Western held the seat of power last season in local boys track. The Panthers hosted the sectional and took the title, 24 points ahead of Kokomo. Northwestern was third, Eastern fifth and Taylor 12th.

The title was Western’s first since 2009. To keep hold of the hardware this season, when the sectional moves back to Kokomo, Western will have to find new athletes to replace the bulk of its points in the sectional. Meanwhile, Kokomo has a wealth of returners despite a couple key graduation losses.

Northwestern looks to build on a productive offseason. Eastern hopes to be competitive with a good all-around squad. And Taylor hopes to make strides toward competitiveness with a deeper squad.

Below are a look at this year’s boys track squads, in order of last season’s sectional finish.

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WESTERN

The Panthers are building back up after their sectional success, with plenty of opportunities for young athletes.

“First thing is, we lost about 70 percent of our points that we scored last year at the sectional to attrition — guys that graduated or kids who didn’t come out for the team,” new Western coach Gary Jewell said.

“That’s one thing that I’ve stressed to the boys we have now is guys, if you’re a freshman or a sophomore this is a great opportunity to step up now and secure your spot. That’s the thing we’re challenging guys on, be a part of the team and do what you can do to help us out.”

The veterans are even more valuable since there are fewer of them.

“This year we have five seniors on the roster, that’s one third of what we had last year,” Jewell said. “When you lose that many seniors, you lose a lot of leadership. But right now the five guys we have, we’re going to lean on heavily, along with a junior and a sophomore, to do a lot of scoring for us.”

Those seniors include sprinter and high jumper Zach Shahan (the sectional champ in high jump last season), sprinter Stacy Hutchinson (who may also long jump), middle distance and distance runner Auston Davenport, thrower Corey Hinkle (a state participant in discus), and pole vaulter J.T. Benziger. Junior sprinter and hurdler Cameron Dessing, and sophomore middle distance/distance runner Josh Everetts are also expected to be key scorers.

Shahan and Dessing were parts of a 400 relay team that tied a school record, and Everetts and Davenport were on the 3,200 team that set an all-time area-best time last season at the regional and which reached state.

Young athletes expected to make a mark are sophomore sprinter/long jumper Mica Beard, freshman high jumper Zhe-don Beard, freshman middle distance runner Andrew Granfield, freshman middle distance runner Tyler Lechner, and freshman thrower Alex Newman.

Jewell hopes the younger athletes learn quickly the expectations of the program.

“We train very hard and we’re serious the way we do this,” Jewell said. “We want kids to work hard and expect to get better. We don’t expect to finish fourth or fifth, we expect to win. I think it makes you hungrier to see what you can accomplish.”

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KOKOMO

The Wildkats expect to challenge to end a three-year sectional drought with a well-stocked team, highlighted by senior pole vaulter Avery Barrett, who tied for 16th at state last season.

“It’s a pretty good core group of kids that we have back from last year, minus obviously [state qualifier] Jeremy Breedlove and Jordan Fivecoate,” Kokomo coach Tom Byrnes said.

The Kats see reasons to feel positive in almost all areas.

“I think our sprint group is going to be pretty strong with Addrecus Eddington, Jordan Nix, Jordan Rawlins, Hanif Burnett, and Rolando Tyler,” Byrnes said. They are “multi-talented kids and they can do a number of events.

“Pole vault should be pretty solid with Avery Barrett and Rolando Tyler there,” Byrnes said. “Hurdles should be pretty decent with Tyler and Nix and Hanif Burnett. That sprint group’s really going to be our backbone this year.”

Farod Knox, Nigel Lenoir, Jerry Phipps, Caleb Cook, Trajan Decker, Aion Jones, Antonio Jones, Roman Miner, Christian Robinson, Tyler Shelly, Brian Stewart, Keenen Wheeler and Curtis Wilson are expected to add depth to the sprints.

In the distances, juniors Colten Pearce and Ethan Sharp look to build on solid cross country seasons. Coy Brandon, Justin Taflinger and Alex Ward look to add depth to a largely new distance squad.

Moving to the field, Nix, Barrett and Eddington return to the jumping events. Roman Miner, Chris Robinson, Aion Jones, Antonio Jones and Curtis Wilson add depth.

In pole vault Barrett returns after reaching state last season. He’s joined by Tyler and newcomers Knox, Lenior and Phipps.

In the throws, Parker Hedrick, Zharquan White, Austin Avery and Cameron Fitts are back after making improvements in the offseason.

“I hope that we can find some areas some of our younger kids [can] fill in some of those spots that we know we’re going to be weak in,” Byrnes said. “I think they have the potential to have a really good season. We’re eyeing our fifth conference in a row this year but it’ll be a challenge with the new Lafayette schools in there. We’d like to get the sectional. It’s been three years since we won the sectional I think.”

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NORTHWESTERN

The Purple Tigers don’t have the numbers they’ve had in the past but have a good esprit de corps which coach Dave Stevens hopes translates into another strong season.

“I’m quite impressed with the boys,” Stevens said. “We had several of the young men make a concentrated choice to work this winter on their track and it’s already showing.

“As far as the team’s concerned, we’re thin compared to teams we’ve had in the past of 60 or 70 guys. We’re right at 40. That means everybody’s got to pull their weight a little heavier this time around.”

Stevens has already seen a willingness to sacrifice for the team.

“One of the things that I like about what I’ve seen from the guys is so many of them are willing to give to a relay team,” he said. “They could say ‘boy, if I run that relay I can’t do as well in my individual event, but they’re wanting to be part of that relay.

“Another big strength that I think we have is in the jumping events. Every day we have the potential for two to three guys in the high jump, two to three guys in the pole vault to score points. And with Grant Condon in the long jump, we’re right there as well. Our throwers are working hard and they’re improving every day.”

In pole vault, seniors Darren Curry and Parker Fessenden both reached the indoor state meet. Junior Mac Wilder also joins a group where all three have cleared 10 feet, 6 inches. Darren Curry is the defending sectional champion.

Seniors Josh Perry and Riley Hudson and sophomore Joe Mast are high jumpers, and Condon is in long jump.

Throwers are senior Tyler Thatcher, junior Cameron Curry and freshman Justin Ballinger.

Two major keys on the track are Perry and junior Owen Munson.

“I can switch those guys around in anything from a 100 to an 800, they can run all three relays,” Stevens said. “Josh and Owen are unbelievably strong.”

Darren Curry, senior Chase Moser, senior Tyler Hudson, senior Taylor McClain and freshman Grant Ford also man the sprints.

McClain will also run distances, along with senior Jesse Murdock and sophomore Corey Menning. Middle distance runners are senior Ethan Dubbels, senior Joel Austin and sophomore Spencer Hutchins.

Senior Tyler Thatcher, junior Cameron Curry and freshman Justin Ballinger are the throwers. Ballinger may also help on the track.

“I see we have a chance to be very successful,” Stevens said. “I know the guys have it in them.

“All in all, I see us moving up. I think we’re going to be able to compete with a lot of people as a team.”

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EASTERN

Former Goshen coach Tom Everett takes over the Eastern program after having helped the Comets in smaller ways previously, having coached throwers on the girls side for a season, and helping out at home events recently.

“It’s exciting getting back into coaching track again since I did it back in the late ‘90s,” said Everett, who has been a teacher at Eastern since 2001. “You get to see a different side of kids in athletics as opposed to the classroom, and they look at you differently.”

He hopes this group can grow into a competitive one.

“I feel like we have a solid squad,” Everett said. “I feel like we can compete with a lot of teams. We do have a lot of work to do, but I think where the kids are at now, I really like that and we’re working hard to get better every day to have a strong finish in the end for the conference meet and for sectionals.”

The Comets have shown a talent for field events.

“I feel like in the throwing events, that is one of our stronger areas where I can count on those athletes scoring points for us, but then I hate to neglect the other events because I feel like [with] the kids in the mile run, we can be strong; hurdles, long jump, pole vault,” Everett said. “If I were to say our strongest area, I would just say in general it’s the field events with shot and disc being our strengths.”

The throwers are senior Brent Bachman and sophomore Evan Ellis. Junior Andrew Doak is the top pole vaulter.

Junior Braden Evans is in hurdles and jumps but can be placed almost anywhere. Seniors Andrew Turner and Austin Bates are in dashes.

Senior Ross Smith, junior Trevor Buchanan, junior Evan Hursch and senior Matt Kerner are the distance specialists.

Sophomore Ben Cole and freshman Brayden Sparks are utility athletes, capable of filling several roles.

“What I’d like to see is the boys continue to work hard and continually improve to the point where we can compete at a high level,” Everett said. “That’s my main thing.”

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TAYLOR

A fresh injection of athletes has Titan coach Matt Carlile upbeat about improving this season.

“We’ve got some fresh faces on the team this year that are looking pretty good,” Carlile said. “We look to be shaping up a little better than last year, being able to fill all the spots, all the races.”

The newcomers blend with some veterans to improve the squad in several events.

“We’ve got [strengths] sprinkled throughout a little bit of everywhere,” Carlile said. “We’ve got some returning throwers along with several pickups. Tyler Delon, a junior that’s come back, third year, he’s been pretty strong in the throws, in the shot put especially.

New throwers include junior James Bell, junior James Richmond, junior Donovan Renbarger, junior Dylan Lapetina, sophomore Brayden Hancock, and sophomore Jack Engelder.

Carlile said Taylor has added a lot of depth to the sprints and jumps. Those spots are manned by a mix of veterans and newcomers. Sophomore Liam Ireland, junior Darius Taper and junior Eli Meadows have experience at those spots. Adding to the mix are junior Dontae Campbell, senior Tymon Hall and senior Otha Wilson.

“[Campbell and Hall] have added to our high jump, our jumps and sprints team that we were really lacking in last year,” Carlile said.

Senior Stephen Sholty is a hurdle specialist and runs the 1,600 relay. “He’s definitely a strength for us this year,” Carlile said of the fourth-year track athlete.

Juniors Robbie Tebbe and Kyle Orvech return to the team after having run as freshmen. They join seniors Victor Skaggs and Shaun Sefton to give the team improved depth in distances.

Newcomer senior Derek Yeiter is trying his hand at pole vault.

“The numbers have been impressive, and the depth. Filling spots in the past sometimes has been cumbersome but it seems like we can fill all the lanes and have a few almost [for] JV that I haven’t seen in my coaching time at Taylor,” said Carlile, entering his fifth season involved with Taylor. “That’s definitely invigorating.”