With a large number of point-producing athletes not returning to the track team due to graduation, moving and some not coming out for the team, it was unclear if the returning athletes would be able to fill the shoes of those who didn’t return.

Head boys coach Chris Dunback was apprehensive about the start of the season.

“We lost a lot of quality seniors,” Dunback said. “We were unsure how the season would turn out, but the results have been positive.”

Despite an overwhelming number of underclassmen competing on varsity, the girls team has won all of its meets. The boys team has also been successful with a second place, two third places and a fourth place finish.

Head girls coach Mark Peck is pleased with how the teams have performed.

“It’s early to say, but we are headed in the right direction,” Peck said. “These kids are filling the shoes of athletes [we lost] and they are doing even better.”

Contributing to the girls’ first place wins, sophomore McKenzie Schmitt proved she was ready to step up and produce points.

“I have done really well so far, and so has the team,” Schmitt said. “It’s the larger meets that count, but our success shows that we are only going to get better.”

The team has found that a lot of its points are coming from the younger athletes.

In the first meet of the season, 109 of the team’s 206.5 points (almost 53 percent), not including points scored in relays, were scored by sophomores. Additionally, the freshmen girls scored 36 individual points, more than the 34 points scored by juniors or the 27.5 points scored by seniors.

Compared to last season, when both teams won league and the girls finished third at state and the boys finished fifth, throwing coach Cory Wurtz sees a distinction not only in points coming from underclassmen, but also how points are being scored.

“There isn’t the four-event dominant person like we had last year,” Wurtz said. “Instead, there are four different people scoring points for us.”

Some of those athletes are seniors Macauley Garton, returning after winning state in javelin, Chad Thomas, Adam Farnow, and junior Parker Brush, who are all stepping up to lead the team.

Sophomore Maddie Estell, who earned a gold medal in the high jump and second place in the triple jump, sees the leadership forming in both the girls and the boys teams.

“Both teams have pretty strong leaders,” Estell said. “But underclassmen are doing well also.”

Another underclassman who proved she was able to score was sophomore Emily Brigham, who won every event she participated in at the Ottawa Invitational, including the 300- meter hurdles, which she had never competed in before.

Dunback sees the positives of underclassmen like Brigham taking on more events.

“We didn’t know how it would play out,” Dunback said. “It’s a surprise that younger girls are stepping up and filling holes that we are missing.”

However, regardless of who is being relied upon to produce points, Peck still expects the team to be successful.

“We hope to be successful and win league,” Peck said.”That’s what we strive for every year.”