Michael Pineda
After piling up points in the field events last season, the Duncan boys track team is expected to be more balanced and potentially better than the team that finished fourth at the Class 5A State Meet last season.
The season will start Friday for Duncan when it travels to Holland Hall.
Head coach Todd Ledford expects the Demons to be strong in the field events once again but anticipates the team to be able to place in more running events. Ledford, who was also the cross country coach, has 18 distance runners out this season as well as a couple of new sprinters that are expected to make an immediate impact.
“Last year, we only scored in the field events at state and this year we will be able to score in more events,” Ledford said. “You have to be good in the relays and score in a majority of events and I think we have the ability to do that.
“Potentially, I really think that we are stronger.”
Duncan took a hit in the field events, losing two seniors that placed in the throwing events as well as two-time pole vaulting state champion Casy Rowell.
The Demons do welcome back Austin Perry, who placed in the discus and shot put and is expected to contend for a state championship in both events. Throwing coach Tim Buben will also welcome Dylan Dismuke back to the team.
“He missed a couple of years and is a little bit rusty but he has a whole lot of ability,” Ledford said.
Michael Buben and Lujack Whaley will also bring depth to two events that have been dominated by Duncan over the last couple of years.
Jared Griffin and Daniel McCoy each qualified for the high jump last season and will be expected to accumulate points in that event as well as the long jump. In the pole vault, the Demons will look for some young athletes to gain consistency as the year progresses. Two candidates expected to make an impact in the event are Dylan Mettler and Micah Frye.
One of the biggest differences in the team this season is speed which will show up on the 4x100-meter relay this season. Domonique Petties and Jordan Laskey are expected to compete in the event along with Robert Trujillo and Dane Steil. Other candidates will be Frye, Griffin and McCoy.
“We will be much stronger,” Ledford said. “If it all works out, we may have an exceptional 4x1.”
Trujillo, Steil, Frye, Griffin and McCoy will be candidates for the 4x400-meter relay team while Justin Hughes, Anthony Shircliff, Tyler Lee, Kevin Sanders, Tyler Trusley and Trujillo will be looked at in the 4x800-meter relay.
Petties, Laskey and Steil will be leaned on in the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash while Trujillo, Jeff Ervin and Cameron Hile will be given a look in the 400-meter dash.
The middle distance and distance events are expected to be an upgrade this season for Duncan as Ledford has 18 candidates to choose from in those events. Hughes, Lee, Shircliff, Ren Contreras and Connor Holland are expected to be several of the candidates to fill slots in the 800-meter run, mile run and two mile run.
Filling out the hurdles will be Frye, Trusley and Andy Stewart. Frye was one of the top hurdlers in the state last season before an injury hampered him in the final weeks of the season.
Even with several filled slots, there are a lot of unknowns about this year’s team, which has 42 out this season.
“Right now, we have so many new kids and sheer numbers,” Ledford said. “We are trying to figure out where they need to go and it will take a couple of meets. We also have to try and figure out where freshmen will have the same success down the road.”
— Michael Pineda is the sports editor for The Duncan Banner. He can be reached at 580-255-5354, Ext. 143, or via e-mail at m.pineda@duncanbanner.com.
