The Trojans enter the new season hoping to place a team inside the top four as a team at state for the first time since 2007.
The boys came close last year, finishing seventh at state, but were unable to sneak into the top four. Head coach Jason Agee likes the mentality of his senior boys this year, who have come into the season more focused.
Park Hill expects its success on the boys side to come through hurdles, led by junior all-state 110-meter hurdler Braylon Agee. Agee is a reigning district champion and placed fourth in state last year after completing the race in 14.29 seconds, 0.16 from first-place Devan Mathis of Lee’s Summit.
While the Trojans lost state champion javelin thrower Jordan Smith, they will look to Landen Julsen to lead the way in the field. Julsen returns for his senior season after finishing 10th at state in the long jump last year and fourth in districts.
The lady Trojans enter the season after finishing 16th in the state last year, returning two members of their all-state 4x200-meter relay team. Senior Desi Holbrook and sophomore Carolin Schaag are the returning 4x200 relay team members, who were district runner-ups and placed fifth at state last year with a time of 1 minute, 42.36 seconds.
The lady sprinters expect to compete at a high level. Sophomore sprinter Jae Bell is a threat in the 200-meter dash, finishing sixth in the district last year.
The Trojans return nearly 30 lettermen from last season between the boys and girls teams, but could see some new members break into the squad. The coaching staff highlighted Damariyn Ford and Nikyah Chappell as newcomers who could impact the varsity squad.
Park Hill hopes to build up momentum throughout the season ahead of the conference meet and postseason competition.