The Central Holmes boys track team went into last year’s state meet thinking they had a legitimate chance at winning a championship.
But a heavy rain at the state meet cost the Trojans valuable points in the hurdles and they finished second behind Centreville.
According to coach Jim Crowder, the Trojans entered this season with an opportunity to grab the state championship that eluded them last year.
“Everything was lining up for us to be really competitive,” Crowder said. “We were certainly going to be one of the ones that had a chance to win it. There were going to be a handful of teams that could win and I thought we were going to be in that group.”
Crowder said the Trojans had been working hard to get ready for the season.
“We had started practicing and I felt like we were ready for the first meet before spring break but it got rained out,” Crowder said. “We had a full schedule when we came back from spring break.”
Crowder said he liked his teams chances, despite losing Wykece Johnson, who had knee surgery after football season.
“We lost some guys off last year’s team but also had some good talent coming back,” Crowder said. “Wykece would have really helped us but he won’t be able to participate, but he will help us in other ways, helping with practice. We lost some guys in the field events and were going to have some guys to step up and fill those spots.”
Crowder said Owen O’Bryant was expected anchor the squad after he won the 400-meter dash last year and second in the 110-meter hurdles. Jurdan Engle also returns after grabbing Central Holmes other first-place finish in the 800-meter dash last year.
In the field events, Pierce Edwards is expected to throw the shot put and discus. Also expected to participate in the field events is Jace Dean and Lawrence Wiley.
In the hurdles, Crowder said he thought Artino Brown and O’Bryant were the top two hurdlers in the state and expected them to finish one-two for the Trojans.
In the distance events, Crowder was looking to Ellis Harris, Brad Roberson and Jurdan Engle to lead the way while Shawn Harrell and Cayton Edwards would also be on the relay teams.
In the sprints, Crowder said he thought the Trojans would be really strong in the sprints with C.J. Head, Wiley, O’Bryant, Dean, Noah Steen and Pacey Thompson.
“I thought we were going to be really good in the sprints as well,” Crowder said. “We have several guys who can run. We just needed to find the right combination there.”
