ROCHELLE — Three of the four Rochelle Hub track and field athletes who qualified for the IHSA State Championship are eligible to return next season. With a trio of state qualifiers potentially headlining next year’s roster, head coach Dale Bergeson has high hopes for 2026.

Rochelle’s successful 2025 season included winning performances at the Oregon Hall of Fame Classic and the 51st Annual Ogle County Championships at RTHS. The Hubs, who turned in runner-up finishes at four meets including the LaSalle-Peru Cavalier Classic during the outdoor season, took third at the Interstate 8 Conference Championships before finishing fourth at the IHSA 2A Rochelle Sectional, the team’s best showing at a sectional since the 2016 season.

“We beat 102 teams this year and I don’t know if we’ve ever done that before,” Bergeson said. “Our focus was on scoring points and not leaving points on the course… We only have one senior graduating who scored a lot of points for us, so we’re going to be young next year and I’m looking forward to that as well. We have a bunch of underclassmen who’re doing really well and are coming back next year. We have three state qualifiers coming back and we have a lot of kids who were really close who are coming back. I’m excited to see what we can accomplish.”

Field events were a key source of points for the Hubs, who won dual meets against Morris, LaSalle-Peru, Ottawa and Kaneland during the outdoor season. Rochelle’s indoor season included second-place finishes at the Byron Indoor Preview and the Gary Egler Invitational at Sycamore. Of the four state qualifiers, three were in field events, with juniors Andrew Nuyen (pole vault) and Jonny Bearrows (long jump) each eligible to return for one more season.

While the Hubs will lose state qualifier and medalist Jack Tilton (high jump), Rochelle will bring back a pair of young athletes including freshman Zachary Johnson and sophomore Justin DeClerck, who each made strides in the high jump this season. Junior Caden Goodwin (triple jump) excelled in the field and will be a big contributor in sprints and sprint relays in 2026.

“We were strong in the field events and we were leading almost every single meet after the field events,” Bergeson said. “That was our strongest section of our program and we really pay attention to what our guys are doing. We require our guys to do some field events so we can find those talented kids and coach them up. We scored in four of five of the six field events in every single meet and when we can score in each of those events, that’s really good for us.”

An area of major growth during the 2025 season was in the distance events, where juniors like Declan McGee and Elijah Mayen, along with sophomore Pedro Rosales and freshman Tyler Johnson, scored points in several events including the 800-meter, 1600-meter and 3200-meter runs as well as the 1600-meter and 3200-meter relays. Junior Wyatt Worthington and state qualifier Hunter Bivins, a sophomore, spearheaded the charge in the hurdles this season.

“We saw a lot of growth from our sprint group and our distance group,” Bergeson said. “We got some sectional medals out of our sprint group and we broke the fresh-soph 4x2 record. Having Tyler and Declan in our distance group… They were really solid and our 4x8 improved as well. I think our sprint and distance groups will take another step forward next year and I think that’s what will offset our seniors leaving and allow us to do even better as a team next year.”

While Rochelle will lose key sprinters in seniors Jackson Smith and Richard Pierce, the Hubs have several talented athletes eligible to come back in 2026. Juniors like Caden Goodwin and Reece Harris, along with sophomores Jaden Martina, Aaron DeClerck and Justin DeClerck, all ran varsity sprints and sprint relays during the 2025 season. Freshman Nathan Rosas is another young sprinter who emerged and could take on an even bigger varsity role for the Hubs in 2026.

“Shot put and discus are two areas we need to get better at and I think we’re a little behind on that,” said Bergeson, whose team will lose its top three senior throwers in Jack Tarvestad, Jacob Ost and Logan Frye from the 2025 roster. “Those are the two events we scored the least amount of points in during track meets this season. Hopefully someone can step up for us.”