There’s an air of anticipation surrounding the 2010 boys track and field season, one that perhaps hasn’t been seen in quite some time.

Building toward the May 20th Kokomo Sectional, there could be no fewer than four teams waiting to lay claim to the title.

Eastern, with a nucleus of seniors, has already had an outstanding indoor season. The Comets finished third a week ago at the Hoosier State Relays 1A-3A Finals at Purdue University behind Fort Wayne Concordia and Andrean.

Oak Hill, the 2007 sectional champion, finished eighth at the HSR Finals while the Wildkats return a healthy portion of points from their team a year ago.

That leaves Western, which is merely the two-time defending sectional champion, winning in 2009 by a landslide but also graduating a huge chunk of its lineup.

“The competition sure has evened up,” said Panthers coach Marvin Boswell. “I know Eastern has been very dominant [indoors this year] and they have some nice athletes. Oak Hill is also extremely strong this year. Kokomo’s got some pretty good athletes this year also.

“So I think the competition has taken a step forward. We’ve kind of lost our big dogs, but we’re still going to be pretty solid. You don’t need to count us out completely.”

No chance of that happening if you’re Tom Byrnes, coach the Wildkats. His team hasn’t won a sectional since 2006.

“Obviously Western is the first team you have to talk about. They are the defending champ,” Byrnes said. “Oak Hill is very good, Eastern is extremely loaded this year, so it’s going to be a really good sectional meet with a lot of quality kids.

“We feel like we’re ready to contend for sectional again. We think we’re in a group of two or three teams that people are going to have to look out for.”

Eastern coach Paul Nicholson, whose Comets captured their one and only sectional title in 1998, knows a lot can happen between now and mid-May.

“We’re excited,” he said. “Things are going to be there waiting on us if we can stay uninjured and so forth.”

It all begins Monday when Taylor visits Western and Tuesday with Northwestern at Eastern and Kokomo at Peru.

The following are capsules of the five Howard County teams in alphabetical order.

Eastern

The Comets hope to catapult out of the indoor season with the same kind of success Western did a year ago after the Panthers won the HSR title.

Senior pole vaulter Kevin Jackson won the indoor state title last week with a personal-best 15 feet, 3 inches and is joined by classmates Hansen Martin, Brett Buckmaster, Dylan Buck and Mitch Padfield — the backbone of the team for four years.

Another senior who was a regional qualifier in 2009, Caleb Gibson, is sidelined with a meniscus injury.

“We have seniors who are all together on this,” said Nicholson. “When we’re healthy we’re good with this group of seniors.”

Martin and Padfield teamed with sophomore Sam Clark and junior Adam Schaaf to win the 4x800 relay last week in 8:18.08, topping the school’s outdoor record. They form the middle distance and distance corps along with junior Ryan Horner, also a regional qualifier last season.

Buckmaster and Buck run the 400 meters as well as sophomore Gatlin Hinesley while junior Cale Roark returns in the sprints and long jump along with sophomore Blake Thomas.

Junior Reid LaRowe returns in the hurdles and will be joined by freshmen Grant Cole and Jonah Evans and Micah Marx in 300 intermediate hurdles.

Joining Jackson in pole vault is Logan Hetzner-Stephens, who qualified for the indoor state meet, and Hinesley. Junior Blake Donson is the defending sectional discus champion and also placed seventh in the high jump. He’s joined there by Braden Barnett and Evans. Joining Donson in the throws are sophomores Joey Price and Seth Keck.

Nicholson, in his 41st year at the helm, is anticipating an outstanding season, even if his words sound subdued.

“We’re planning on being competitive and it being a fun season,” he said.

Kokomo

The Kats are more experienced than last season in just about every area but need to develop depth throughout the lineup.

“We’re still relatively young,” said Byrnes. “[The underclassmen] have to step up. It’ll be interesting to see.”

Junior John Alsup returns as a four-time regional qualifier a year ago in the 100, 200 4x400 and long jump.

“John is probably our best athlete,” Byrnes said. “He’s our leading sprinter, he’s our strongest long jumper, and John is so coachable he’ll do anything we ask him to do.”

Also returning in the sprints are seniors Diamanta Hayes, Braxton Shelton and S.J. Moultrie as well as sophomores Tony Moses, the 2009 sectional 400-meter champion, and Michael Clifton.

Junior Robert Lancaster was a regional qualifier in the 300 hurdles. Others who could be factors in the sprints and hurdles are Vick Arora, Christian Benjamin, Huston Clark, Taylor Killings, Harvey Lenoir, Trenton Lewis, Brycen Morgan, Tyler Pigg, Troy Solomen, Bryson Sparks, Shondre Stewart, Cheyse Swain and Dominic Wilson.

Kokomo’s high jumpers and long jumpers will come from the sprinters and hurdlers, with Wilson, Arora and Morgan handling the pole vault.

Junior Adrian Glover leads the distance events along with seniors Matt Wyss, Vince Calabro and Jordan Lee as well as Noland Arnold, Waylon Coulter, Tyler Helfin, Bret Noll, Minh Pham and Dylan Walker.

The throws include senior David Sirmons, the North Central Conference discus champion a year ago; and classmates Michael Barton, Arquan Campbell, Duakeen Campbell, JaMichael Gilliam, Vincent Jackson and Shelton.

Byrnes wants to see the Kats improve on their third-place finishes at both the NCC and sectional meets in 2009.

“I used the phrase [in practice this week], ‘Are we going to be contenders or pretenders?’” said Byrnes. “Let’s see how our kids rise up to [the challenge].”

Northwestern

The Tigers have high numbers again this season with 56 athletes out, but graduation and defections spell turnover and a learning curve.

“However, 25 of them are first-time high-school track guys,” said coach Dave Stevens. “We’re going to be inexperienced until some of them get out on the track against varsity athletes.

“I’m enthused by the way they’ve worked. We’ll be much better by tournament time. Some of our guys are going to have to get that confidence on the run.”

Northwestern is practically starting over in the sprints, led by senior Cory Rupert, who qualified for the HSR Finals in the 55-meter dash. He could run anywhere from 100 meters to 400 meters as well as long jump.

Also sprinting are seniors Jamey Werich and Jordan Wilson, junior Bryan Weaver, sophomores Marcus Salazar, Justin Tryling and move-in Ian Witter.

Weaver may also return to the hurdles, where senior Rob Brunner, Wilson and freshman James Schulte will try their hands at the event.

Six juniors fill the distance slots — Sam Freeman, first-timer Evan Young, Nolan Cockrell, Hayden Jarvis, Adam Fessenden and Billy Pasquale along with sophomores Ian Moss and Jackson Fessenden and freshman Chris Hendricks.

High jumpers include junior Austin Finley, Schulte, Brunner and freshman David Wilkinson. In long jump junior Nick Daanen joins Rupert and Wilson.

Junior Chris Vas returns in pole vault, joined by freshmen Ethan Ault and Jake Baer and perhaps even Rupert.

Senior Andy Hunkeler returns in the throws, joined by Ray Monroe, Thomas Wilkinson, Kyle Hardwick and newcomers Keenan Sprinkle, Jessie Hunt and Aleck Gale.

“We’re going to take it one meet at a time,” said Stevens. “We’ll grow and learn together as a team.”

Taylor

The Titans had a decent turnout this spring, including senior basketball players Reomey Northington and Drake Herr. But like much of the team, they have little experience.

“I’ve probably got 25 kids, which is more than I had last year, but several of them have never, ever competed in track and field,” Taylor coach Steve Hanlon said. “Hopefully some of them will step up. There’s just a lot of question marks.”

Senior Austen Conwell is not a question mark. He’s the defending sectional champion in the 110-meter high hurdles and in search of his first trip to the state finals later this season.

“He’s one of the premier hurdlers in the area, if not the premier hurdler in the area,” Hanlon said of Conwell, who was sixth at the HSR Finals a week ago.

“We think he has a shot at [advancing to the state meet]. He’s been to regional for three years and we’re hoping he can get out of there. There’s a lot of great hurdlers that come down from South Bend.”

Senior Walt Wheeler is healthier than he was a year ago and should be joined by Northington in the sprints. Junior Billy Jones and senior Cody Scalfe handle the 400, and freshman JayShon Jones will join Conwell in the 300 hurdles.

Senior Justin Anderson was seventh at sectional in the 1,600 and anchors the distance corps that includes sophomore Julian Nieto, junior Anthony Rentz and freshman Drew Hansen.

Wheeler and Herr will high jump and junior Seth Stockdell returns in pole vault. Throws include Ben Sanchez, Cory Glick, Matt Petty and Bo Bolinger.

Hanlon is anxious to see how the spring unfolds.

“It’s going to be an interesting season, I’m sure,” he said.

Western

The Panthers were practically unbeatable in 2009, including the Kokomo Relays, Howard County, Mid-Indiana Conference and Kokomo Sectional — all in the month of May.

Gone, though, are Jerel Hall (Anderson University), the sectional 100- and 200-meter champion; Corey Scott (Purdue), who finished fifth in the state in the 3,200; and state qualifier Chris Harter (pole vault), to name a few.

“It was tough to see that graduating class go,” said Boswell. “One of the things we talk to our kids about as they become juniors and seniors is that they take on more and more of a leadership role.

“Those who graduated last year ... were showing our younger kids that work ethic and how to bring home championships. So I’m sure our younger kids have paid attention to that and will follow in their footsteps.”

The torch has been passed this year to seniors like Indy Mathew and Aaron Van Auken. Both qualified for the indoor state meet in the 55-meter hurdles with Mathew finishing eighth.

Mathew was also eighth in long jump and Van Auken was eighth in high jump. Classmate Austin Young was eighth in the 3,200-meter run.

“This year we’re asking them to step up and produce some firsts, seconds and thirds,” Boswell said. “They have been off to a wonderful start so far and we’re going to see good things out of them.”

The sprinters are all new to the team with Garrett Welker, a junior transfer from Rensselaer; and freshmen James Davis and Matt Riley, another move-in Boswell said was “probably the fastest kid we have.”

Welker is also a vaulter and placed eighth at the HSR Finals.

Senior Lucas Luckey returns in the 400 meters, and sophomore Jacob Hopkins and junior Cody Jansen run hurdles.

The 800 is manned by junior Ben Bradshaw and senior Andrew Rodgers while Chris Love, another HSR qualifier, runs behind Young. Junior Christopher Nunan is also in the mix.

In addition to Van Auken and Mathew in the jumps, Riley has already been nearly 20 feet in long jump. Junior Jeff Stout joins Welker in the pole vault.

Senior Trevor Buckalew leads the throws along with junior Dakota Bagwell, senior Pat Fountain and sophomore Jake Boswell.

“I think we’ll still be strong,” Marvin Boswell said. “We’re just going to be scoring points in different events than what we’ve done in the past.”