PRAIRIE CITY Prairie City High School track and field coach Joe Weymouth believes both his boys and girls squads could be in this years state 1A top 10.

Losing just one senior to graduation last year, hes optimistic.

We should improve as a team, he said. Our initial goal is to go to state with more than the eight we took last year.

Close to half of the 22 Panther athletes start the season Friday, March 23, with a meet in Harper, while the other half are committed to the state FFA convention.

Weymouth expects a bigger Prairie City turnout at the Don Walker Meet in Nyssa on Friday, April 6.

Both events will provide athletes with direction, he said.

The first couple of meets will give our athletes a better idea of what they want to do this season, and what work they have to do to be competitive, said Weymouth, whose assistant coach is Mark Lesniak.

Returning state athletes are seniors Kieley Williams, Brady Doty, Sawyer Schulze and Austin Rose, and juniors Cole Hoberg and Tucker Billman.

Other seniors on the team are Rachel Gray and Bob Heersping. New to track is former spring baseball player Derek Kell.

Additional juniors are Kushaiah Dahlen, Jordan Hitz and Rachelle Hill.

Sophomores include Kailey Neal, Marika Woodbury, Breanna Doty, Jessica Gray, Kelli Woodworth and Chandy Fast. Kailey Kell also joined the team, shifting from spring softball.

Freshmen on the team are Triston Emmel, Dereke Clark and Samantha Molt.

The athletes are aiming for the following events:

Williams: high jump, long jump and relay.

Brady Doty: javelin, long jump, shot put and relay.

Derek Kell: 400, 1500 meters and 4×400 relay.

Rose: 4×400 relay, 800 and javelin.

Schulze: 100, 200, 4×100 relay and discus.

Heersping: 4×400 relay, 800, 1500 and 3000.

Rachel Gray: long jump and relay.

Hoberg: high jump, relay, 200 and hurdles.

Billman: relay, 100, 200 and long jump.

Dahlen: 800 and 1500.

Hitz: 300-meter hurdles and 1500.

Hill: triple jump, long jump and relay.

Neal: 100, 200 and relay.

Woodbury: 200, relay and javelin.

Breanna Doty: shot put and discus.

Jessica Gray: 1500, shot put and discus.

Woodworth: shot put and javelin.

Fast: 1500 and long jump.

Kailey Kell: javelin, shot put and discus.

Emmel: 100, 4×400 relay, javelin and 1500.

Clark: 100, discus and javelin.

Molt: 1500, shot put and discus.