Calvary Lutheran seniors set for track and field season

Calvary Lutheran’s Kyle Hagemeyer makes his way around the turn to begin another lap in the boys 3,200-meter run in last year’s Class 2 track and field state championships at Adkins Stadium. (Greg Jackson/News Tribune)
Calvary Lutheran’s Kyle Hagemeyer makes his way around the turn to begin another lap in the boys 3,200-meter run in last year’s Class 2 track and field state championships at Adkins Stadium. (Greg Jackson/News Tribune)

This spring season will be one final ride for two Calvary Lutheran runners who have been in the track and field program for a long time.

Seniors Kyle Hagemeyer and Maddie Homfeldt, both multi-time state track and state cross country medalists will once against lead a Lions’ roster that includes 10 boys and nine girls.

“Kyle likes to point out that I’ve had him since the fourth grade,” Cavalry coach Kerri Morris said. “He started in cross country in the fourth grade and we’ve had Maddie Homfeldt about that long and we had her sister, Emma, before that. These are some really deep families. … It’s just fun to see how far these kids have come and, you know, I’m not gonna think about losing them yet.”

Alongside Hagemeyer, returning cross country state medalist Jaxson Jobe will take charge in the distance events for the Lions.

Hagemeyer won the Class 1 1,600-meter run and 4x800-meter relay, and took second in the 3,200-meter run in 2021 before moving to Class 2 last season and taking fourth in both the 1,600 and 3,200. Jobe, a junior, returns after placing 15th in the Class 2 800-meter run last season.

Morris said the distance races will once again be the strength of the Lions and Lady Lions.

“I tend to think that distance will continue to be our strength with Kyle and Jaxson and with Maddie Homfeldt and Maddy Sprengel, who had a really good first season last year,” Morris said.

On the girls side, Homfeldt returns with three state medals after taking fifth in the Class 1 1,600 and 3,200 in 2021 and seventh in the 1,600 last year.

Sprengel will join Homfeldt in the distance races, while Sydney Morris returns to lead the Lady Lions in the field events with two state medals in the throws after taking fourth in the shot put and seventh in the discus at last year’s state meet.

“I feel like we’ll again probably be heavier in some of the running events,” Kerri Morris said. “But for the girls, I feel like we’ll most definitely pick up points in the throws. Syd is pretty consistent, Kaylee really stepped up in javelin last year, she made some big jumps. … We don’t have a bunch, but who we have is quality and consistent.”

For the boys, sophomore Ben Kuhlmann, freshman Jack Schnitzler and junior Gage Pavely will take charge of the sprints and might be joined by newcomer and senior Kwesi Hall who has joined the team after managing for it last year.

“We’re looking at some different combinations with Gage,” Morris said. “Jack Schnitzler is a freshman who is pretty versatile, he had actually move up to the 800 in junior high, but we’re gonna put him in some relays because he’s worked well with handoffs. Kwesi, will be an unknown, but he’s just an athletic kid.”

On the girls’ side, sophomore Cadence Keeney, junior Mikayla Yutzy and senior Kaligh Kaiser will hit the sprints with a focus on relays instead of opens.

Kaiser and Yutzy will also join Sydney Morris in the field events with Kaiser throwing the javelin and shot put and Yutzy taking part of the long jump and the triple jump, as well as Keeney trying out jumping events. Senior Camila Mena will also long jump after both long and triple jumping last season, but an injury kept her out of much of the season and will keep her from triple jumping early on.

“I think that contributed to some injuries last year,” Morris said.

Junior Beau Blaise will throw in all three events -- shot put, discus and javelin -- but will probably be the lone Lion in the events.

“The challenge when you throw three is there is just not enough time in the practice to fit three different techniques,” Morris said.

Pavely is the lone returning jumper for the Lions, but Morris said multiple athletes are testing out the jumps in practice and will get opportunities during meets.

Calvary will kick off the season Wednesday at the Russellville Open, then will go Friday to the New Bloomfield Relays and a meet next Tuesday at Eugene. The schedule slows a little after that, with the Russellville Invitational on April 1, the South Callaway Invitational on April 14 and the Tomahawk Relays on April 21.

Then the senior group leading the Lions and Lady Lions will face their final CCAA conference meet April 25 before finishing the regular season April 27 at the New Haven Quad.

“For us, this is a big group,” Morris said. “This is a big group of solid seniors. I still have a junior class, though, that’s pretty solid in Jaxson and Mikayla and Sydney and Gage and those guys, but you know, Kyle and Maddie bought into these programs when we were first starting them out. I give them credit for hanging with it while we built it. … Boy have they done their part to add to it and put Calvary on the map in some areas.”