SPASH boys 'in the hunt' for indoor Valley crown By MIKE KEMMETER of The Gazette The way Stevens Point Area Senior High boys track and field coach DuWayne Behnke sees it, the race is wide-open in the Wisconsin Valley Conference. The Panthers, thanks to a balanced roster, should be in the mix for the indoor conference crown. SPASH has until April 11 to prepare for the meet, which will be held at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point Multi-Activities Center. SPASH hosts the Point Invitational Saturday at UW-SP. "We're in the hunt. We don't have the powerhouse of the conference. Whoever has the best meet is going to win," Behnke said. "I think the conference is as balanced as it has ever been. It's anybody's meet." One definite area of strength for SPASH is the field events, especially in the long and triple jumps. Travis Laird, Ross Adamczak, Chase Kostichka and Chad Ersparmer will all be in the hunt in the two jumping events. Rick Trzebiatowski will contribute points in the pole vault. Junior Cory Flisakowski literally got the indoor season off to a fast start, breaking the school record in the 200-meter dash. Other returning sprinters include Bobby Burtley and Ryan Burhite. Josh Garbe, a senior, is back for the distance events. He'll be joined by returnees Kyle Patoka and Owen Schuh as well as a handful of newcomers. "As coaches, we look at our team and we're balanced. In every event we have a guy who can score and do well," Behnke said. "We haven't had that in a long time. "I think we're starting even further ahead than last year," he added. The team will have to replace several seniors. Jon and Dave Ofori-Amoah (hurdles), Dan Wolf (distance), Dave Cisewski (distance), Mike Mbughuni (distance), Ryan Lynes (pole vault) and Peter Frederich (shotput) all graduated last year. Pacelli The Cardinals plan to use the indoor portion of their season as a tune-up for outdoor action. "We're going to use indoors to get us ready for outdoors," Pacelli coach Tim Olson said. "We're going to try this differently and move guys around." Olson will get his first look at the Cardinals in action Saturday at the Point Invitational. Pacelli returns a quartet of seniors who can score in several events. Nate Swenson (triple jump, long jump, high jump), Matt Kruzicki (sprints, long jump, triple jump), Franz Klein (distance) and Neil Jurgella (sprints, pole vault) could provide the majority of the team's points. Juniors Justin Anderson (sprints, relays), Nick Gross (400, 800), Greg Snow (pole vault) and Jordan Wojtalewicz (shotput, discus) will also be counted on to contribute. Pacelli lost just four main contributors from last year's team - Ty West (sprints), Martin Steinhardt (distance), Chris Heidenfelder (distance) and Dan Barnett (shotput, discus). "I think we have a strong team," Olson said. "We're not real deep, but we're strong up-front. A lot of it will depend on how the juniors come along. If they step up another level, we'll be pretty strong. "I think we're a little bit ahead of where we were last year," Olson added. The Cardinals have a young, but experienced assistant coaching staff. Olson, who was an assistant track and cross country coach at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point before coming to Pacelli, has five coaches with collegiate experience. Former UW-SP star sprinter Shaun Moretti will coach sprints and relays while Jason Fredricks and Andy Richmond will work with the shotput and discus, and Chris Schwabenlender and Kari Kerrigan will coach the jumping events. Rosholt Several returnees will mix with a handful of newcomers as the Hornets use their indoor season to train and prepare for the outdoor portion of the schedule. Rosholt has a pair of returnees with state meet experience in senior Rob Cherek (relays, hurdles, pole vault) and junior Luke Lane (long sprints to middle distance). The two will be joined by seniors Pat Knudson (distance), Bob Omernik (distance) and Joel Skornia (middle distance), juniors Nathaniel Miller (hurdles) and Willie VanDeYacht (distance), as well as several sophomores and freshmen. "We cover all of the events decently," Rosholt coach Mike Trzebiatowski said. "There'll be some decent young guys coming out. "There's some potential with the young kids," he added. The Hornets opened their season last Tuesday in a triangular held at UW-SP and return to the Multi-Activities Center Saturday for the Point Invitational. "We hope to put people in the top 10 or 12," Trzebiatowski said. "We might get two or three kids to place."