Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: St. Edmond boys track returning letterwinners are, front row (left to right): Thomas Knobbe, Thomas Cosgrove, Anthony Valles and Liam Shannon. Back: Leo Ehn, Denny Ehn, Dominic McClain, Grant Galles, Max Webster and Klay Baker.

The St. Edmond boys track and field program continues to produce high-level results year in and year out.

Behind the guidance of head coach Donn Larson, the Gaels look to keep their strong tradition going this spring.

Over the past three seasons at state, the Gaels have collected two individual championships along with five Top-5 finishes in relays.

Two runners who competed on those relays last year return in junior Klay Baker and sophomore Anthony Valles. Baker ran on the bronze medal distance medley with Valles competing on the fifth place 4×800.

Baker and Valles will lead a collective unit of 23 strong that includes seniors Thomas Cosgrove, Leo Ehn, Denny Ehn, JT Laufersweiler and Trey Wilkins.

“I feel like we are more athletic overall,” Larson said. “We don’t have a dominant runner like Aaron (Lursen) but we have a lineup that can score points all over the place.

“We have runners in the sprints, hurdles, jumpers and throwers that makes you a well rounded and complete team. That’s exciting moving forward.”

Joining Baker from the junior class will be Andrew Clavey, Cooper Marxen, Dominic McClain, Levi Odor-Westrum and Liam Shannon. Sophomores include Valles, Jonah Carlson, Grant Galles, Hunter Horn, Thomas Knobbe, Jakob Koopman, Jonah Mosier, Jossef Taveras and Max Webster.

Three freshmen — Aaron Hindt, Jacob Nieland and Drake Yurkovac — round out the roster.

Cosgrove and Galles also ran at state last season, competing on the 4×400 alongside Baker. Valles, Shannon, Cosgrove and Carlson were all on the state cross country team this past fall.

“I think one area that is going to be different for us in the field events,” Larson said. “We have the opportunity to score a lot of points there this year. Leo and Denny will be in the throwing events with Andrew and Hunter n the high jump.

“Aaron has already jumped 19-feet and is a threat in the long jump along with Dominic.”

There will be plenty of opportunity to mix-and-match relays and events throughout the season in the build to the state-qualifier.

“We might not win a lot of events or relays, but we are going to be scoring in a lot more this year,” Larson said. “We have more speed and our 400 runners are always strong like normal. We also have some nice depth in the mile and two-mile.”

St. Edmond opens the outdoor season on Saturday in Algona at the CYO. The Gaels will compete at the Dodger Relays on April 8.

Larson will be assisted by both Cory Naughton and recent Gael graduate Emillian Garcia.

2024 ST. EDMOND BOYS TRACK AND FIELD

Roster

Seniors

Thomas Cosgrove, Leo Ehn, Denny Ehn, JT Laufersweiler, Trey Wilkins.

Juniors

Klay Baker, Andrew Clavey, Cooper Marxen, Dominic McClain, Levi Odor-Westrum, Liam Shannon.

Sophomores

Jonah Carlson, Grant Galles, Hunter Horn, Thomas Knobbe, Jakob Koopman, Jonah Mosier, Jossef Taveras, Anthony Valles, Max Webster.

Freshmen

Aaron Hindt, Jacob Nieland, Abram Ribbens, Drake Yurkovac.

Schedule

March 23 — at CYO in Algona; 26 — at Earlham.

April 2 — at Eagle Grove; 4 — at Clarion-Goldfield/Dows; 8 — at Dodger Relays; 11 — at Manson Northwest Webster; 16 — at Webster City; 18 — at South Hamilton; 23 — at Manson Northwest Webster; 26 — at Hampton-Dumont/CAL.

May 2 — at NCC in Clarion.