The Aplington-Parkersburg boys track & field team is gearing up for the 2025-2026 season.
After qualifying five relays to state last year, only one senior graduated among those athletes. The sprint medley, distance medley, 4×200, 4×400 and 4×800 each have three or four members returning this year. Head Coach Jason Berkey.
“From those relays, we lose Caleb Campbell, but we have some good young talent,” Head Coach Jason Berkey says. “The two Pruisner boys, Maddox Kruger, then you had Titan Verrett, Trevan Thomas, Sully Janssen, were all key cogs in all those relays. And then you throw in Devan Eberhart who came on really strong at the end of last year. And then I think we have, possibly we’ll see here now starting on Monday, once we get everybody there, some key pieces that haven’t been out for a few years that said they’re coming out. So I’m excited for that.”
Berkey says he anticipates a few others to emerge as top contenders throughout the season.
“Emerick Nolte I think will be a key cog this year, whether it’s some of the longer distances or maybe the middle distance, but he works extremely hard. There was a couple of cross country runners that I’m excited to see where they fit in. Honestly, I think our shuttle hurdle and our hurdle events will be much better. We have some very good incoming freshmen that love to hurdle. And then we have a couple of kids that want to try the high hurdles. I think they’ll do an excellent job for us.”
Due to many members of the team being part of the basketball team’s run to the state tournament, they didn’t compete in any indoor meets. They’ll begin the season Tuesday, April 7 at the Spartan Early Bird Coed at Grundy Center.
Jason Berkey interview:
