ROCHELLE — Youth and inexperience didn’t hold the Hubs track and field program back from making strides this year, and Rochelle head coach John Dobbs is optimistic that his athletes will continue to improve.

Rochelle concluded its season this past weekend, taking 10^th place in the IHSA Class 2A Sectional at Genoa-Kingston. The Hubs had some shining moments this season, topping Stillman Valley 103-28 in a head-to-head matchup while placing second in the Ogle County Invitational. Rochelle also finished fifth in the Assumption Invitational at Augustana College.

“I thought we did a pretty nice job of improving with some hope for the future,” Dobbs said.

Junior Mason DeLille and freshman Trevor Goodwin led Rochelle in the triple jump, while DeLille carried the load in both the long jump and the high jump. Sophomore Aaron Vondergathen topped out at 11 feet in the pole vault, and seniors Bazil Bennett and Zach Miller were notable standouts in the throwing events.

“I think our team realized how important the field events are,” Dobbs said. “We have a core group of jumpers coming back next year and Aaron finished fifth in the sectional for the pole vault which was very promising… We have a good start on our field events for next year and coach [Mark] Zilis always does a good job of finding jumpers.”

Sophomore Gyvanziel Quinonez headlined Rochelle’s distance crew this season, leading the way in the 1600-meter run and recording top finishes in the 800-meter run toward the end of the year including third place at the sectional meet. Sophomores Santi Cordoba and Tucker Louis also competed out of the distance group in events such as the 3200-meter run, the 800-meter run and the 3200-meter relay.

“Gyvanziel was really the cornerstone of our distance group this year and he scored quite a few points for us when we needed him to,” Dobbs said. “He’s talented enough to run anything from a 200-meter dash to the mile, and he was within a second from making the state meet in the 800-meter run… I think that may be his race next year.”

Rochelle sprinters typically headlined the team’s relay races as well. The Hubs counted on many juniors including Noah Knight, Eddie Villalobos, Greg Ricketts and Alex Louck for points in the relays and open sprints. Junior Connor Lenkaitis contributed in both the 1600-meter relay and the 800-meter run, and sophomore Evan Horner earned varsity races in the sprint relays. Senior Austin Tracey ran all three sprint relays for the Hubs.

“We finally had a breakthrough at the sectional meet,” Dobbs said. “We’ve been in the slow heats all year but we fought to work our way into the fast heats. We’ll have to start being in the fast heats next year and we’ll have to find ways to get stronger so when we get into the outdoor season, we’re in the fast heats being pushed by the best teams.”

Rochelle’s hurdle crew wasn’t very large this season, but the Hubs still received contributions from athletes such as junior Ryan Friestad, who emerged in the 110-meter hurdles after improving his personal record dramatically. Other young hurdlers who could step up in future seasons include Goodwin and sophomore Jacob Eul.

“Coach [Dale] Bergeson is excited to coach those guys since they’re a young group learning how to hurdle,” Dobbs said. “We had some practices where they looked amazing, and one of these days that work is going to come through. I think that happened with Friestad toward the end of the season.”