Louise Hornets ready to race at regional track meet
By KRIS BAGLEY sports@leader-news.com

L-N Photo by Kris Bagley Louise's Regional Qualifiers Heading to Huntsville for the regional track meet are (front, l-r) Chris Hicks, Kyle Lawson, Jay Sulak, Daniel Sulak, Clint Blaha, Ethan Chamberlain and Clint Barrera.

Regional competition marks a triumphant season for any track team - especially a Class-A squad.

Class 2-A and higher schools compete in district then advance to regionals, but the Hornets had to face an area meet also. Advancing to regionals may be even sweeter for Louise and Josh Quebe, the Hornets' head coach, is thrilled to advance to the next level.

"It has been a successful year all around," Quebe said. "We have so many kids that came out for track and that's just a view of how good our program is. Everybody is stepping up to play and they want to play every event they can."

Seven Hornets will make the trek to Huntsville for the regional meet.

Daniel Sulak and Clint Barrera will compete in the 400-meter dash, Jay Sulak and Barrera will run the 800- meter dash, Chris Hicks will take on the triple jump, Clint Blaha will compete in the high jump and the team of Barrera, Hicks and the Sulak brothers will run the mile relay. Kyle Lawson and Ethan Chamberlain are alternates for the relay team.

Quebe said he feels confident in all of his athletes and especially his relay squad.

The team qualified for regionals with a time of 3:40.6. This weekend, the goal is to drop a few seconds and run in the 3:34-3:35 range. A time like that should put the Hornets among the best relay teams at the meet.

"I don't know if it's enough to get out (to state), but we'll make the finals for sure," Quebe said. "Hopefully, it's going to be good enough to get out."

The coach recognized every member of the relay team for strong efforts throughout the season.

"Jay started out as a long-distance runner this year for us," Quebe said. "He ran real well in the mile earlier in the year, but then we switched him to the 800 (meter dash) and he made it to regionals in that too. We've worked on his speed and keeping his speed for long distances, so he's become a real good mile-relay guy for us.

"Daniel Sulak, they call him half man, half cheetah. He's just fast. He goes out there and runs. He keeps his speed for a long distance and that's what makes him a good mile-relay guy.

"Chris Hicks stepped up for us big time. He was one of our good sprinters, but he really stepped up to the plate and trained hard. Clint Barrera, he's just a tough runner. He goes out there and runs his heart out every race and he gives it all he's got."

If one of the alternates is needed, Quebe said he knows his team will still perform up to expectations.

"Kyle was a sprinter all year, but he's probably our next strongest runner after the four we have on the relay," he said. "Ethan and Kyle, they're hard runners. They have so much heart and they can get around the track the fastest."

Blaha, who just missed qualifying for regionals in 110-meter hurdles also, has performed well in the high jump lately.

"He came out late, but he's really stepped up for us too," Quebe said. "He made it to area in the hurdles and now he's high jumping. He's picked it up real well and ran with it."

"We just had a great year and I'm proud of all the kids," Quebe said. "They ran their hearts out every race. They did everything we asked them to do in practice and I'm just as proud as I can be of them."