The Wright City boys track team comes into the 2018 season with plenty of potential, and a group of returning athletes who were on the cusp of the sectional and state meets a season ago.

Will Janowski, Sean McDonald and Stephon Norwood return in the 1,600-meter relay after finishing sixth in the sectional meet at Montgomery County last season.

Janowski is also expected to run in the 400, where he finished sixth in the district meet.

“Will is pretty strong in the 400, and we have a bunch of solid runners in the 4X400 relay, too, so it will be fun to see how that plays out this year,” Head Coach Billy Garrett said.

McDonald will also compete in the 300 hurdles, where he qualified for sectionals last season.

Norwood, Gavin Waters and George Pezold are back in the 3,200-meter relay, but Garrett will have to replace standout runner Jacob Mueller.

Junior Jayden Mahaney, who narrowly missed the sectional cut a year ago in the 100, is also back.

Mahaney finished fifth at districts; seventh-tenths of a second behind Winfield’s Dillon Dildine.

In the field events, senior Joe Phillips and junior Donnie Grueneberg lead the way in the shot put and discus.

Phillips finished 10th at district in the shot put while Grueneberg finished 11th in the discus.

The biggest hole to fill appears to be in the high jump, where senior Trevon Holmes will miss the season after tearing his ACL during football season.

“We don’t have anyone quite at his level,” Garrett said, “but we’ll see what we can do to replace him.”

The Wildcats open up their season with the Wildcat Warm-up meet Thursday.

“We have a good, solid core of returning athletes and a lot of sophomores, so that is a good thing to build on for the future,” Garrett said. “We’re ready to see how the kids develop throughout the year with the experienced athletes helping them along the way.”