Mustangs looks to take the next step this spring

The six Prairie City-Monroe spring sports programs all have one thing in common — they all want their programs to take the next step this year.

With numbers on the rise throughout each program, the Mustangs are hoping to be competitive on the track, on the links and on the pitch in 2017.

Boys Track

When Collin Harrison took over the boys track program two years ago, numbers were small and the talent on the roster was, for the most part, young and inexperienced.

Last year, the Mustangs showed improvement, but in 2017 Harrison expects his PCM team to make an even bigger jump.

“We better take the next step,” Harrison said. “We should be in the top half of every meet.”

For Harrison, the improvement from two years ago to now is simple.

“It’s basically talent maturity,” Harrison said. “We still have a ton of sophomores, but the guys who have been standouts for us the past few years are now older, stronger and more mature. They are just not young anymore.”

Leading the way for the Mustangs will be seniors Noah Clark, Chris Ellens, Luke Greiner, and Leevi Telfer, juniors Noah Henkenius and Noah Anderson, and sophomores Preston Van Wyk, Brayton Van Dyke, Jarron Trausch, Cole Dustin, Nick Buswell and Nick Dredge. Harrison said the team has added nine freshmen to the roster, too.

“We should be better this year,” Harrison said. “I think we should be very competitive in more events than in previous seasons.”

Clark was the only state qualifier last year for the Mustangs. He finished 13th in the discus, but Harrison says Clark already is ahead of where he was last season.

Clark and Telfer will lead the throwers this season. Greiner will run 100s and 200s on the track and score lots of points in long jump, too.

Ellens made a significant jump in cross country from his junior to senior seasons. Harrison expects a similar jump on the oval.

Ellens won the Heart of Iowa Conference title in the fall.

“He should take the next step,” Harrison said. “He should definitely be one of the top distance runners in the area.”

Harrison will have more depth in 2017, too.

Anderson, Henkenius, Van Wyk and Van Dyke will fill spots in the lineup in anything from a 100 to 400.

Trausch and Dredge will fill holes on relays and provide the Mustangs will a deep group of hurdlers.

Trausch will handle the 400 hurdles and be one of four competing in the shuttle hurdle relay, along with Dustin, Buswell and Dredge.

Dustin is off to a good start in the high hurdles as he finished in the top 30 at Iowa State earlier this month.

Trausch, Dustin, Buswell and Dredge were junior high state champions in the shuttle hurdle relay in eighth grade.

Boys Golf

PCM boys golf coach Dale VanderLinden has been coaching the sport for 17 years either as an assistant or head coach. During that span, he has never been to the state tournament.

With a number of varsity golfers back from last year’s sectional title team, VanderLinden hopes to change that in 2017.

Five of the six golfers from last year’s varsity lineup are back. So are two other golfers who played in at least four varsity tournaments.

That gives VanderLinden plenty of reasons to be optimistic about his team.

“The ultimate goal is to get to state,” said VanderLinden, who begins his third year as head coach. “It is a realistic goal, but the boys have to have their heads in the game.”

Four Mustangs will battle for the top spot in the lineup — senior Ryan Hill, juniors Noah Lanphier and Dayton Boell and sophomore Andrew Van Ryswyk.

Boell won the sectional championship last year with his best 18-hole score (76) of the season.

Van Ryswyk’s 86.50 is the top returning 18-hole average on the roster, while Hill averaged about one stroke higher.

Boell and Lanphier both averaged a 43 in their two nine-hole rounds, which ranked tops on the team.

VanderLinden expects 2017 to be similar. Any one of the top four golfers could be in the No. 1 spot.

“There is a possibility that we could have a different No. 1 at every meet,” Vander Linden said. “They will have to play for varsity spots every day.”

Those challenge rounds don’t only apply to the top four golfers. It applies to anyone who wants to play on the varsity roster, according to VanderLinden.

Other golfers expected to factor into the varsity lineup include senior Ethan Thomas, junior Jackson Thomas and sophomore Reed Worth.

“I think this team can win the conference tournament, but I am more concerned with sectionals and districts,” VanderLinden said. “We want to win sectionals again.”

There’s a total of 20 golfers this season but about half are freshmen who have never played the game before.

Girls Soccer

Senior Abby Waddell set a new school record with 17 goals last season. In 2017, PCM girls soccer coach Bill Sowder wants to see that production continue. Sowder also wants Waddell to make sure the right player is taking the shots.

“Because of what she did last year, Abby is going to be marked by every team we play,” Sowder said. “She is going to have to find open teammates when she is not open. We don’t want her passing up open shots, but we don’t want her to worry about how many goals she has either.”

Waddell is one seven returning Mustangs who started at least nine matches last year. The eighth player to do that, Camryn Wignall, is out for the season due to an ACL injury. Wignall scored four goals and had three assists last year.

Joining Waddell as key returners on the offensive end are seniors Dakota Hostetter and Bella George and sophomore Sara Dudley.

Sowder will use the versatility of seniors Jaiden Rodgers and Taylor Shepley as well as sophomore Cailtyn Walters to his advantage. That Mustang trio will play as forwards, midfielders and defenders throughout the year.

This year’s roster features 30 players, about 10 of which are freshmen.

Sowder has been impressed with his team after one week of practice.

“I expect to be better than last year,” Sowder said.

“We need to show more dedication. If we do that, it’ll make us better as a team. I think we can turn the corner this year.”

Sowder said Hostetter will take over the playmaking role vacated by the graduated McKinzie Tjaden. Tjaden had five goals and seven assists last year.

Hostetter put in four goals and had one assist playing on the outside a year ago.

“Dakota has looked really good so far in the week we’ve had to practice,” said Sowder, who begins his fourth year as head coach. “I think she do well in that role.”

Sowder said the biggest improvement needed to upgrade on last year’s 7-13 record is on the defensive end of the field.

Playing the defensive roles will be junior Abby Jones and freshmen Kimberly Gallaher and Shelby Voeller.

Returning at goalkeeper is junior McKeely Tjaden.

“We are changing some things up defensively,” Sowder said.

“Hopefully we’ll be better back there this season. We should not be getting 10-goaled anymore.”

McKeely Tjaden stopped 285 shots last year, which ranked second in Class 2A.

“We still want to improve on what she has already given us,” Sowder said. “She’s got great hands. We are working on her quickness.”

Girls Track

The PCM girls track and field team lost plenty of talented athletes to graduation last season.

But with even more returners back for another run in 2017, it’s easy to feel the Mustangs should be in the mix for a HOIC championship.

For now, head coach Bridget Martin want to take it one meet at a time.

“We have some high expectations, but we plan to take it one meet at a time,” Martin said. “It is always a goal to make a run at the conference and district meet, but we need to take care of business now in order to be in that position.”

Martin said goodbye to state meet regulars Ashley Van Gorp, Emily Hugen and Morgan Novak but brings back senior standouts Jayci Vos, Rachel Stafford and Tatum Nearmyer, junior Ashley Miller and sophomores Kirsten Ives, Megan Cowman, Paytan Schut and Maddie Samson.

A 12-person freshmen class also gives Martin some options and some depth to put together a championship style team.

“We have had a great start to the season so far,” Martin said. “I have been impressed with the positive environment the girls have created.

Vos is back after placing third in the 400-meter hurdles last year. She also was on the state-qualifying distance medley, 4x200 and 4x400 relay teams.

Vos is back healthy after sustaining an injury in cross country that hampered her basketball season this winter. Martin said, right now, the injuries have not been an issue.

“Like everything else, we are taking it one meet at a time and focusing on setting that foundation for future successes,” Martin said.

Relays is a big part of what Martin has built the last few seasons. That should continue this season as three of the four runners from the sprint medley, 4x400 and 4x800 relay teams that qualified for state are back. Two of the four state runners in the distance medley and 4x200 relay also are back.

“It’s always fun to take relays to the state meet,” Martin said. “We hope to be competitive in those relays again this year. I feel like our team has some depth, which will hopefully allow us to continue to be strong in the relays.”

The senior class is only five deep. But three of those — Vos, Nearmyer and Stafford — are looking for their fourth consecutive trips to the state meet.

Those three seniors were all part of last year’s state-qualifying meet, while Vos and Stafford both ran on the qualifying distance medley (10th) and 4x400 (14th) relays. Vos and Miller return to the 4x200 (8th) team, while Stafford, Miller and sophomore Morgan Uhlenhopp all ran on the state meet sprint medley relay team which placed 23rd.

The 4x800 relay team that finished 24th at state welcomes back Ives and Schut.

Stafford also ran in the open 800 at state and placed 17th.

“We have a tremendous group of seniors,” Martin said. “I couldn’t ask for better leaders. The sophomore class is another large class and will be instrumental in our success this year. The junior class is a much smaller class, but they are just as important to the success. Each grade level has a nice balance of specialty areas allowing us to have all different levels of expertise in each area.”

The large sophomore class includes Schut, Cowman, Ives and Uhlenhopp, who all ran on PCM’s cross country squad with Stafford and Vos. Samson is expected to lead the throwers, too.

Boys Soccer

With seven players back who started at least eight matches last year and 15 returning letter winners, the PCM boys soccer team is raising its expectations.

The Mustangs welcome back leading scorer Misha Seebeck and fellow junior Chase Sanders as well as seniors Chase Kuecker, Zac VanWaardhuizen, Zac Read, Jacob Phillips and Leevi Telfer.

PCM won four matches last year but still finished third in the five-team Heart of Iowa Conference standings. Third-year coach Darrin Telfer feels like 2017 can be even better.

“We are finally getting kids who have played a lot of soccer,” Telfer said. “We have soccer players up and down the roster. We will be deeper than we have been in the past, too. We have a lot of experience back.”

Joining the large number of returners is a 12-member freshmen class that Coach Telfer feels can make an immediate impact on the program.

“Some of those freshmen will battle for varsity playing time,” Coach Telfer said. “This the first real class that started in the youth program and stayed out through middle school.”

Seebeck headlines the offense. He led the Mustangs with seven goals and one assist last year. He’ll be joined by Sanders, Kuecker, Read, senior Graham Davis and sophomore Nick Dredge. Sanders put in two goals, while Kuecker, Van Waardhuizen, Dredge and Davis all scored a goal apiece.

“(Seebeck) can play anywhere on the field,” Coach Telfer said. “He is our leader on the field and understands the game. We’ll have some kids around him this year. Misha will have some help.”

Defensively, Leevi Telfer and Phillips return as the anchors. Van Waardhuizen will either play defender or goalkeeper, and sophomore Cody Wallace will be counted on in the backfield, too. Junior Drew Johnson is a versatile piece that Coach Telfer can play anywhere.

There is a three-way battle going on at goalie in preseason practices. That battle is between Van Waardhuizen, junior Jacob Ponder and sophomore Blake Read.

“There is competition throughout the lineup this year,” Coach Telfer said.

Girls Golf

Senior Breanna Maher has accomplished just about everything on the golf course. She hopes to collect the one thing that has eluded her in her first three Mustang seasons. Her teammates will do what they can to help her, too.

“Breanna would like to get to the state tournament as an individual, but she also wants to make it as a team in final year, too,” PCM girls golf coach Val Edwards said. “The team wants Breanna to make it. She has been so close.”

Maher and junior Madeline Mitchell both played in the regional final round last year. Both fell short of a state berth.

Having two regional finalists and a pair of two-time letter winners back on the roster gives the Mustangs as good a chance to reach the state tournament as they’ve had in a few years.

Maher leads the way again. She’s been the Mustangs’ top golfer for the past two seasons. She’s got school records, several meet medalist wins and has been one of the top golfers in the Heart of Iowa Conference throughout her career.

Maher’s nine-hole average of 46 was third-best in the HOIC and her 18-hole average of 90.78 ranked second in the conference.

“I like that this team has set the bar high,” Edwards said. “It gives them something to shoot for. They are not hiding it. They want to play at the state tournament.”

Mitchell joined the PCM program last year after moving in from out of state. She played behind Maher in the lineup most of the season. Her nine-hole average of 53 ranked 12th in the HOIC and her 18-hole average ranked sixth.

The Mustangs played with just four golfers during Maher’s freshman season. The number improved to five the following year and PCM had 10 golfers last season. In 2017, the total continues to rise as the Mustangs start the season with a 13-member team.

Juniors Ellie Steenhoek and Sabrina Reed are back after playing in the varsity lineup the last two years. Sophomores Lexi Reed, Mackenzie Bussan, Allison Wood and Megan VanHaaften also return.

Sophomore Delaney Clarke joins the program after being part of the track and field team in 2016. Freshmen twins Alexis and Brooke Dross are two more newcomers.

“There’s improvement from last year already,” Edwards said. “This group is willing to learn.

Aside from plenty of returners, the Mustangs also will benefit from volunteer coach Mike Kardin, who is the former head boys golf coach at Ottumwa.