GILMAN TRACK & FIELD PREVIEW - Konsella, Drier among top returners; Pirates add more depth

GILMAN TRACK & FIELD PREVIEW

The 2025 track and field season has arrived and the Gilman Pirates are anxious to get it rolling after getting some quality outdoor practice time right off the bat, the return of several experienced athletes and continued growth in participation numbers.

Having lineup options is something head coach Mike Gingras will certainly never complain about. The full roster is up to about 30 student-athletes and is evenly split between boys and girls. The Pirates won’t get many indoor opportunities to start sorting out what they have and who fits where in their ideal lineups. Saturday’s UW-Stout Northern Badger Small Schools Invitational is the only indoor meet on the current schedule.

But, if the spring weather cooperates, Gilman will be in plenty of good outdoor meets, including two home meets, that will get the Pirates ready for the big meets at the end of the season. Those include the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference (May 20) and WIAA Division 3 regional meets (May 27), which will also be held on the home facility.

A year ago, Gilman’s boys finished fourth in the Eastern Cloverbelt Conference while the girls placed fifth. In the Gilman regional meet, the boys were a solid fourth and the girls were sixth, qualifying several entries for the sectional in Cameron.

Chad Konsella was the lone state qualifier, making it in the boys long jump. He placed 13th. A senior this spring, Konsella will be one of the team leaders.

Konsella’s best long jump of last season was 20 feet, 7 inches and came at the conference meet in Colby. He qualified for state with a jump of 20-2 at the sectional and hit 19-9.75 at state.

Obviously his goal is to get another shot at making the finals in La Crosse. Gingras said Konsella may experiment early in the year with the triple jump as well and see how that goes.

When it comes to the boys team, Gingras said there are places where the Pirates can dream big.

“We’re hopeful between Brady McAlpine, Chad, Sawyer Winger and Logan Halida that if they can get handoffs figured out quick enough, they possibly have an outside shot (at state) in a relay. They want to try it at the 4x100. That’s where they feel they have a little more speed. Max Ustianowski, he was just on the outside looking in on the 300-meter hurdles. He has the drive to work hard and we’ll see if he can sneak through.”

McAlpine and Ustianowski are seniors. Winger is a junior and Halida is a sophomore. Winger and senior Trevor Vick are among the team’s top jumpers with high jump being Winger’s specialty and triple jump being Vick’s. Winger hit 510 a couple of times last year, including at the sectional, and Vick got as far as 39-1 at the regional and qualified for the sectional, where he jumped 37-4.

“Sawyer should be pretty solid in the high jump,” Gingras said. “His goal is to be able to make it to state in the high jump. Trevor did well last year. He’s found a niche with triple jump that fits for him. He was excited about what he did last year.”

Another key returnee for the boys is sophomore Taydyn Angell. The start to his season will be delayed due to a shoulder injury suffered during the WIAA wrestling post-season, but the injury is not as serious as first feared and, with rest, the hope is he’ll be able to start throwing the shot put and discus in mid-April. He hit 40-10 in the shot put at last year’s regional meet. Gingras said what Angell did as a freshman was accomplished with just pure strength.

“If we get some form behind that, I really think he has the potential to throw into the upper 40s, which would give him an outside shot to make it through,” Gingras said.

Senior Mitchell Moran, an 800- and 1,600-meter runner last year, returns, along with sophomore Wyatt Orth, who has the potential to be a strong jumper, sophomore sprinter James Wojcik and sophomore thrower Elijah Madlon. Senior Brayden Olynick is out for track for the first time and gives the Pirates a strong athlete to work with. Junior Kolby Klatt is a new name on the roster as well. Senior Claire Drier headlines the girls roster. After setting a school record of 17.15 seconds in the 100-meter high hurdles last year, she is hoping to build off that success and be more consistent in the long jump, where she went as far as 16-5.25 last spring. “Our goal is to get those high hurdles figured out, lower that school record time and ultimately it would be nice to be able to make it to state in that event,” Gingras said.

Jaylen Copenhaver, who has done a lot of sprinting and jumping for the Pirates, is another returning senior leader.

“Jaylen has such a good attitude right now,” Gingras said. “She’s so excited about the year and working hard. She’d love to make it to state in something this year, like any senior.”

Patty Kloss is Gilman’s third senior girl. She became a key piece of Gilman’s 400and 800-meter relays last spring. Sophomore Addy Vick, junior Kyra Rabuck and sophomore Aubrey Mann are three more familiar names who filled sprint/relay roles last year.

“Our other thing with the girls is can we get a relay team together, get quick enough and sneak something through to state?” Gingras said.

Vick found success in the high jump and long jump in her freshman season and should add points for Gilman again in those events. Sophomore Rilla Syryczuk takes the mantle from the departed Bailey Angell as the girls’ top shot put and discus thrower. Gingras said freshman Ava Webster could be a nice addition after finding success in middle school competition in the 800- and 1,600-meter events.

The girls program gets a boost from a large freshman crew that will try to find its roles. It includes Shae Drier, Jazmyn Robinson, Kennedy Buske, Autumn Zagorski, Brynn Komanec, Aspen Person, Emalee Rivera and Rayanna Romig.

The schedule currently shows Gilman’s first outdoor meet being the Eleva-Strum Invitational on April 15. Gilman will host its first meet two days later. Gilman’s second home meet is set for Tuesday, May 6. The Pirates will make their usual visits to places like Stanley-Boyd, Cadott, Medford and Bloomer as well during the season.

Colby drops to Division 3 this year and will host the sectional meet on Friday, May 30.