When it comes to the Becker boys track team’s season, Head Coach Paul Schmidt will be focusing on the quality of his athletes over their quantity.

“With everything going on and a lost spring season last year we are down on numbers, as right now we have 13 varsity kids and a few 8th graders that may join us eventually,” says Schmidt, who returns for his 15th season in charge.  “We are coming off four straight Granite Ridge Conference Championships so this year will be different in that we will focus a bit more on the individual event and athlete.”

There is still a chance that a few more boys will show up, as Schmidt’s program has had excellent numbers in the past, ranging from 30-40 participants. 

The numbers game hits many activities in Becker in the spring time, as the boys can choose among five sports and several other fine arts and outdoors activities.

A trio of returning letter winner Seniors will lead the team and have been named as Captains, including Lukas Karel, Cade Stommes and Michael Schmitz.  Sophomore Tyson Ricker also returns to the team with a letter pin under his belt.

“Ricker and Karel will be top distance runners this year, while Schmitz will be strong in the hurdles,” says Schmidt.  “Luke McDonald will be a good runner for us and Stommes will be a good vaulter and jumper, as well as a strong runner.”

Overall, Schmidt expects his team to be strong in the 800 meter run, as well as in some hurdles events.

Dustin Weege returns for his 12th year as an assistant coach, while Tony Miller has joined the staff as well.  Together, the coaching staff is hoping for the athletes to learn some life lessons as a result of their participation in Track and Field.

“We want all the athletes to have a positive experience, see improvement throughout the year and learn how to handle adversity as well as success,” says Schmidt.  

The competition in the MIssissippi 8 Conference will be stellar, but Schmidt says his team is up to the challenge.

“We are much smaller than most teams I think,” says Schmidt.  “I am excited though to see how our top athletes compete against the M8 top talent.”

The track meets might look a little different this year due to covid restrictions.  The boys and girls events might be administered separately to comply with a maximum of 250 athletes at any given competition.

The post-season is also an unknown at this time, but Schmidt is hopeful that things continue to progress so his players will be able to participate in that experience.

“As of now, that is still up in the air and we are not sure how it is going to work,” said Schmidt.  “Hopefully things will continue to get better and we will be able to have a somewhat normal end to our season.”

The team will kick off its season on Tuesday, April 13 when they host Princeton.