But he's been around the block enough times to know there's nothing certain in track and field, particularly at the state level.

"If we have no injuries or illness-which has hurt other teams at times and has even hurt us-we can make a run at possibly another trophy," said Boldt of his girls' squad. "But you can't worry about that because it comes down to how you do on one particular day.

"It does take some luck," he added. "Even with the (2004 state champion) boys, as deep as we were that year, it took a lot of luck."

Girls' outlook

Depth is not a characteristic of his 2006 girls' team, but the quality of the returning athletes is excellent.

Heading the list is JuliAnne Chisholm, who won individual state gold medals in the high jump and 300-meter hurdles a year ago as a sophomore, and a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles.

Early in the season, she raised the bar on her own high-jump school record by clearing 5-feet, 9-inches and then set new school marks in both hurdle events, 45.9 seconds in the 300 and 14.8 in the 100.

For the season, Chisholm accounted for a team-high 2701/2 team points.

Close behind her in points with 224 was classmate Hannah Marsh, who won the state title in the long jump, was fourth in the 200-meter dash and eighth in the 100 meters.

Marsh holds school records in the long jump (18-13/4), pole vault (10-0)-which she didn't compete in last season-and the 100 meters (12.3). She set the first two records as a freshman in 2004 and the latter in 2005.

Another junior, Tina Frick, finished fifth at state in the 100-meter hurdles. She briefly held the school record in that event, setting a new mark in the regional qualifying heat last season, only to see Chisholm set a new record in the finals.

Frick scored 1453/4 points in 2005.

Chisholm, Marsh and Frick also were members of the state gold-medal 4x400-meter team along with another classmate, Jessica Heidel (631/4 season points). Heidel also qualified in the triple jump a year ago but has decided not to compete this season.

Two other contributing sophomores from 2005, Kelsie Penner (621/4 season points) and Megan Peachey (301/4 points), also decided not to come out.

"We'll miss them, but I know they have other things they want to concentrate on," Boldt said.

Four seniors return, including Carrie Schroeder, who placed ninth in the 1,600 meters at state and scored 711/2 points for the season. Megan McCarty scored 26 points in the throws, Jenny Terrell 16 points in pole vault, and Jacque Fisher 111/2 points in distance races.

Another key returner is Anna Woelk, who competed in Chisholm's high-jump shadow as a freshman but placed in four invitationals and scored 28 team points.

On the incoming side, Boldt likes his "good freshman core" and thinks Tiffany Rooker could make an impact in pole vault.

Boldt believes his girls have sufficient depth to defend their Mid-Central Activities Association league championship this season, which they won last year by 42 points over runner-up Smoky Valley. He expects the Vikings and Collegiate to be his team's primary threats this season.

With a couple of his top sprinters gone, Boldt said the Trojans may not have a state-level 4x400 this season. He may compensate for the Trojans' traditional strength in that relay by allowing Chisholm and Marsh to add another individual event-the triple jump and pole vault, respectively.

"We don't want to get to the end of the year and be injured," Boldt said. "We want our kids at their best at the league and regionals and state."

Without question, the Trojans' opportunity to successfully defend their Class 3A title depends on good health and fortune for the entire team, but especially Chisholm and Marsh.

"If we get to the state championships, or our regional, we just hope they do well again," Boldt said. "And if they don't, we don't want to lose out on the fact that they've done so well (throughout their careers).

"Maybe it's easy for me to say you can't worry about state championships, but those are just icing on the cake," he added.

"Our focus is one track meet at a time. I still approach it as a team atmosphere. We have a lot of girls who didn't go to state who are so good in track and field."

Boys' outlook

Even though the Trojan boys didn't have the depth in 2005 to compete for invitational or state titles, people forget they were runners-up in three large invitationals.

The good news is they should be every bit as competitive this season-if not more so.

"We do not lose a single boy from last year who finished our program," Boldt said.

Heading the list of returners is David Funk, who won the state gold medal and eclipsed brother Sheldon's school pole-vault record when he cleared 14-8 at Cessna Stadium.

Funk, now a senior, scored 1141/4 points in 2005.

Returning for the 4x800 team that placed sixth at state are senior Josh Boese, juniors Nate Holmes and Sean Leihy and sophomore Cody McMillen. Holmes also qualified in the 800 and 1,600 meters.

Holmes led the team in points last season with 125 while his three running mates combined for 120. Joining them as threats in distance events are freshmen Thad Holmes and Isaac Leihy.

The Trojans' best athlete who didn't make it to state is senior Tim Funk, who just missed qualifying in the high jump last year in a tough regional field. He scored 66 team points last season.

Boldt believes with contributions from senior Clint Schneider in the hurdles and sophomore Jacob Yoder in the sprints, long jump and pole vault, the Trojans will be tougher to beat this season.

Newcomers Adam Dirks, a junior, and Ishmael Morris, a freshman, could make an impact in the sprints and jumps. Dirks also will be competing in the throws.

"I'm excited about the boys this year because I think they are even stronger than they were last year," Boldt said.

The Trojans placed fourth in the league meet, finishing only five points from third place. Collegiate literally ran away with the league title with a 76-point margin over Smoky Valley. Both teams should be contenders again this season.

This year's league meet will be at Marion.

"Our strength with the boys will be the sprinters, the distance runners and the jumpers," Boldt said. "If these kids make it (to the state meet) this year, they are going to be scoring points."

The Trojans open their season Tuesday with a five-team Central Kansas Track League meet at Halstead. Events begin at 4:30 p.m.