The Rochelle boys track and field team is less than three weeks away from its 2020 season-opener at the DeKalb Triangular on Saturday, Feb. 29.
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ROCHELLE — The Rochelle boys track and field team is less than three weeks away from its 2020 season-opener at the DeKalb Triangular on Saturday, Feb. 29. The Hubs will enter this season with multiple returning athletes in the field events, and the addition of several new athletes will create opportunities to score in individual and relay events.
Rochelle will look to build on second-place performances in the Assumption Invitational and the Ogle County Invitational in 2019. Head coach John Dobbs also said the Hubs are making a concerted effort to bring home first place in the Hub Relays, an event Rochelle has never won. The Hubs finished seventh in last season’s IHSA 2A Sterling Sectional.
“It’s long overdue that we win the Hub Relays,” Dobbs said. “That’s going to be a goal of ours this season… We’d like to win as much as we can, but we also want to get better with every meet, and we want to see continued growth. If we aren’t seeing that growth, then we aren’t coaching right… We have so many new kids to the sport, and I think we’re going to have a good mix of old and new kids this year. I think that mix will make us a much better team.”
Junior Trevor Goodwin will return to lead Rochelle in the triple jump after medaling in sixth place at the IHSA State Championships last season. The Hubs will feature senior Aaron Vondergathen in the pole vault as well as seniors Parker Hale and Ben Hickey in the high jump.
Senior Gyvanziel Quinonez was within seconds of reaching state in the 800-meter run at Sterling sectional, and Dobbs will be looking for him to step up this spring. Dobbs also said that senior Santi Cordoba and junior Aiden Seldal will have prominent roles in the distance events. One possible new addition in the long jump, Dobbs said, will be junior Crue Larsen.
“Gyvanziel’s off to a better start than he was last year,” Dobbs said. “I’m sure he wants to leave his mark on our program, and I think he’s primed for a big senior season… Trevor being an All-State athlete was really exciting, and he was always improving as the season went along. I think that, with his work ethic, he’s only going to get better.”
