By Brad Heath 

When head coach Dustin Miller fields his track team this season, the expectations of a big year will be present thanks to a roster that features several returning athletes with excellent experience and ability in multiple events.  

Coach Miller said the boys’ team has some youth in certain areas, but he is confident in their ability to mature and fill in where the previous class left off.  

“Our boys’ team is young and deep in the throws; shot, disc and javelin. We’ve had several Junior High record setters enter the program over the past two seasons in the throws,” said Miller.  

Sophomore Louden Bolinger has continued to improve and is looking to leave his mark on the program. Coach Miller said Bolinger has spent countless hours improving his craft.  

“Louden is a shot and discus guy. He has come up to the throwing rings on his own time since JH to put in some extra work. Louden loves throwing and spends a lot of time watching film to improve his craft,” said Miller.  

One strength of the program is still the distance team and the pole-vaulting crew.  

“Our distance squad and pole vault crew aren’t quite as talented as we were last year, but they are still areas of strength for our program,” said Miller.  

Noah Lankard (Jr.) is a name Webb City fans should know. Lankard will compete in multiple events and according to coach Miller, has a chance to be one of the best in the state.  

“Noah is a distance athlete with range. He was a part of our school record 4×800 last season, competing in 4×400, 800, 1600 and 3200. Noah is willing to do anything that the team needs. He has the opportunity to be one of the area’s best 800 and 1600 runners. His goal is to qualify to state as an individual this season,” said Miller. 

Coach Miller said the team is looking forward to competing against some of the top talent in the state.  

“We have other veterans sprinkled throughout our team and look forward to seeing the progress we can make this season. We will need to score big in our events of strength and scrape together every point that we can find to compete for a COC west title this season.”  

Cooper Ackerman (So.) will compete in the long jump and triple jump again this season.  

“Cooper has impressed us with his athletic development in off-season workouts. He looks to be a contributor on sprint relays this season and has the ability to score big points in the horizontal events,” said Miller.