Spring sports ludington & manistee #3

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LudingtonDaily Newsmonday, April 13, 2015

INSIDE: LUDINGTON AND MANISTEE

SPORTS

LudingtonDaily NewsLudingtonDaily NewsLudington

monday, April 13, 2015

INSIDE:

SPORTS

2 | Ludington daiLy newS/SPRing SPoRtS | Monday, aPRiL 13, 2015www.ludingtondailynews.com

By DAVID BOSSICKdaiLy newS SPoRtS editoR

Tim Keith could not have asked for a better situation.

The Mason County Central alum is the head coach of the girls track program at Lud-ington now, taking over for Brian Dotson after Dotson moved into the athletic di-rector’s seat.

And Keith gets some amaz-ing athletes, including Bran-dy Thomas, who’s on her way to Illinois State after this sea-son in the throws. Thomas was the state runner-up in the shot put and set the re-cord in both shot put and dis-cus for the school.

The trio of throw stars — Kayla Gottwald, Annah Prys and Thomas — help to lead the Orioles, but they’re not the only standouts back for this season. Lauren Biggs is extremely good at the long jump while Madalyn Flewel-ling, Naomi Billings and Ka-tie Biggs have contribut-ed greatly in a handful of events and in relays.

“The one thing that hav-ing those girls gives you is a tremendous amount of leadership,” Keith said. “To have girls like Brandy and Annah, Lauren and Katie, they can lead those younger girls through the season and through a meet and through a practice.”

Ludington lost a hand-ful of solid runners — Emily Edel, Mallory Wietrzykows-ki and AmyGrace Shoop — among those.

Ludington’s roster:

SeniorS: Ashley Bates, Kath-erine Biggs, Alexandria Butts, Laura Caimari, Madalyn Flewel-ling, Kayla Gottwald, Putthicha Kanthamanon, Anna Pedersen, Annah Prys, Martina Reineg-ger, Andrea Scarfone, Brandy

Thomas, Brandi Turnbull and Emelie Wenz.JuniorS: Bridgette Barnett,

Mackenzie Brown, Darrah Hull, Kelsey Koss, Carson Middle-brook and Erica Winters.SophomoreS: Lauren Biggs,

Naomi Billings, Heather Gentry, Mikala Jewett, Moira O’Brien, Amya Sikon, Marissa Stickney, Emma Taranko, Kimberly Taylor and Samantha White.FreShmen: Karsyn Alexander,

Hannah Brown, Sophie Dick-son, Eleonda Ezell, Anika Ko-rendyke, Anlin Larson, Jasmin Martinez and Brooke Nash.

There are several new ath-letes and Keith is looking forward to seeing their im-pact.

“We’ve got of new young-sters, and maybe they

aren’t freshmen, but they’re younger athletes. We’ve got a good group of jumpers in Emma Taranko and Kim Tay-lor, and I’m exciting to see them going.

“You want to see their ef-fort rewarded.”

Keith goes from coach-ing at Norway High School, situated near the Michigan-Wisconsin state line in the Upper Peninsula, to coach-ing the Orioles. It’s a dras-tic change from his years coaching the Knights.

“I was the boys varsity coach for seven years. I had a lot of experience and I was kind of on my own. I joked I was an expert in 17 events,” Keith said. “That was any-thing but the truth. Up there, I had people to help out, but it was spotty... Last year, when the boys job opened up ... it just wasn’t prudent to do that.”

Keith helped out at times with the program last sea-son and knows that Spring Lake will be tough again in

the Lakes 8 Activities Con-ference.

“Seeing the support sys-tem that’s in place and the assistant coaches, and the breadth of specialties that made up the coaching staff, I was really eager to do it. Everyone has their thing,” Keith said.

Keith will spend a lot of time with the hurdlers, sprinters and long jumpers, he said.

Ludington began the sea-son with an indoor meet at Grand Valley State Universi-ty. The Orioles’ first outdoor meet is scheduled for April 14 at Oriole Field.

Keith wasn’t sure exactly how Ludington fits into the league championship pic-ture, but he knew that Spring

Lake is the school the Ori-oles need to target in trying to capture a league title.

“Spring Lake is undoubt-edly right there at the top,” he said. “That’s the team we’re looking out for.”

The MHSAA Division 2 re-gional is in Allendale, again pairing Ludington with schools from the Grand Rap-ids and Muskegon areas.

“We’re always going to be looking, as the season pro-gresses, we’ll be seeing what competitors will be bring-ing to those kinds of meets,” Keith said. “We will be align-ing our roster accordingly. We want to make sure we give ourselves the greatest opportunity to send as many of our kids through (to state) as we can.”

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Ludington girls track team are, front row, from left, Anna Pedersen, Katie Biggs and Brandy Thomas; second row: Laura Caimari, Emelie Wenz, Put-thicha Kanthamanon, Martina Reinegger, Ashley Bates, Annah Prys, Andrea Scarfone and Kayla Gottwald; third row, manager Andrea Shoup, Naomi Billings, Lauren Biggs, Heather Gentry, Amya Sikon, Emma Taranko, Kimberly Taylor, Bridgette Barnett, Darrah Hull and Mikala Jewett; back row, coach Tim Keith, Sophie Dickson, Brooke Nash, Ele Ezell, Jasmin Martinez, Carson Middlebrook, Mackenzie Brown, Hannah Brown, Anlin Larson and Erica Winters. Not pictured: Brandi Turnbull, Karsyn Alexander, Maddie Flewelling, Marissa Stickney, Allie Butts, Anika Korendyke, Kelsey Koss, Samantha White and Mallory Wietrzykowski.

Ludington girls track

Keith takes charge of girls team

‘they can lead those younger girls through the season and through a meet.’

Tim KeithLudington girls track coach

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jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Ludington boys track team are, first row, from left, Luciano Maniaci, Jarod Cobb, Nick Richert, Eric Janowiak, Andreas Tietz, Angelo Marano, Samuel Tucker and Aure Nigil; second row, Austin Ernst, Zac Schoon, Zac Peterson, Ben Knoer, Jarred Garten, Randy Johnson, Joeseph Hatch, David Ritter and John Siegert; third row, Kyle Gracia, Fabian Geistert, Troy Althaus, Duran Navarro, Devin Mendez, Anthony Tenney, Griffin Ray and Tony Pianto; back row, coach Mark Willis, Martin Torres, Caleb Schoon, Joshua Torres, Benjamin Jensen, Allen Keffer and Noah Dobrzelewski. Not pictured: Lucas Schwass, Caleb Shillinger, Taylor Follrath, Nolan Stark, Chase Ray, Kevin Brinkman, Tony Gomez, Orlando Garcia and Tony Ramirez.


Ludington’s boys track team roster swelled to more than 50 athletes for this spring.

Second-year Orioles track coach Mark Willis could not be more thrilled.

“It’s awesome. That’s what

this about. It’s about rela-tionships. Building all of those qualities that comes with life, whether it’s stay-ing in shape or hanging out with friends,” he said. “It’s that team-bonding experi-ence they get. Once it’s all said and done, they may not remember the races they run or how far they threw, but

they’ll remember the friends that they made.”

The Orioles do return sev-eral outstanding runners to the team. Allen Keffer returns to lead the throws while Taylor Follrath and Duran Navarro are return-ing sprinters. Nolan Stark is back for the pole vault.

“Nolan is geeked this year

to get the school record for pole vault. That will be excit-ing,” Willis said.

Stark and Follrath both play baseball, and each com-peted at the West Michigan All-Star meet last season at Reeths-Puffer. Also at that meet are returners David Ritter and Lucas Schwass.

Schwass ran at the MHSAA

state cross country meet in-dividually last season. He will help to anchor the dis-tance events along with Ben Jensen. Jensen is also run-ning his senior season, and Jensen is headed to Daven-port University following this season.

“Distance-wise, we’re look-ing really good. Lucas Sch-

wass is back for his senior season. And Ben Jensen. Both are stoked to run the mile and two mile for us,” Willis said.


SeniorS: Jarod Cobb, Noah Dobrzelewski, Taylor Follrath,

See BOyS TrACK, 9

Ludington boys track

Boys team swells to 50 members

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Ludington’s baseball team is going through a bit of a youth movement for this spring as only a handful of players are back from last season.

Those handful of players could pitch — from return-ing juniors Eric Friese and Nolan Stark as well as senior Connor Timinski — but Lud-ington graduated the bulk of its offensive production from last year.

Ludington returns Ryan Bowen, Taylor Follrath, Dylan Karlsen and Sam Ramirez to help lead the way and carry some of the load for this season.

“The nice thing is Ryan, Taylor and Dylan is that they will be in their third year be-cause they were up as soph-omores,” Ludington coach Rob Killips said. “Eric Friese has been with us for a year and half. He’s been up since halfway through his fresh-man year.”

Most of the victories on the mound were recorded by sophomores, Killips noted, and that’s something he’s glad to see return.

“Our pitching is back. Our offense, not so much,” he said.


SeniorS: Ryan Bowen, Taylor Follrath, Nick Gurizzian, Dylan Karlsen, Sam Ramirez and Con-nor Timinski.JuniorS: Jordan Bottrell,

Lucas Catron, Eric Friese, Andrew Gentry, Zachariah Gerovac, Hunter Habermehl, Ben Lamm, Jacob Lesinski, Nolan Meeker, Nolan Stark and Ben Strbich.SophomoreS: Jared Collins

and Austin McCarthy.

A large number of the

players are up from the ju-nior varsity from last sea-son. They’ll be called upon to help get the offense going during the season.

“We’re going to need the whole crew to contribute,” Killips said. “So little is known right now.”

Right after spring break, the Orioles were scheduled to play Manistee and Mason County Eastern with just a handful of days available for the entire team to prac-tice.

“We’ve got the two games with Manistee and Mason County Eastern the week we get back (from spring break),” Killips said before the week off.

The Orioles begin Lakes 8 Activities Conference play against Muskegon Catholic in Muskegon April 14. The Crusaders, new this sea-son to the Lakes 8, are a Di-vision 4 powerhouse and were ranked No. 2 in the coaches association’s pre-season poll.

“It’s hard to say, with so many new faces, who will do well. We have to see how it plays out,” Killips said. “Especially, with having not been outside, it’s hard to say. But the conference should be fairly competi-tive.

“Mount Pleasant moved into the district, and that’s an added challenge. It’s hard to predict.”

Ludington baseball

Orioles fielding young team in ’15

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newS PhotoSMembers of the Ludington baseball team are, sitting, from left, Jordan Bottrell, Austin McCarthy and Jared Collins; kneeling, Hunter Haberman, Samuel Ramirez, Connor Timinski, Nolan Meeker, Lucas Catron and Ben Lamm; standing, Dylan Karlsen, Nick Gurizzian, Ryan Bowen, Andrew Gentry, Eric Freese, Zach Gerovac, Jacob Lesinski and Taylor Follrath. Not pictured: Nolan Stark.

Ludington’s Ben Lamm looks to throw out a Manistee baserunner during the Orioles’ season opener last Wednesday.

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Ludington’s girls soccer team has built quite the ma-chine over the past four sea-sons.

The Orioles have been consistent winners and own district titles for that time. Ludington also has come fairly close to punch-ing through the regional round and on to the state semifinals.

All of that remains for Ludington this spring.

The Orioles have sever-al players back from last year’s team, including Jac-quelyn Lynch, a several time All-State selection and the team’s leading scorer.

“She’s excited about the possibilities this year,” An-derson said.

Amanda Payne, the Ori-oles’ keeper who was honor-able mention All-State, also returns for Ludington.

“She’s actually going to school in Boston to play next year,” he said.

Ludington also returns Kaylynn Battice, Kaitlin Bunce and Ashley Smith for their senior seasons while Kristen and Katie Reiben-bach return for their junior years.

There’s another returning player, though, that might be a bit of a surprise. That’s Madisyn Brockelbank.

Yes, Brockelbank.She moved to Oxford,

Ohio, with her family and played all-conference vol-leyball last fall at Talawanda High School, and is now back to Ludington. She will gradu-ate with her friends as well as play soccer with her team-mates.

“The plan was for her to come back,” Anderson said. “She wanted to gradu-ate with her classmates. She

came back for this last tri-mester. It’s good to have her back.”

The pipeline from the youth levels to the high school continues to yield good results. And that’s where the deep post-season runs to the regional tourna-ment have really aided Lud-ington’s girls soccer pro-gram.

“It’s good. When you talk about the districts, and those (junior varsity) play-ers, bringing those girls up at the end of the sea-son and having them prac-tice with us and get the feel to play in the districts and move on to regionals, the

whole post-season atmo-sphere, you can’t get that at the JV level,” Anderson said. “When they step in at the varsity level with us, they have that experience of how hard we work and what we’re after.”

One of those key players up from the junior varsity

team is Bethany Shay.“She’s one we’re going

to lean on a lot,” Anderson said. “She’s going to be up top with Jacquelyn. She’s in shape. She can run. She’s got speed. And, she’s probably going to have to take over for Jacquelyn when we lose Jacquelyn up top.

“It’s nice the two of them are there together. We’ve seen good things in practice from the two of them.”

Ludington still plays in a very tough conference that contains the likes of Spring Lake and Fruitport.

“Every year when you talk about our conference, you have to say Spring Lake right at top. Fruitport is second, but they graduated some seniors, and we were really close to them,” Anderson said. “We’re right there with them. We might be able to step into second.

“The girls are really com-mitted to competing with Spring Lake.”

The Orioles will get a chance to see some of their fellow schools assigned to the district in Big Rapids in-cluding the host Cardinals. And, the nonconference schedule also includes play-ing at Clare, where the re-gional tournament will be played.

“As far as the region, Che-boygan will be tough. Tra-verse City St. Francis, they flunctuate between Divi-sion 3 and Division 4. I think they’re back in Division 3. They will be tough,” Ander-son said. “Freeland could possibly make our region. That’s someone we have to look for.”

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Ludington girls soccer team are, front row, from left, Ashley Smith, Jordan Alberts, Jacquelyn Lynch, Bethany Shay, Maddie Brockelbank and Amanda Payne; middle row, Olivia Sekenske, Courtney Edwards, Jenna Keson, Katie Reidenbach, Temple Thompson, Kaitlin Bunce; back row, assistant Chris Edwards, Shelby Kraft, Rhianna Lynn, Cecilla Ruiz, Kristen Reidenbach, Makenzie Condit and coach Kris Anderson. Not pictured: Kaylynn Battice, Hannah Peterson, Lexy Sadler and Ali Plamondon.

Ludington girls soccer

Soccer team serious about big year

‘when (the junior varsity team steps) inat the varsity level with us, they havethat experience of how hard we workand what we’re after.’

Kris AndersonLudington girls soccer coach

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Ludington’s softball pro-gram is undergoing sweep-ing changes for the spring as there’s a new coach and a handful of new players for the Orioles.

The change at the top is Sierra Holmes. She takes over for Jim Klug as the head coach and she’s being helped out by her dad, Joe.

“I’m excited and they are a pretty young group,” Sier-ra Holmes said. “But I know these girls and I teach them. It’s fun to spend some time with them in a different en-vironment and see what they can do.”

The Orioles return just six players from last year’s team that only had two seniors. Audra Sides, who pitched much of last season, is the sole returning senior from last season. This will be Sides’ fourth season on the varsity softball team.

Stephanie Sniegowski, Ala-na Young and Zoe Lange are back for their junior years while Ryan Mackowicki and Breanna Lange played as freshmen last season and re-turn.

“I expect all of our kids to lead in whatever way that makes sense for them,” Hol-mes said. “I think we have a lot of kids with that person-ality on this team. We have a lot of kids that can influence teammates. They all bring something different.

“I’m going to expect that out of all of them, whether they are upperclassmen or underclassmen.”

Holmes is instructing the Orioles to learn as much as they can about each of the positions there are in soft-ball. There is some thoughts as to who will fill in some po-sitions, she said, but not ev-

erything is completely deter-mined.

“Until we settle in, and de-termine who’s going to be where, I want them to learn as much as they can,” she said. “They’ve been really good about that.”


SeniorS: Anna Bush, Annah Prys and Audra Sides.JuniorS: Zoe Lange, Stephanie

Sniegowski, Lauren Totten, Alexandra Wright and Alana Young.SophomoreS: Ruby Henrick-

son, Breanna Lange and Ryan Mackowicki.

Holmes once played for Ludington and she’s looking forward to making her mark from the dugout guiding to-day’s Orioles.

“I approach it the same as I would anywhere. These kids deserve the best that I have,” she said. “Some days will be better than others. I want to do the best I can for them because I’m with them everyday and I see them ev-eryday.”

Ludington started the season April 8 with games against Manistee. The Ori-oles begin Lakes 8 Activities Conference play Tuesday with a doubleheader at Mus-kegon Catholic.

Holmes did watch some

of the Orioles games last spring, but said she didn’t know enough of the league to offer a prediction.

“We have to beat the teams we should beat. We want to beat the teams we are able to beat. If a team is head-and-shoulders above you, that’s one thing,” Holmes said. “But, we have to beat the teams we should beat. If we do that, we’re going to have good results.”

Ludington softball

Sweeping changes for softball

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Ludington softball team are, kneeling, from left, Ruby Henrickson, Audra Sides, Annah Prys and Anna Bush; standing, Alana Young, Stephanie Sniegowski, Zoe Lange, Alexandra Wright and Breanna Lange. Not pictured: Ryan Makowicki and Lauren Totten.

‘until we settle in, and determine who’s going to be where, i want them to learn as much as they can. they’ve been really good about that.’

Sierra HolmesLudington softball coach

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Ludington’s girls tennis program has adjusted to the bright lights of the MHSAA state tournament.

Now, Ludington coach Tom Kudwa and the Orioles are aiming for much more than being satisfied with a berth in the state tennis tournament.

“I think they have a great-er vision this year than last year. I don’t think they saw the potential that was there,” Kudwa said. “As it unfolded, we were like, ‘Oh my God, we belong here.’ Maybe, too, for the coaching. You start to look around and this is re-ally a stronger group than in the past.”

Where exactly is that con-fidence coming from? It’s the showing Ludington had at last season’s state tour-nament in Fenton last year in Division 4. The Orioles return the defending state champions at No. 2 doubles — Olivia Laman and Brooke Schneider — and one half of the state semifinalist No. 1 doubles player, Stephanie Kelly.

All three were named All-State last season.

Also back are the state runners-up at No. 3 doubles of Julia Maltbie and Claire Flewelling.

That’s plenty of room for confidence, then.

“We’ve got a good core back. We’ve got a good core back at both singles and doubles,” Kudwa said. “Right now, there’s a good amount of competition among the three top singles players. I think they’ve narrowed the gap between what there was between them last year. We’ll see how that plays out.”


SeniorS: Stephanie Kelly, Olivia Laman, Lauren Markham and Brooke Schneider.JuniorS: Claire Flewelling, Ju-

leah Harms, Skylar Korendyke, Julia Maltbie, Megan Scott and Kelsey Wallace.Sophomore: Kennedi Killips.FreShmen: Erin Maltbie, Emily

Markham and Kamryn Wallace.

The Orioles also return Lauren Markham, Megan Scott, Kelsey Wallace and Kennedi Killips. Markham played at No. 2 singles last season and Wallace was No. 3 singles. Scott was paired with Kayela Wallace last sea-son at No. 4 doubles. Killips played at No. 4 singles.

Should Ludington reach

the state tournament, it will be the third consecutive year for each of the return-ees except for Killips, who will be at her second tour-nament.

“Right now three fresh-men are holding down these positions. We’ve got some youth down there, but we’ve got some kids who none of

which are (U.S. Tennis Asso-ciation) players, but who are pretty good athletes,” Kud-wa said. “I think they have great role models in front of them.

“All three are younger sis-ters of other players,” he continued. “Not only does it help to watch their sis-ters, but they have a great-er sense of what it takes and what it means to be on a tennis team. Their par-ents have a greater sense.”

The Orioles did lose a handful of players, includ-ing Sam MacDonnell at No. 1 singles and Gabe Kelly at No. 1 doubles. Ludington has ad-justed for those losses with Markham, Wallace and Kil-

lips each moving up a slot and freshman Kamryn Wal-lace playing at No. 4 singles.

Laman and Schneider are up to No. 1 doubles while Stephanie Kelly is paired with Flewelling at No. 2 dou-bles. Maltbie is now paired with Emily Markham, an in-coming freshman, at No. 3 doubles. Newcomer Erin Maltbie and veteran Megan Scott are together at No. 4 doubles.

That leaves the lofty ex-pectations the program has for itself. The Orioles enter the Coastal Conference sea-son as the defending league champions as well as one of the top Division 4 schools in this region of the state.

Ludington expects that, and more.

Kudwa expects Spring Lake, North Muskegon and Whitehall to be the challeng-ers for the league champion-ship this spring.

“I like having those extra teams in the league, and hav-ing an eight-team league,” he said. “It’s going to help us because that’s not our greatest goal. It used to be our greatest goal, but I think we’re looking for more.

“We’re looking for May 30,” he continued, referring to the final day of the two-day MHSAA state tourna-ment this year in Holland. “Everything is about May 30.”

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Ludington girls tennis team are, kneeling, from left, Skylar Korendyke, Emily Markham, Kamryn Wallace, Megan Scott and Claire Flewelling; stand-ing, coach Tom Kudwa, Erin Maltbie, Olivia Laman, Lauren Markham, Brooke Schneider, Kelsey Wallace, Stephanie Kelly, Julia Maltbie, Kennedi Killips, Julia Harms and assistant Wayne Kelly.

Ludington girls tennis

Reaching state tourney not enough

‘we’re looking for May 30. Everything is about May 30.’

Tom KudwaLudington girls tennis coach

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How exactly can a team that finished fourth in the state and returns nearly ev-ery player be even better?

It happened for Luding-ton’s boys golf team.

Each of the six golfers that participated in the MH-SAA Division 3 state finals last year at The Meadows at Grand Valley State Univer-sity returns for Ludington — Chase Lakari, Race An-dersen, Ethan Leavitt, Jacob Harrie, Jacobb Juska and Ryan Foley — are back.

And Ludington added Spencer Hackert, who al-ready is signed to play golf at Division II Cedarville Uni-versity in Ohio.

“Last year, we weren’t sure how good we were,” Lud-ington coach Andrew Wood said. “We knew we could play and compete. I don’t know if we even knew at that level, though, with taking fourth in the state.

“It creates some drive, it creates some confidence, but it also creates pressure. We’ll see how they respond to that. Hopefully, they want that and will thrive on that.”

Certainly, Ludington has a wealth of experience from playing at the state tourna-ment last season. Should the Orioles reach the state tour-nament again this spring, it would be the third time in three seasons for senior Race Andersen.

For junior Ethan Leavitt, it would be his third con-secutive state appearence. He reached the state tour-nament as an individual his freshman year, and he fol-lowed it up with a ninth place finish at last year’s state tournament overall.

And junior Chase Lakari has been right there in the

past few seasons as one of the best golfers on the Ori-oles, too.

“It was big last year, and we got six guys in last year in the five-man tournament,” Wood said. “We split one of the spots one of those two days. We’ve got six guys that have played and played on a tough course.”

That leaves Hackert. Hack-ert played the past four years at Meade County High School in Brandenburg, Ky., where golf is played in the fall, not the spring. Last fall, before moving back to Lud-ington, he finished in a tie

for 10th in the regional tour-nament. In his junior year, Hackert reached the state tournament with his team-mates in the fall of 2013.


SeniorS: Race Andersen, Spen-cer Hackert and Jacob Harrie.JuniorS: Joshua Johnson,

Jacobb Juska, Chase Lakari and Ethan Leavitt.SophomoreS: Ryan Foley,

Quinn Phelps and Cooper Wojcicki.FreShmen: Wyatt Collins, Zach-

ary Genter and Kaleb Hatch.

Because of the depth and

quality of players for the Ori-oles, the competition just to represent Ludington on the course will be tough.

“We could have, once we get things going and a cou-ple of guys improve a little bit, we could have five guys battling for the last three spots,” Wood said. “That’s going to make it even better.

“Even at the top, it’s go-ing to create more competi-tion. They all feel like they’re No. 1, and they probably are. They don’t want to play (No.) 3 or 4. They want to play No. 1. That competition just makes everyone better.”

Ludington still has to con-tend with Spring Lake in the conference championship race. But the Orioles are defi-nitely aiming to have the title.

“We should win. That’s not an ego thing. We have guys that are capable of play-ing really well,” Wood said. “We’ve got a couple that ear-ly on that won’t be here for a few different reasons, but we’ve got other guys that can step up.

“Spring Lake is always good, always there. But we’ve got the guys, if they play up to their potential, we should do that.”

One thing that finishing fourth in the state has done, though, is that a big target is now on Ludington. And that’s exactly what Wood is looking for.

“Hopefully, as we go to tournaments, people will say, ‘Oh, Ludington’s here,’” he said. “And that’s differ-ent than, ‘Who’s Ludington? Where’s that school?’

“We’ve talked about it and we’ve tried to build it last year. We’ve always thought we were good and last year, we showed that we are. Now, hopefully people are start-ing to take notice.”

jeff KIeSSel | daiLy newSMembers of the Ludington boys golf team are, kneeling, from left, Jacobb Juska, Quinn Phelps, Chase Lakari, Ethan Leavitt, Wyatt Collins and Kaleb Hatch; standing, Ryan Foley, Zach Genter, Connor Loney, Cooper Wojcicki, Spencer Hackert, Josh Johnson and coach Andrew Wood. Not pictured: Race Andersen and Jacob Harrie.

Ludington boys golf

2015 could be best season yet

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frOm pAge 3

:Fabian Geistert, Eric Janowiak, Ben Jensen, Allen Keffer, Lu-ciano Maniaci, Alexander Pohl, Chase Ray, Griffin Ray, Nicholas Richert, Luke Schwass, Caleb Shillinger, Andrea Tietz and Bennett Wojcicki. JuniorS: Kevin Brinkman,

Aidan Brown, Trenton Dalm, Rolando Garcia, Jared Murphy, Duran Navarro, Antonio Ramirez, Zac Schoon and Nolan Stark.SophomoreS: Troy Althaus,

Austin Ernst, Kyle Gracia, Ran-dall Johnson, Devin Mendez, Ian Nash, David Ritter, Martin Torres, Ethan Tucker and Sam Tucker.FreShmen: Jared Garten,

Anthony Gomez, Joseph Hatch, Ben Knoer, Zach McMaster, Zach Peterson, Caleb Schoon, John Siegert, Anthony Tenney, Josh Torres and David Wingate.

Ludington lost its sole state-qualifier from last season, Matt Ritter, who is now running for Oakland University. Also gone are twins Chase and Remington Rohrer from the hurdles and throwing events, and it’s the hurdles events where Lud-ington, despite its size, will need to shore up.

“We’re solid across the board. If we’re weak at all, where I’m going to have to figure it out, we lost Chase and Remy in last year with hurdles,” Willis said. “Those were big points. They were studs. We’re going to have to come up with something new there with hurdles.”

Still having 50-plus ath-letes is going to help.

“We have a lot of new-comers this year. We have a roster of over 50. We’ll see after eligibility comes out and who is still with us af-ter these first few weeks of workouts.

Having a large number of athletes to fill out a lineup is one thing. Exactly where Ludington will fall is another question. The Orioles, with fewer athletes, challenged Fruitport for the Lakes 8 Ac-

tivities Conference title. The Trojans remain a target for Ludington.

“We have the army behind us, but do we have the hors-es? Right now, I’d lie to you if I haven’t looked at Fruit-port,” Willis said. “Fruitport is solid again. Of course, they have numbers. We’re a much smaller school than Fruitport, but Fruitport is the frontrunner, and we’ll give our best shot at it.”

Ludington again heads south for its MHSAA Divi-sion 2 regional. The Orioles were sent to Coopersville last year and this year, with much of the same field, they will head to Allendale. The state final is being hosted in Zeeland.

And it’s the host Dux and Chix that are drawing the at-tention of Willis.

“Zeeland is the power-house. I said to the kids, ‘Why not measure yourself against your best?’The beau-tiful thing about track is you measure yourself against a clock. So, if you can’t beat somebody based on they’re better than you, you have a clock that you race against. If you can qualify on time, that works as well,” Willis said.

“I told the kids, let’s not worry about that. Let’s have fun.”

VArSITy BASeBAllTue., April 14, at Muskegon Catholic,

4 p.m.Wed., April 15, Newaygo, 4 p.m.Fri., April 17, Fruitport, 4 p.m.Tue., April 21, at Fremont, 4 p.m.Wed., April 22, Howard City Tri-County

at Fifth Third Field, Comstock Park, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, Whitehall, 4 p.m.Fri., April 24, Orchard View, 4 p.m.Tue., April 28, at Spring Lake, 4 p.m.Fri., May 1, Muskegon CatholicSat., May 2, at Briggs True Value tour-

nament, 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, at Fruitport, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, at Shelby, 4 p.m.Fri., May 8, Fremont, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at Orchard View, 4 p.m.Fri., May 15, Spring Lake, 4 p.m.Sat., May 16, at Orchard View tourna-

ment, 9 a.m.

junIOr VArSITy BASeBAllTue., April 14, Muskegon Catholic, 4 p.m.Wed., April 15, at Newaygo, 4 p.m.Fri., April 17, at Fruitport, 4 p.m.Tue., April 21, Fremont, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, at Whitehall, 4 p.m.Fri., April 24, at Orchard View, 4 p.m.Tue., April 28, Spring Lake, 4 p.m.Fri., May 1, at Muskegon Catholic, 4 p.m.Tue., May 5, Fruitport, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, Shelby, 4 p.m.Fri., May 8, at Fremont, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, Orchard View, 4 p.m.Fri., May 15, at Spring Lake, 4 p.m.

BOyS gOlfWed., April 15, at Lakes 8 jamboree,

Muskegon Catholic, 3:30 p.m.Wed., April 22, at Lakes 8 jamboree, Or-

chard View, 3:30 p.m.Fri., April 24, Ludington Invitational,

9:30 a.m.Mon., April 27, at Shelby Invitational,

1 p.m.Tue., April 28, Lakes 8 jamboree, 3:30

p.m.Wed., April 29, at Manistee, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Ranger Invitational, For-

est Hills Central, 8:30 a.m.Mon., May 4, at Trojan Invitational, Tra-

verse City Central, 9 a.m.Wed., May 6, at Lakes 8 jamboree,

Spring Lake, 3:30 p.m.Fri., May 8, at Bulldog Birdie Invita-

tional, Ferris State University, Big Rapids, 9 a.m.

Mon., May 11, at Tullymore Invitational, Big Rapids, 8:30 a.m.

Wed., May 13, at Lakes 8 jamboree, Fruitport, 1:15 p.m.

Thur., May 14, at Mona Shores (junior varsity only)

Sat., May 16, at Cardinals Invitational, Big Rapids, 9 a.m.

Mon., May 18, at Mona Shores Invita-tional, 9 a.m.

Wed., May 20, at Lakes 8 jamboree, Fre-mont, 3:30 p.m.

VArSITy gIrlS SOCCerMon., April 13, at Cadillac, 7 p.m.Wed., April 15, Muskegon Catholic, 7 p.m.Thur., April 16, at Manistee, 6 p.m.Mon., April 20, at Fruitport, 7 p.m.Wed., April 22, at Fremont, 6 p.m.Sat., April 25, Ludington Invite, 10 a.m.Mon., April 27, Orchard View, 7 p.m.Wed., April 29, Spring Lake, 7 p.m.Fri., May 1, at Whitehall, 6 p.m.Mon., May 4, at Muskegon Catholic,

5:30 p.m.Wed., May 6, Fruitport, 7 p.m.Mon., May 11, Fremont, 7 p.m.Wed., May 13, at Orchard View, 6 p.m.Fri., May 15, at Oakridge, 7 p.m.Mon., May 18, at Spring Lake, 7 p.m.Fri., May 22, Big Rapids, 7 p.m.

junIOr VArSITy gIrlS SOCCerMon., April 13, at Cadillac, 5 p.m.Wed., April 15, Brethren, 5 p.m.Mon., April 20, at Fruitport, 5 p.m.Wed., April 22, at Fremont, 4 p.m.Mon., April 27, Orchard View, 5 p.m.Wed., April 29, Spring Lake, 5 p.m.Fri., May 1, at Whitehall, 4:30 p.m.Wed., May 6, Fruitport, 5 p.m.Mon., May 11, Fremont, 5 p.m.Wed., May 13, at Orchard View, 4 p.m.Sat., May 16, Ludington JV Invite, 10 a.m.Mon., May 18, at Spring Lake, 5 p.m.Fri., May 22, Big Rapids, 5 p.m.

VArSITy SOfTBAllTue., April 14, at Muskegon Catholic,

4 p.m.Wed., April 15, Newaygo, 4 p.m.Fri., April 17, Fruitport, 4 p.m.Sat., April 18, Whitehall at Softball

World, MuskegonTue., April 21, at Fremont, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, Whitehall, 4 p.m.Fri., April 24, Orchard View, 4 p.m.Tue., April 28, at Spring Lake, 4 p.m.Fri., May 1, Muskegon Catholic, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Briggs True Value Invita-

tional, 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, at Fruitport, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, at Shelby, 4 p.m.Fri., May 8, Fremont, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at Muskegon Orchard

View, 4 p.m.Fri., May 15, Spring Lake, 4 p.m.Sat., May 16, at Orchard View tourna-

ment, 9 a.m.

junIOr VArSITy SOfTBAllWed., April 15, at Newaygo, 4 p.m.Fri., April 17, at Fruitport, 4 p.m.Sat., April 18, at Shelby Invite, 9 a.m.Tue., April 21, Fremont, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, at Whitehall, 4 p.m.Fri., April 24, at Orchard View, 4 p.m.Tue., April 28, Spring Lake, 4 p.m.Tue., May 5, Fruitport, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, Shelby, 4 p.m.Fri., May 8, at Fremont, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, Orchard View, 4 p.m.Fri., May 15, at Spring Lake, 4 p.m.

VArSITy gIrlS TennISMon., April 13, at Fruitport, 4 p.m.Wed., April 15, at Fremont, 4 p.m.Sat., April 18, at Portland Classic, 9 a.m.Mon., April 20, Western Michigan Chris-

tian, 4 p.m.Wed., April 22, at North Muskegon, 4

p.m.Sat., April 25, at Tiger Invitational, Alle-

gan, 9 a.m.Mon., April 27, Spring Lake, 4 p.m.Wed., April 29, at Whitehall, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, Ludington Invite, 9 a.m.Mon., May 4, Grant, 4 p.m.Tue., May 5, Ludington quad, 10:30 a.m.Sat., May 9, Coastal Conference cham-

pionships, 9 a.m.Tue., May 12, Ludington tri., noon.

junIOr VArSITy gIrlS TennISMon., April 13, Fruitport, 4 p.m.Wed., April 15, at Traverse City Central,

4:15 p.m.Wed., April 22, Muskegon Catholic, 4 p.m.Sat., April 25, Ludington Invite, 9 a.m.Mon., April 27, Spring Lake, 4 p.m.Wed., April 29, Reeths-Puffer, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Northwoods Invitational,

Traverse City Central, 9 a.m.Mon., May 4, Grant, 4 p.m.

TrACK AnD fIelDTue., April 14, Ice Breaker Tri-Meet, 3:45

p.m.Thur., April 16, Fruitport, 3:45 p.m.Fri., April 17, at Rocket Invitational,

Reeths-Puffer, 1 p.m.Tue., April 21, at Orchard View, 3:45 p.m.Fri., April 24, at Scottville Optimist Invi-

tational, 3 p.m.Tue., April 28, Lakes 8 double duals,

3:45 p.m.Sat., May 2, at West Ottawa Relays, 8:30

a.m.Tue., May 5, Muskegon Catholic, 3:45

p.m.Fri., May 8, Lakes 8 meet, 2 p.m.Mon., May 18, at Squire JV InvitationalWed., May 20, at West Michigan Meijer

Invitational, Reeths-Puffer, 3:30 p.m.

Ludington schedules BOyS tRacK: Team has 50

‘we have the army behind us, but do we have the horses? Right now, i’d lie to you if i haven’t looked at Fruitport. Fruitport is solid again. of course, they have numbers.’

mark WillisLudington boys track coach

10


By greg gIelCZyKdaiLy newS SPoRtS wRiteR

MANISTEE — Annie Fuller is going for a four-peat this season in the 800-meter run after winning her third con-secutive Division 3 state championship in the event a year ago when she domi-nated the competition in a shockingly easy victory at Comstock Park.

But that was only the main course. Fuller also sprinkled in an appetizer by captur-

ing her second consecutive 1,600-meter title. It was an-other race that really wasn’t much of a challenge for the Chippewas’ star.

Oh, she briefly trailed Clare freshman Jasmine Harper after she had taken the lead in the second lap.

Fuller pulled back into the lead in the gun lap, getting separation from Harper over the final 400 meters and breaking the tape at the fin-ish line in a personal record time to solidify her domi-

nance of the event.With five state champion-

ships to her credit already, Fuller is the most decorated athlete individual athlete in Manistee High history and if she can stay healthy for her senior season, she should only add to her outstanding resume.

But she wasn’t alone.Jessica Gustad also shined

for the Chippewas at the state finals, bringing home three medals. She overcame an early mistake to take fifth

place in the 300-meter hur-dles which earned her All-State recognition.

Ashley Lindeman got off to a slow start last season, running a 6:05 in her first 1,600-meter race at Central Michigan University in late March which she was only too aware wouldn’t be good enough for All-State.

She improved from there, though, and finished with a seventh place at the state fi-nals for the second consecu-tive year and then ran a leg

on the 1,600-meter relay that brought home a bronze medal for third.

While she also qualified for state in the 3,200 meters, Lindeman was scratched from that event to save her for the relay as all the ath-letes tried to keep their strength in the 86-degree heat.

The Chippewas’ third place finish as a team was the best in program history.

“We’re looking to build on the success from last year

for the girls,” coach Mike Mc-Guire said. “We’ve got some pretty talented kids right now that are working out. We were third last year, and we’re looking to improve upon that.

“We have some pretty lofty goals, but we think they’re realistic. Annie ran a 5:09 mile (at CMU) and a 4:59 down at Grand Valley a cou-ple weeks ago, so she’s in great shape right now. Jess

See SeASOn, 14

greg gIelCZyK | daiLy newSMembers of Manistee High’s track team are, sitting, from left, Tai Allen, Tyler Peck, Elliott Kamaloski, Logan Guenthardt, Bryce Cameron, Rudy Linke and Alvaro Sarabia, Jr.; kneeling, Claudia Tomm, Natalee Kott, Maggie Blevins, Roja Baumann, Sofia Quinto, Emilee Kott, Audrey Padilla and Hayleigh Codden; standing, coach Mike McGuire, Hugo Xu, Bryan Wandrych, Jacob Gustad, Johan Thomsen, Carter Eckhardt, Kyle Schaubroeck, Jessica Gustad, Anthony Lind and Ethan Engwall. Not pictured: Andrew Pierson, Blade Gates, Chase Janis, Cody Gutowski, Connor Madsen, David Bottrell, Jake Williams, Albert Ault, Annie Fuller, Ashley Lindeman, Ashley Peddie, Emma Burns, Grace Chandler, Hannah Gutowski, Jody Fuller, Jordan Jarvis, Laura Kane, Leah Christianson, Nicole Morski, Sydney Williams, Taylor Antal, Taylor Williams and Tegan Wayward.

Manistee track and field

Great season awaits for track

11

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MANISTEE — Although there are good numbers for the Manistee High girls ten-nis team this spring with 16 total on the roster, only sev-en of them saw appreciable court time last year which also presents a challenge for coach Matt Froncek.

Some of the girls attended the Manistee Recreation As-sociation Tennis Camp in the summer, and won’t be com-ing in totally unfamiliar with how to properly hold and swing a racket. But there’s still a lot of work to be done.

Froncek recognizes that even with summer tennis camp experience, the new-comers are still awfully green and will need to be brought up to varsity speed. How quickly they do will de-termine how successful the Chippewas will be.

With all of that inexpe-rience Manistee caught a break with the weather as the Chippewas were able to clear off the Eighth Street courts so they could get outside for practice before spring break intervened.

In addition to that, the temperatures actually were on the milder side so when the courts were shoveled off, the snow melted and made

for even more room.That’s a welcome change

from the last couple of sea-sons when the Chippewas weren’t able to get outside

until the matches started, and with eight freshmen on the team this year Froncek counted his blessings.

Other than the No. 1 dou-

bles flight, none of the start-ing positions were chiseled in stone as the team headed into the spring break. Play-offs were planned once ev-

eryone returned from va-cation to determine all the other flights.

Manistee’s roster:

SeniorS: Mary Meshraky, Caro-line Kessler, Maddy Wilson and Mackenzie Kaminski.

See TennIS, 14

Manistee girls tennis

Inexperience poses challenges

greg gIelCZyK | daiLy newSMembers of the Manistee High girls tennis team are, kneeling, from left, Elexis Fisk, Leah Snyder, Emily Morin, Ali Stocki, Trinity Herbert, Kellie Raczkowski and Kellie Nemitz; standing, coach Matt Froncek, Caroline Kessler, Maddy Wilson, Hope Slawinski, Mary Meshraky, Emilie Clausen, Mikaela Kolk, Sarah Sheathelm and assistant Amanda Clemens. Not pictured: Mackenzie Kaminski.

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12



MANISTEE — Taking over a team that’s had great suc-cess doesn’t intimidate Paul Maksym any at all because he’s been a winner in the past, and he sees no reason why that shouldn’t continue in the future.

Stepping in to replace De-nise Lijewski as the Manistee High girls softball coach after she guided the Chippewas to a couple of district champi-onships might make anyone else quake, but Maksym has known success in the past in his first go-round as the Chip-pewas coach so he has confi-dence to spare.

After a brief glance at the hand he’s been dealt, Maksym

believes the Chippewas can round into shape in time for the districts. Since the Chip-pewas are an independent, they can go hunting for the best teams they can get on their schedule.

“We’ve got a good, com-petitive bunch of girls here,” Maksym said a few days pri-or to spring break when the bulk of his team would be leaving on vacations with their families. “I see a lot of talent.

“We have a lot of under-classmen who are decent, and we have a good bunch of girls here who are dedicated to the sport. A lot of them have spent the extra time since January working on their hitting, throwing and fielding.

“I’m hoping we’re compet-itive this year. That’s what we want, for them to be com-petitive.”

But the Chippewas lost some key pieces from last year, especially in the pitch-er’s circle, and there’s no question Maksym has some holes to fill.

Maksym has some pros-pects to fill that position, though, in junior Macken-zie Thompson and senior Frankie Jans. Jans is the only senior on the team, so Maksym will be counting on the juniors for leadership.

The Chippewas’ roster:

Senior: Frankie Jans.JuniorS: Mackenzie Thomp-

son, Allie Zimmerman, Emily Thompson, Sydney Kruwell,

Kelsey Harrigan, Rylee Eck-hardt, Sinead McCann, Taylor Wilhoit, Megan Gutowski and Katie Jacobi.Sophomore: Nicole Zimmer-

man.FreShmen: Carly Schmeling

and Sara Schaefer.

“I think we have some ex-cellent team chemistry with these girls,” Maksym said. “They really seem to get along, and are a good bunch of girls. Some of the juniors moved up from the (junior varsity) squad, and a couple of them are transfers from another sport.

“They are coachable and they are good kids. They seem to love the sport. We’ve managed to get out-side twice, throwing the ball,

hitting grounders and hit-ting fly balls to them. They haven’t seen live pitching yet.”

Maksym is looking at sev-eral girls to fill the infield spots, including juniors Al-lie Zimmerman, Sydney Kru-well, Kelsey Harrigan, Sinead McCann, Megan Gutowski and Rylee Eckhardt as well as sophomore Nicole Zim-merman and freshman Carly Schmeling.

Schmeling and Nicole Zim-merman will also see some time in the circle as Maksym builds pitching depth.

From what he saw in the batting cage before the team could get outside more of-ten, Maksym thinks hitting will be a strength for the Chippewas.

“I don’t consider our de-fense a weakness,” he add-ed. “It needs some fine tun-ing. I think we’re going to make some noise this year. Our defense will definite-ly be able to keep us in the game. I want to get them out-side and have the pitchers throwing to them.

“We have Allie Zimmerman and MacKenzie (Thompson) coming back and I’m looking for big things from them at the plate. We brought a ninth grader up this year, Sara Schaefer. With the proper grooming, I think she’s real-ly going to make some noise. She hits the ball very hard.

“All I’m telling the girls is to swing fast, and they’re doing well. They’re learning quick.”

Manistee softball

Maksym looks ahead to coaching

greg gIelCZyK | daiLy newSMembers of Manistee High girls softball team are, kneeling, from left, Megan Gutowski, Frankie Jans, Rylee Eckhardt, Allie Zimmerman, Emily Thompson and Sydney Kruwell; standing, assistant Jim Thompson, assistant Dave Lijewski, Kelsey Harrigan, Nicole Zimmerman, Taylor Wilhoit, Sara Schaefer, Mackenzie Thompson, Katie Jo Jacobi, Carly Schmeling, Sinead McCann, Heather Hansen and coach Paul Makysm.

13

Monday, aPRiL 13, 2015 | Ludington daiLy newS/SPRing SPoRtS |13www.ludingtondailynews.com


MANISTEE — Coach Rudy Guillen is enthusiastic about the prospects for the Man-istee High girls soccer team this season, both because of the number of players he has on the roster as well as their potential.

Despite the cold weather during the first week or so of practice before spring break, Guillen had the Chippewas working out outside on the field behind the school and he was excited about what he saw.

“They’re all looking pretty promising, and that’s always

nice to see starting off the season,” Guillen said. “Having 10 returning from last year is a big plus. Those were 10 core positions that they played and that should make us pret-ty strong this season.”

Olivia Vadeboncoeur’s season was cut short by in-jury last season, and Guil-len admits that he was con-cerned about her being a little hesitant when practice started.

But those fears proved to be unfounded.

“She’s right in the mix, and working hard, practic-ing hard,” Guillen said. “It’s nice to see that the group that is returning is ready to

go. There’s probably one or two spots that we’ll be work-ing on throughout the sea-son, but I think our front line is going to be strong with Ol-ivia back, and Mallory (Ste-fanski) out there.”

Manistee should have depth in the midfield with Sophie Shriver, Alexis For-syth and Georgia Hiipakka providing strong leadership up there.

The defensive back line has always been pretty strong, and returning soph-omore Briana Larsen had a solid year in net for the Chippewas being named All-District goalie.

“She played every game,

so she got a lot of experi-ence there,” Guillen added. “Savanna (Hiipakka) is in her fourth year and she’s played every game. I think there’s going to be a lot of strength back there.”


SeniorS: Sophie Shriver, Mal-lory Stefanski, Billie Gajew-ski, Olivia Vadeboncoeur and Savanna Hiipakka.JuniorS: Shyann Ronning,

Gabby Applegarth, Mackenzie Wittlieff, Georgia Hiipakka and Briana Larsen.FreShmen: Erin Coe, Alexis

Forsyth, Lexie Adams, Billie Gajewski, Lindsie Adams, Sierra Valencia, Hannah Stuck, Heidi

Feliczak, Tatum Liston, Haley Harland, Joelle Bartynski, Haley Anderson and Chloe Pepera.

As for being tested in the regular season, Manistee is going to be challenged right out of the gate with games against Leland, Whitehall and Ludington to kick things off.

“It’s going to be interest-ing to see where we’re at and how we gauge ourselves starting out,” Guillen said. “Like I say, it’s a long season and it gives us an opportuni-ty to look at our pluses and minuses and work on what we need to fix.

“Right now we’re looking for our core group to push

out the momentum and see where we’re at. I have a freshman that seems eager to see if she can play goalie, but she’s young and needs to gain experience.”

Guillen has 12 freshmen on the roster who are all anx-ious to play, which is a good sign for the future but pres-ents an interesting challenge right now as the Chippewas are looking to improve on their win total from a year ago.

Not competing in a confer-ence, the Chippewas must gear up for the district tour-nament and have yet to en-joy much success in the postseason.

Manistee girls soccer

10 return to pitch for chippewas

greg gIelCZyK | daiLy newSMembers of Manistee High’s girls soccer team are, front row, from left, Mercedes Forsyth, Erin Coe, Alexis Forsyth, Lexie Adams, Mallory Stefanski, Sophie Shriver, Billie Gajewski, Lindsie Adams, Si-erra Valencia and Hannah Stuck; back row, Heidi Feliczak, Shyann Ronning, Tatum Liston, Makenzie Wittlieff, Georgia Hiipakka, Haley Harland, Olivia Vadeboncoeur, Joelle Bartynski, Haley Anderson, Chloe Pepera, Savanna Hiipakka, Briana Larsen and Gabby Applegarth.

14


gIrlS SOCCerMon., April 13, Whitehall, 6 p.m.Thur., April 16, Ludington, 6 p.m.Mon., April 20, at Traverse City Bull-

dogs, 5 p.m.Thur., April 23, Fremont, 6 p.m.Fri., April 24, at Maple City Glen Lake,

5 p.m.Thur., April 30, Brethren, 5:30 p.m.Fri., May 1, at North Muskegon, 6 p.m.Mon., May 4, Mason County Central, 5

p.m.Thur., May 7, at Hart, 5 p.m.Fri., May 8, Kingsley, 6 p.m.Mon., May 11, Big Rapids, 6 p.m.Sat., May 16, Suttons Bay, 11 a.m.Tue., May 19, at Mason County Eastern,

5 p.m.Thur., May 21, at Shelby, 4:30 p.m.

TrACK AnD fIelDTue., April 14, at Ludington, 3;45 p.m.Fri., April 17, at Ithaca, 4 p.m.Fri., April 24, at Scottville Optimist In-

vitationalMon., April 27, at Benzie Central, 3 p.m.Fri., May 1, at Kenn Bell at Traverse City,

noonFri., May 8, at Manton, 3 p.m.Tue., May 19, at Comstock ParkFri., May 22, at Ferris State

BOyS gOlfMon., April 13, Mason County Eastern

and McBain Northern Michigan Christian, 4 p.m.

Tue., April 14, at Manton, 9:30 a.m.Fri., April 17, Mason County Central, 4

p.m.Wed., April 22, at Cadillac, 9:30 a.m.Fri., April 24, at Ludington Invitational,

9:30 a.m.Mon., April 27, Onekama and Bear

Lake, 4 p.m.Wed., April 29, Ludington, 4 p.m.Fri., May 1, at Lake City, 9 a.m.Thur., May 7, at Muskegon Catholic, 4

p.m.Fri., May 8, at Mason County Central,

9 a.m.Mon., May 11, at Big Rapids, 8:30 a.m.Thur., May 14, at Mona Shores, 8:30

a.m.Fri., May 15, at Remus Chippewa Hills,

9:30 a.m.

gIrlS TennISTue., April 14, at Traverse City West, 4

p.m.Thur., April 16, at Traverse City Central,

3 p.m.Tue., April 21, Big Rapids, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, Traverse City Christian,

4:30 p.m.Mon., April 27, at Muskegon Catholic,

4 p.m.Thur., April 30, at Big Rapids, 4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Traverse City Central (ju-

nior varsity), 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, at Ludington, 11 a.m.Thur., May 7, at Fremont, 4 p.m.Mon., May 11, Muskegon Catholic, 4

p.m.

VArSITy BASeBAllWed., April 15, LeRoy Pine River, 4 p.m.Thur., April 16, at Benzie Central, 4 p.m.Mon., April 20, Kingsley, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, at Hart, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, Mason County Central,

4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Briggs True-Value Tour-

nament at Mason County Central, 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, at Cadillac, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, Mason County Eastern,

4 p.m.Fri., May 8, at Montague, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at Traverse City Central,

4 p.m.Fri., May 15, at Frankfort, 4:30 p.m.Sat., May 16, Benzie Central, Mason

County Central and Reeths-Puffer at 350 Club Invitational, 10 a.m.

Mon., May 18, at Big Rapids, 4 p.m.Tue., May 19, at Pentwater, 4:30 p.m.Thur., May 21, at Traverse City West, 4

p.m.

junIOr VArSITy BASeBAllWed., April 15, at LeRoy Pine River, 4:30

p.m.Thur., April 16, Benzie Central, 4 p.m.Mon., April 20, at Kingsley, 4:30 p.m.Thur., April 23, Hart, 4 p.m.

Thur., April 30, at Mason County Cen-tral, 4 p.m.

Tue., May 5, Cadillac, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, at Onekama, 4:30 p.m.Fri., May 8, Montague, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, Traverse City Central, 4

p.m.Mon., May 18, Big Rapids, 4 p.m.

VArSITy SOfTBAllWed., April 15, LeRoy Pine River, 4 p.m.Thur., April 16, at Benzie Central, 4 p.m.Sat., April 18, at Morley-Stanwood, 10

a.m.Mon., April 20, Kingsley, 4 p.m.Thur., April 23, at Hart, 4 p.m.Mon., April 27, Shelby, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, Mason County Central,

4 p.m.Sat., May 2, at Briggs True Value Tour-

nament at Mason County Central, 9 a.m.Tue., May 5, at Cadillac, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, Mason County Eastern,

4 p.m.Fri., May 8, at Montague, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, at Traverse City Central,

4 p.m.Fri., May 15, at Frankfort, 4:30 p.m.Sat., May 16, at North Muskegon tour-

nament, 9 a.m.Mon., May 18, at Big Rapids, 4 p.m.Thur., May 21, at Traverse City West, 4

p.m.

junIOr VArSITy SOfTBAllWed., April 15, at LeRoy Pine River, 4:30

p.m.Thur., April 16, Benzie Central, 4 p.m.Sat., April 18, at Shelby, 9 a.m.Mon., April 20, at Kingsley, 4:30 p.m.Thur., April 23, Hart, 4 p.m.Mon., April 27, at Shelby, 4 p.m.Thur., April 30, at Mason County Cen-

tral, 4 p.m.Tue., May 5, Cadillac, 4 p.m.Thur., May 7, at Onekama, 4:30 p.m.Fri., May 8, Montague, 4 p.m.Tue., May 12, Traverse City Central, 4

p.m.Mon., May 18, Big Rapids, 4 p.m.Thur., May 21, Traverse City West, 4

p.m.

Manistee schedulesfrOm pAge 10

Gustad is going to be run-ning the short hurdles this year.

“She ran a 9.4 (seconds) in the 60-meter hurdles, which is one of the fastest (times) in the state so far at indoor meets. We’re looking for her to do some nice things this year. We’ve got some other young kids that are looking good.”

Freshman Grace Chandler is recovering from a basket-ball injury and the Chippe-was expect her to run some nice times. Kids who haven’t competed before, like Emma Burns and Natalee and Emilee Kott, are exciting prospects.

The Chippewas also have some girls in the throws who are showing consistent im-provement.

“I think we’re going to have a little more depth, which will be nice,” McGuire said. “We’re pretty up front with the girls on what we expect of them. The level of expec-tation is really pretty high of where we want to finish.

“We’re not saying state championship or bust, but I think improving on our third place finish is a clear state-ment of what our goals are.”

Manistee has depth on the boys’ side with about 10 or 12 more out for the sport than it had a year ago, when Carter Eckhardt was the only Chippewa to qualify for the state finals and finished 12th with a personal record time in the 400 meters.

Overall, the Chippewas were pretty young on the boys’ side last year with a lot of freshmen and sopho-

mores who scored the bulk of their points.

“We hope to build on that,” McGuire said. “I think we can place a lot higher in our re-gion this year, and hopeful-ly put more guys into the state meet. Eckhardt is run-ning really strong right now. It’s early, and we’ve only run indoor meets but we have a pretty nice group of young distance runners.

“We should see some pret-ty significant improvement with that group throughout the season with the boys.”

McGuire is anticipating another exciting season. He knows the Chippewas will be motivated to excel at state.

tEnnISfrOm 11

JuniorS: Hope Slawinski, Emily Morin, Fallon Gates and Emilie Clausen.FreShmen: Trinity Herbert,

Hannah Nemitz, Kellie Racz-kowski, Sarah Sheathelm, Leah Snyder, Mikaela Kolkk and Elexis Fisk.

Hope Slawinski and Fal-lon Gates, both juniors, will again be paired at No. 1 doubles. That’s where they

played last year, and Fron-cek doesn’t see any reason to break them up at this point, as long as both stay healthy.

“We know who our top four girls are going to be, we just don’t know what po-sitions they’re actually go-ing to be in,” Froncek said.

“They’re going to play each other, and the best of the best goes to the top.”

Those top four are senior Maddy Wilson, senior Mack-enzie Kaminski, senior Caro-line Kessler and junior Emily Morin.

Manistee’s goal every year

is to win a couple of matches.“We play some tough,

tough teams that usually get to play year round, get to have indoor practice at little earlier than us, or have es-tablished tennis programs,” Froncek said. “If we can take a couple games, or even a

match… that would be great.“As always, the more they

play, the more comfort-able they’re going to get. Hopefully that will make them more confident, too, and their play will improve. Gates and Slawinski played well together last year.”

SEaSOn: Very deep team‘we’re pretty up front with the girls on what we expect of them. the level of expectation is really pretty high of where we want to finish. We’re not saying state championshp or bust, but i think improving on our third place finish is a clear statement of what our goals are.’

mike mcguireManistee track coach

15



MANISTEE — Nolan Vander Weele’s two-out single in the bottom of the seventh inning not only knocked in a run for the Manistee High baseball team, but brought the ty-ing run to the plate in the Division 3 district semifinal game against Hart in Scott-ville last year.

But the Chippewas would fail to score again as the Pi-rates escaped with a close 8-5 victory that brought Manistee’s season to an end.

The Chippewas have not won a district champion-ship since 2005, and they’d like to end that drought this season. Manistee also would like to improve on last year’s 9-17 record.

Although they graduated a boat load of talent, especial-ly on the mound, the Chip-pewas are fortunate to have some experience coming back at key positions.

One of the most important defensive positions where the Chippewas have expe-rience is at catcher, where Matthew Bauman settles in behind the plate for his third season as the team’s prima-ry backstop.

Vander Weele also enters his third season on the var-sity and brings stability to the pitching staff, where his experience will be of utmost value for the Chippewas who will be trying out several arms this spring.

“Both of them so far have shown a lot of leadership,” Manistee coach Troy Nezki. “They’re the first ones who say ‘Hey, we’ve got to get fo-cused guys. Let’s do the drill right.’ Those sort of things.

“That’s going to do defi-nitely help. Nolan was com-ing around at the plate last

year, and right now he’s looking pretty strong on the mound. Andy Oleniczak is coming back. He played a lot of third base for us last year, and again he’s looking a lot more mature. He spent some time in the off-season hit-ting with us. Those are the three biggies that are com-ing back for us.”

Nezki brought up two sophomores from the junior varsity team in Ian Pinkerton and Cameron Smith.

“Both of them were ready to play varsity baseball as freshman last year, but they needed them at the junior varsity and you can’t just tear those things apart,” Nezki added. “Cameron pitched in our district game last year, stole a base and had a lot of composure for a freshman up there.

“He throws the ball fairly hard, and is just working on some mechanics. But, he’s got baseball in him. He knows the

game. He’s good at the plate, so he’s going to be a good ad-dition for us. It looks like he’ll help out in the outfield with some speed.

“Ian is just a solid, all-around kid. Again, a kid who plays a lot in the summer and knows what’s going on. But, it’s going to come down to pitching again. I’m not go-ing to have that guy that I can say, ‘I’m going to throw him out there and he’s go-ing to win.’ So, we’re going to

have to play some defense.”Nezki has been pleased

with the team’s hitting so far.

“We seem to have a lot more discipline,” Nezki said. “They seem to have a lot bet-ter approach when they get up there. That’s been our main focus.”

Brian Polcyn and Bradley Murphy have been throwing all through the pre-season and look like they could con-tribute to the pitching, Nez-

ki said. None of the pitchers have overpowering stuff, but everyone asks a lot of ques-tions after practice and want to learn more about the me-chanics.

Since the Chippewas were inside most of the time be-fore spring break, Nezki fo-cused on the mechanics of the infield. He feels that the Chippewas have neglected the defense in the past, and it’s come back to bite them.

Oleniczak played a lot at third last year and gets the nod to start the season at the “hot corner.” Pinkerton and Brandon Wick are the initial combination between second and short. Vander Weele be-gins his third season at first.

Bauman will probably start about 90 percent of the games behind the plate. Jakob Nezki will play some at first and third, especial-ly when Vander Weele is on the mound. Smith looks like he’ll play in the outfield, with Polczyn, Murphy and Dakota Dority rotating in the outfield to start the season.

“Bauman has gotten stron-ger, and worked on his throwing,” Nezki said. “His technique and footwork are much better. Blocking (the plate) has always been strong. Those are the big things. Andy understands where a pitch needs to be in a certain situation.

“Especially with some young guys pitching, know-ing that stuff is a real plus for us. Matt struggled a bit (at the plate) last year, but he’s been working in the cage.”

The Chippewas need to shore up their defense, cut down on their errors and not give up so many extra outs because Nezki doesn’t ex-pect the pitching staff to be the kind that will rack up a lot of strike outs.

Manistee baseball

chippewas shoot for improvement

greg gIelCZyK | daiLy newSMembers of the Manistee High baseball team area kneeling, from left, Andrew Oleniczak, Brandon Wick and Dakota Dority; standing, Nolan Vander Weele, Bradley Murphy, Brian Polcyn, Jakob Nezki and Matthew Bauman. Not pictured: Spencer Helminski, Cameron Smith, Ian Pinkerton and Brad Madsen.

16



MANISTEE — Everyone is coming back for the defending MHSAA Di-vision 3 regional champion Manist-ee High boys golf team this season, which obviously makes head coach Mike Swanson a very happy man as the Chippewas prepare for the 2015 season.

There is a new freshman on the team that will need to get experi-ence, but otherwise the Chippe-was are loaded and ready to make some more noise in the post-sea-son tournament after finishing 13th in the state.

It makes Swanson’s job easi-er, because the Chippewas know what’s expected and how to go about it. He doesn’t have to do any motivating. His main focus is fine tuning the skills this group pos-sesses and seeing if the Chippe-was can’t improve and have just as much success if not more than they had last year.

Despite a full cupboard, Swan-son is, with a couple of exceptions, looking to the future so he does have a freshman and a sophomore on the squad who will be groomed to fill the holes that will left by graduating seniors.

But it’s a luxury to have so much experience coming back.

“Yes, this is one of those years where I’m not teaching how to hold the golf club, or how to swing the golf club,” Swanson said, “but more of the finer points in golf. You hope you peak at the right time, but it’s how you play golf on a given day.

“Watching the professionals. Some days they play well, and some days they don’t. So, we just want to keep heading in the right direction, doing the things we want. We’re going to do some things well, and we’re going to try to improve on the other things. This team is self motivated.”


SeniorS: Blake Davis and Matthew Simmons.

JuniorS: Will Shriver, Connor Mrozik, Cameron McElrath, Eric McElrath, Hunter Lindstrom and Cody Stefanick.SophomoreS: Avery Kiefer and Evan

Weston.FreShmAn: Keagan Thomas.

Swanson credits strong parental support for aiding him in the effort to keep the golf program moving in the right direction, and consis-tently trending upward.

Looking back at last year’s scores, Swanson found that the Chippewas shot at the state meet pretty much

what they averaged for the year.“I know they wanted to play bet-

ter than they did,” Swanson said. “So the emphasis this year is to bring down the average, so when you get to districts and regionals your scores will be better because you’re averaging better.

“Most of the kids work at golf courses, so they were out at the course quite a bit and they played a lot of golf. They practiced and hit balls. They beat me several times out on the course. They’re a little bigger, a little stronger and they’re

good athletes.”Blake Davis and Matthew Sim-

mons are the two returning se-niors, but there’s also Connor Mrozik, Will Shriver and Camer-on and Eric McElrath. All of them played at the state tournament last year, and rotated as the Chip-pewas’ low man at several regular season meets.

Swanson refused to single any one of them out as his top guy coming back. They are equal in tal-ent in his mind, and they showed that on the course last year.

“I have a bunch of other guys who were just behind them last year,” Swanson said. “Depend-ing on how much they improved, they’ll be pushing those top four (guys) for one of those spots. I don’t think we’re going to be intim-idated by anybody.

“But, also you get excited and the nerves come out. It’ll be conquer-ing ourselves, rather than conquer-ing our opponents or a golf course. Our district is at Elmbrook up in Traverse City, which is a shorter course. A little bit tighter.”

Manistee boys golf

chippewas return regional titlists

greg gIelCZyK | daiLy newSMembers of the Manistee High boys golf team are, kneeling, from left, Avery Kiefer, Will Shriver, Eric McElrath and Hunter Lindstrom; standing, Matt Simmons, Connor Mrozik, Blake Davis, Cameron McElrath, Cody Stefanski and Evan Weston. Not pictured: Keagan Thomas.

Spring sports ludington & manistee #3

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