By Travis Smola
“We’ve had an interesting track season because of the youth on this team,” Co-Head Coach Jon Kachniewicz said. “We’ve had first-time tracksters that are juniors and we’ve had freshmen come out and perform well. But it’s really a young team.”
Kachniewicz said it took them a while to get some of these younger athletes into the proper mindset, but things started to look up as the season went on. “Everybody has improved so much this year, it’s been fun to watch,” Co-Head Coach Dave Smith added.
One of those younger athletes is sophomore Levi Thomas, who has quickly showed his talents in hurdles. At the Wolverine Conference meet he won the 110 and 300-meter events. At Regionals the following week, he set new personal records in both events on his way to winning the 300 and taking second in the 110-meters. He also finished fourth in high jump.
At Regionals, the Bulldogs also saw a new personal record set in the 800 meters by Jacob Malocha. Sophomore Joey Loriso also had a great day at Regionals. He set three new PRs in the 800, 1600 and 3200-meter finals events.
The 4×100 meter relay team was the most successful relay at Regionals for the Bulldogs. The team of Brian Roberts, Ben Welch, Kevin Veld and Casey Hall finished fifth. Welch also finished in ninth and eighth place in the high and long jump events.
Coach Smith noted the unpredictable Michigan weather affected training for many events this season. “We had to be inside a lot to train,” Smith said. “Pole vault, high jump, long jump, all those suffered. We were inside a lot.”