ESCANABA — The Escanaba boys have been eagerly awaiting the start of their track and field season.

They won’t have to wait much longer as they travel to Sault Ste. Marie for Saturday’s Yooper Invitational inside Lake Superior State University’s Norris Center at 2 p.m.

The Eskymos, who started with 30 student-athletes, have five seniors on their roster.

They include returners Ivan Anderson, Parker Erickson and William Weise, newcomer Colton Sierpien and exchange student Adrej Jankura.

“We’re happy with our numbers right now,” coach Scott Dykema said. “William was a great leader in cross country. Adrej is strong in the distance, but also a good sprinter. We’re happy to have 12 freshmen which I think bodes well for the future. They’re very mature for freshmen and they’re good listeners. We’re hoping they will bring excitement to our team. I think this will be a good year for us.”

Juniors include sprinters Ben Sands, a third-place finisher in the 400-meter dash in last year’s U.P. Division 1 Finals, Garrett Jaselewski and Dante Rouse, hurdlers Zander Bowden and Landon Carrao, Jayden Henderson in weight events, Brandon VanDrese (long jump) and A.J. Shrader.

“Ben is our fastest kid,” Dykema said. “He’s still battling injuries from hockey, but it doesn’t seem to be affecting him. Garrett is a strong kid. I think he’ll be good in the 400. Dante is also strong in the 400 and fast and A.J. is stronger this year. We’ll be relying on our upperclassmen a lot for their experience and leadership.”

The sophomore class is represented by Zahn Anderson (weight events) and Cole Shrader (middle distances).

Leading freshmen are Andrew Hamlin (jumping events), Elijah Englund (sprints), Isaac Lambert (pole vault), Hadyn Denis (hurdles) and Bryce Bichler.

“I’m really excited to see a variety of athletes coming in,” Dykema said. “They’re so diverse. We have a lot of dual-sport athletes. We have great speed in baseball and this is only going to help them, and we have a few dual-sport athletes from tennis. We’re working together with other coaches so we can be successful in all sports.”

After their opener, the Eskymos visit Gladstone for its invitation April 17 and the Delta County Invite April 22.

“This will be our first indoor meet in a while,” Dykema said. “We were a little hesitant about scheduling this meet, but this is the first year we’ve had three weeks to train before Spring Break. I think the kids will be able to handle it. We got a chance to work on technique and get to know each other better. We have a good schedule. Last year we had three meets in one week, which is too much. We have an AD (athletic director Nate Zaremba) who used to coach track and is excited about track.”

Esky is hosting a 20-school invitational May 2 and the Division 1 regional May 16.

Schedule

April 12 — LSSU Yooper Invitational at Sault Ste. Marie; April 17 — Gladstone Invitational; April 22 — Delta County Invitational at Gladstone; April 29 — at Menominee.

May 2 — Eskymos Invitational; May 6 — Manistique Invitational; May 16 — Division 1 regional; May 19 — GNC meet at Kingsford; May 31 — U.P. Finals at Kingsford.