ROCHELLE — The Rochelle Hub track and field team managed to conclude its season at the IHSA State Championships for the second time over the last three years. With a state medalist and a large number of sophomore and junior athletes eligible to come back next season, head coach Dale Bergeson and his staff are optimistic about returning to the state meet in 2025.

Rochelle sent two athletes to the state meet this season, with sophomore pole vaulter Andrew Nuyen taking third in the pole vault. The state meet capped off an impressive outdoor season for the Hubs, who finished third in the Interstate 8 Conference meet and second in the annual Ogle County Invitational at RTHS. Rochelle’s 2024 season began with a first-place finish at the Byron Indoor Preview and a second-place showing at the Gary Egler Invitational in Sycamore.

“It was a season of growth for a lot of our athletes,” Bergeson said. “We’ve focused more on winning as a team as opposed to individual accomplishments and I think the individual accomplishments came along with that. I thought we got better in every event and we accomplished four of our six major goals this season. I’m happy with how well our team went about working in practice every day and competing in meets. I’m really proud of them.”

Rochelle will lose a small group of seniors including thrower Landon Mickley, who qualified for the state meet in both shot put and discus this season. Senior Nathan Sergeant led the Hubs in the triple jump, while seniors Caleb Wyssbrod and Irving Escalante each filled multiple roles in both the sprint and distance relays. Senior Luis Hernandez led the Hubs in the distance events and was a consistent point scorer in both the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run.

“I knew we would be stronger in the field events this year,” Bergeson said. “We had a shot at going to state in five of the six field events… That’s the strength of our team and that’s been a strength of our team at Rochelle for a long time. We saw a lot of growth in the relays and we really improved our seed times in the sprints and the sprint relays. Our hand-offs were better and we were in a position to potentially qualify for the state meet in the 4x800-meter relay.”

Among the notable juniors eligible to return next season are Jack Tilton, who led Rochelle in the high jump this season, and Colton Czekala, who will be next up to lead the Hubs in the throwing events. Rochelle’s talented sophomore class includes the state medalist Nuyen as well as sprinters Caden Goodwin and Reece Harris, who were leaders in both the sprints and the sprint relays this season. Sophomore Declan McGee will be the next man up in the distance events.

“We’d like to see more results in the long-distance events,” Bergeson said. “We were good in the middle-distance events like the 400 and the 800, but if we can get more mile runners under five minutes, that’s where we want to be… Each year, we have a few more pieces to fill our puzzle. We just have to go through and see who can fill those roles of the guys we’re losing.”

Rochelle could return its top two hurdlers in sophomore Wyatt Worthington and freshman Hunter Bivins, who led the Hubs in both hurdle events this season. More underclassmen eligible to come back next spring are sophomores Jackson Smith and Elijah Mayen as well as freshmen Pedro Rosales and Aaron DeClerck, who all filled varsity roles in relays or individual events. 

“The sky's the limit for our team,” Bergeson said. “I’m excited for our hurdlers and they came on really strong at the end of the season… Colton and Jack both have chances to qualify for state next season as well as Andrew [Nuyen]. The core of this team is mostly sophomores who will be upperclassmen next year and competing against guys who’re the same age for the first time in the last few years. I’m really happy with the growth our core group has made so far.”