who graduated.
“Our goal on the girls’ side is basically to take the next step,” Berthoud head track coach Blaine Voth said. “That’s what we’ve talked about, is we finished third the last two years, and one of the big reasons that we have finished third is because we’ve qualified our relays and our distance has done really well in the 800s and the mile.
“This year, the goal is to get as many individual qualifiers, so like the 100, 200, 400 in there, long jump, triple jump, as we can. But also, not just qualify for state, but place in the finals. We feel if we can do that, we can take that next step and move up to second or first.”
Capped with a win in the 3,200-meter relay last year, the Spartans amassed 52 points to finish behind Liberty Common and Coal Ridge in the team standings.
On the strength of three top-six relay finishes and several standout individual performances, the Spartans finished in the same spot they did in 2021.
Leading the way individually was distance runner Jaycee Williams, who as a sophomore last year finished second in the 800 meters and fifth in the 1,600. Also a relay member, Williams will be relied on heavily to score big points this season.
“She will definitely be leading the distance group,” Voth said of Williams. “She will have a big impact this year. Of course, she is always going to do great in the 800. We will run her in the 400. We will run her in the mile relay. We will also run her
in the 4×800 (relay). We will run her in the mile also. She is going to have a huge impact. She is an amazing runner, an amazing athlete. Whatever we put her in, she is going to excel at.”
Other returning point scorers from state last year include sophomores Ellie Harper in the 200 and Sydney Slauson in the 400. Slauson finished ninth in that race at state last year.
Harper is hoping to get into the finals this year after getting state experience last season.
“It was really scary, actually, as a freshman, but it was a lot of fun,” she said. “I think the experience will help me this year because I got to see a lot of better schools and see how fast and how they run and do things. I know what my goals are this year because of it.”
The Spartans also have a pair of state throwers returning. Senior Izabelle Froien was ninth in the discus and senior Gracie Flores was 13th in the shot put.
Other returners Voth expects to be major contributors this season are seniors Adrianna Degesualdo, Maddie Kenner, sophomores Sydney Hardy, Brooke Nelson, Gabriella Staley, Myla Williams and junior Paige Farnum.
“I think we are really great,” Kenner said. “A lot of us have known each other for quite a few years now so I feel like we are all really connected as a team and we have the same mindset. I feel like we are all really excited to go further this year.”
One big loss from last season was hurdler Anndee Davidson, who was seventh in the 300 hurdles and eighth in the 100 hurdles at state last year. Nelson is the team’s top hurdler this season after qualifying for state last year in the 100. She is already posting personal bests this season.
With not much depth in the hurdle races, Voth said he has been recruiting. Sophomore Meredith Erker ran the 300 hurdles last season and will again this year. Junior Jennifer Conlon will also help the depth in those races.
“Most of our girls on the sprint side and the distance side are back, state qualifiers, which is huge,” Voth said. “That’s a big one. We have three hurdlers, but we are looking for more to get us over that hump in the hurdles.”
What the team is lacking most are jumpers. Erker and Farnum make up the long jumpers. Voth believes Farnum can get to state. As a freshman, she went 17 feet before missing last season because of an injury. He is also looking at a couple of freshmen to develop into long jumpers.
Voth said his triple jumpers are also in the developmental phase, although Kenner qualified for state last year. Freshman Audrey Gravestock is an athlete he believes can develop into a good high jumper to contribute to the team.
With so much experience returning and depth in some key areas, the Spartans believe this is the year they break their streak of finishing third.
“I feel like we are pretty respected,” Farnum said. “Everybody wants to be in the top 10 and I feel like being up there is a huge honor and I feel like people definitely want to be up there with us.”
On the boys’ side, the Spartans are coming off a 12th place finish at state last year and expect to do better this year with some returning experience and several distance runners who led the cross country team to a fourth-place finish at the state meet in the spring.
A bulk of the team’s points from state last year left when Jayden Nohr, a freshman last season, transferred to Roosevelt. Nohr won the long jump and was fifth in the triple jump at state.
The Spartans do have one Jayden back. Jayden Michaelis was fourth in the 300 hurdles last year at state and also qualified in the 110 hurdles.
“(Michaelis) is going to be a big factor in the 110s and the 300 hurdles,” Voth said. “He runs our four by two and four by 400 relays. He is one of those athletes that you can do anything with and he is going to succeed in.”
Freshman Jayce Newbill is a newcomer Voth expects things from. He is very similar to Michaelis in that he is a hurdler but can also contribute in other races as well.
Voth said there are several members of the boys team that did not come out last year, but have this season and will contribute. Among them are sophomore sprinter and possible jumper Alex Pygott.
Also returning is senior Kamron Hosier, who competed at state last year on the Spartans’ relay teams and hopes to qualify in one or more individual races this year. Voth said he is the fastest boy on the team and is an amazing kid who works hard.
“We have amazing athletes on our boys side,” Voth said. “It’s just a matter of, we have a lot that haven’t done track before or are young and came in from middle school. I think our boys are going to make some noise.”
Among the Spartans’ distance runners who ran cross country in the fall are juniors Tate Bothun, Afton Cooper and Scott Clark, senior Daniel Hatten and his brother Jesse, and freshmen Aiden Malherbe and Adam Beard.
There are even more that will add to distance corps, making it the deepest part of the Spartans’ roster. Voth expects big things from his sprinters as well.
With a roster with more depth than last year and several athletes who have state experience, the Spartans expect to finish inside the top 10 at state this year.
“We will definitely make it to state, I believe,” Hosier said. “Hopefully we do better than last year because I think we have a much better team.”