— The 2014 boys track and field season, in terms of Howard County schools, could be as wide open as any year in recent memory.

With Kokomo and Eastern suffering key graduation losses, and the return of exceptional veteran depth across the board, it’s anyone’s guess as who has the inside track to a sectional title.

The following are season outlooks for each county squad, in order of finish in last year’s sectional.

Eastern

The Comets won a fourth straight Mid-Indiana Conference championship before wrestling the sectional title away from host Kokomo, claiming their first crown since 1998 while dethroning the Wildkats for the first time since 2009, when Western claimed the top step of the podium.

Eastern graduated four state qualifiers, including state long jump champion Grant Cole, but with a host of key contributors back, second-year coach Austin Roark is just as confident with his current crop as he was with last year’s Greentown contingent.

“The good thing is with winning and having so much success last year, it got kids excited,” Roark said. “It showed them that if they come out and train hard we can do it again. A lot of those kids are back from that team. Obviously we will miss all those seniors that did so well, but we’re also returning a big part of guys that scored the majority of our points. I think that success last year is going to feed right into this year and keep those guys hungry for another sectional title.”

Senior Riley Haupert was the sectional runner-up in the 100- and 200-meter dashes, and will lead the Comets’ sprinters. Haupert is joined by senior Will Porter, and juniors Andrew Turner and Papee Byers on the 4x100 relay team, which won the sectional a year ago. Freshman Noah Aaron is making a strong push to earn a spot on the relay, as well, while Porter will pull double duty, also playing baseball. Turner was a regional qualifier in the 200.

The distance crew is led by senior Lewis Duke, who was a state qualifier in cross country in the fall. Sophomores Brenton Cherry, Evan Hursh and junior Matt Kerner will also compete in the distance events, while Duke, senior Joshua Sommers, junior Kevin Zheng and senior Nick Handy, a Maconaquah transfer, will likely be the main middle-distance guys.

Byers and sophomore Braden Evans will anchor the long jump, while Evans and freshman Cole Walker are the primary high jumpers. Sophomore Andrew Doak is the top pole vaulter, where any combination of freshman, including Corbin Hetzner, Bryce Newhouse and Ben Cole could also step in.

Juniors Brent Bachman and Austin Bates and freshman Evan Ellis will hold down the shot put and discus events for the Comets.

“I’m excited. This group is a lot of fun,” Roark said. “Expectations-wise, we expect to be back on top. We expect to win the conference and sectional, which are ultimately our goals. We know what Northwestern has — they’re pretty good. And, we know what Kokomo has — Kokomo is always a solid team. But, we expect to beat them. We have it written up on the board inside: ‘Sectional champions.’ Those guys don’t want to drop that. We don’t want to give it back.”

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Kokomo

The Wildkats won their third straight North Central Conference title before missing out on their fourth straight sectional crown by 3.5 points, but graduated a large chunk of their top scorers, including double sectional champions in Darrion McAlister (shot, disc) and Waylon Coulter (high jump, pole vault).

“2014 will be a rebuilding year for a couple areas,” coach Tom Byrnes said. “It does not matter where we start, it matters where we finish. I feel that we have the potential to finish in the top half of the NCC, sectional and get [an] individual into the state championship.”

Kokomo’s strength will lie in its distance crew. Senior Jeremy Breedlove was the sectional runner-up in the 1,600 and 3,200 a season ago, while classmate Jordan Fivecoate was eighth in the 3,200. They will be joined by juniors Jadyn Whitehead, Nicolas Hattenhauer and sophomores Ethan Sharp and Colton Pearce.

Junior Austin Avery will be the eldest thrower for the Kats. He’ll be joined by sophomores Cameron Fitts, Parker Hedrick, Jamal Kasem, Jai Malone, Zharquan White and freshman Kheiston Harvey.

Junior Jordan Nix was the NCC champion in the 300 hurdles and finished fourth in the 100 hurdles in the sectional meet. He’ll anchor the Kats’ sprint crew along with Dillon Graham, Tymon Hall, Keigan Hayes, Nathan Miles, Rolando Tyler, Jordan Williams and Joe Wikel.

Jordan Rawlins was an all-conference selection in the 4x400 relay a season ago, and will be among the top middle-distance competitors.

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Western

The Panthers claimed a Howard County meet title in 2013, and with upwards of 25 upperclassmen, appear to be a strong candidate to contend for their second sectional championship in six seasons.

“We have a lot of senior returning athletes this year, and we have a lot of experience coming back,” coach Marvin Boswell said. “The kids that are coming back have had a good offseason and have really been working hard here at the start of the season. We think we may have an opportunity to go out and be very competitive in some of our big meets this year.”

Senior Matt Grider is the top returner for the Panthers after a stellar junior campaign which saw him win the MIC in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200 before claiming sectional titles in the 1,600 and 3,200. He capped the year with a seventh-place finish in the state finals in the 3,200.

Grider will be joined by juniors Riley Carter and Auston Davenport, senior Austin Elliott and freshman Josh Everetts in the distance events.

Seniors Robert Harless and Christian Glenn return to a 4x100 team which claimed an MIC title. Sophomore Cameron Dessing and junior Zach Shahan will join them in the sprints.

Dessing, juniors Devin Vent, Stacy Hutchinson and seniors Jacob Bradshaw and Kyle Copenhaver will make up the 4x400 relay, while Copenhaver, Bradshaw, Everetts, Elliott and Davenport are in the mix in the 4x800 relay.

Seniors Bradeon Cannon and George Conwell will be the top hurdlers, and will also contend for spots on the 4x100 team.

Seniors Brett Boswell, Russell McDorman, Austin Berndt and junior Corey Hinkle will anchor a strong throwing contingent. Boswell was last season’s MIC champ in the discus. Hinkle finished fourth in the sectional in the discus, and McDorman finished fifth in the sectional in the shot.

Conwell, Shahan and Glenn make up a strong high jump crew for the Panthers, while Glenn and Cannon are the top long jumpers. Bradshaw, junior J.T. Benzinger and freshman Zach Zentz are the top pole vaulters.

“I think with us having the depth, it allows us to maybe not have to take some of our best athletes and put them in four events,” Marvin Boswell said. “We can spread it around a little bit to where maybe certain people can concentrate on their events and become better at those events. Yet, it still gives us the flexibility that we can change when we’re going against certain competition. The senior leadership that I am seeing, the goals and what they want to try to accomplish this year – they want to get back to where they’re winning some championships. So, I think any time you have a team that’s lead by several seniors, it’s usually a pretty good recipe for success.”

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Northwestern

Like Western, the Tigers are exceptionally deep with upperclassmen, boasting 30 juniors and seniors.

And with a double sectional champion, as well as a state qualifier back from a season ago, coach Dave Stevens has a confident bunch in his stable, a group looking for the school’s first track and field sectional title.

“I’m pretty excited about what we have,” Stevens said. “We also have some younger guys that are filling in in the places where we’re needing some help. All in all, I think the depth we may have is one of the things that helps us. We sent quite a few guys to the indoor state meet, which is always a plus. That means you have guys that are going to represent you well outdoors, as well. They’ve been practicing hard and doing the things I’ve asked of them, tolerating the weather and school closings. They still keep coming to practice and working hard.”

Senior sprinter Cameron Oden leads the Tigers after claiming conference and sectional titles in the 100 and 200. Oden and classmates Kegan Fessenden and Tyler Martin ran legs on Northwestern’s 4x100 team which set a school record a season ago. Sophomores Grant Condon and Parker Davis and junior Chase Moser are the top candidates to fit into the relays and other sprints.

Junior Darren Curry was an MIC champ and state qualifier in the pole vault as a sophomore. He’ll be joined there by junior Parker Fessenden and sophomore Mac Wilder.

Juniors Josh Perry, Riley Hudson, Micahel Hornbuckle and freshman Joe Mast will handle high jumping duties, while Condon, Hudson and sophomore Corey Lamb will compete in the long jump.

Seniors Colton Ferren, Zach Hetzner and David Schaaf and junior Tyler Thatcher are the top shot putters, while Schaaf, sophomore Cameron Curry and juniors Shawn Schweitzer and Austin Jarvis will handle discus duties.

Martin, Perry, Kegan Fessenden, Condon, Oden, sophomore Owen Munson and junior Ethan Dubbels are all in the mix to crack the 4x400 lineup, while Dubbels, seniors Zach Durant, Shad Jakes, Munson and Andrew Fackler, and sophomore Daniel Hernandez may all be called upon to compete in the 4x800 at some point.

Duranto, Jakes, Fackler and Logan Redman headline a senior-laden distance crew, where Munson, Hernandez and junior Joel Austin will also jockey for position.

“Overall, we want a good showing every day. If we do that, good things are going to happen,’ Stevens said. “I think the conference may be as balanced as its ever been with the top four or five teams. Any one of those teams could be at the top if they’re jumping high, throwing far and running fast at that time of the year. I’m looking forward to it and I know the guys are.”

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Taylor

Coach Matt Carlile returns for his fifth season with the Titans, and is starting to see positive strides in terms of retention and participation in the younger portions of the program.

“We’ve got several returners,” Carlile said. “I think we have more runners than we’ve had in the past five years. Our numbers are up. We did a track camp last year which brought out some younger guys, and I think that’s going to benefit the middle school program in the short-term. Hopefully, those guys continue to come out and build the program.”

Junior Victor Skaggs and classmate Owen Blumm, a move-in from St. Louis, will be the primary distance runners.

Skaggs, seniors Austin Smith and Alex Guy, and sophomore Shawn Seftin will make up the 4x800 relay team. Senior Kaleil Rucker and sophomores Eli Meadows, Darius Taper and Lowen Killebrew will compete in the 4x100, while Rucker, Smith, junior Stephen Sholty and freshman Liam Ireland will make up the 4x400 relay squad.

Meadows, Taper, Rucker, Killebrew and junior Derek Rappuhn will handle the sprints, while Sholty will be the squad’s primary hurdler.

Sophomore Tyler Delon and junior Parker VanMeter will be the top throwers, where they will be joined by sophomore Dylan Lapetina and freshmen Jack Engelder and Kegan Rucker.

Meadows and Taper will handle the high jump, while Smith will join them in the long jump. Sholty will also handle pole vaulting duties.

“These guys are a strong bunch,” Carlile said. “The sophomore class is really strong. I’m glad to see a lot of them back and active in their sports.”