Only two members of the Climax-Fisher/Sacred Heart boys track team qualified for the Minnesota Section 8A meet. That's not a bad percentage, however -- with only four athletes on the team, that's 50 percent advancing.
The Knights have definitely looked at this as a season of individual rather than team goals.
"We're there at meets to do our personal bests," junior thrower Jaden Altepeter said. "We understand that we're not going to do that well as a team. Our numbers are too low."
Altepeter is seeded third in the discus and 10th in the shot put in the 8A meet, which will be held today at East Grand Forks Senior High. Also competing will be senior Alex Wentzel, who is tied for the No. 9 seed in the high jump.
The meet begins at 9:30 a.m. with field events. The top two finishers in each event, as well as any entrants who reach state-qualifying standards in the section meet qualify for next week's state meet.
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How low are the Knights' numbers? In comparison to Climax-Fisher/SH, Roseau -- one of the favorites in the boys' division -- has five different runners in the section meet just in the 100 and 200 races. Climax-Fisher/SH didn't enter a relay in the subsection meet last week.
"We could have," C-F/SH coach Dan Jago said. "But one of our guys is a thrower, so (the relay time) probably wouldn't have been pretty."
There are advantages to having such a small roster.
Travel is easier. The team goes to meets in suburbans, not buses. There's the time-saved factor; the Knights could leave a meet after the 200, as they had no runners in the final two running events, the 3,200 and 4x400 relay. There was no need to check team standings. "When you only have four entries, even when you have a great meet, you'll be near the bottom," Jago said.
"And the lower number has been nice in that the athletes got a lot of one-on-one coaching."
In practices, however, there also was limited competition. "They didn't have anybody to really push each other," Jago said. "That can be a challenge. They were pretty much out there by themselves. They've had to be pretty self-motivated."
Even with the small roster, Jago isn't ruling out trips to state. Wentzel consistently has cleared 5-foot-10 in the high jump; the top seed is 6 feet. And Altepeter, recovering from a knee injury, has shown steady improvement. "I think it's possible to get somebody to state," Jago said. "Alex is in the mix. Jaden is, too."
Said Altepeter: "We've made the best with what we have."
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DeVillers reports on sports. Reach him at (701) 780-1128; (800) 477-6572, ext. 128; or send e-mail to gdevillers@gfherald.com .
