Marlington, Lake track teams open season with depth, experience

As the spring track and field season gets underway, both Marlington and Lake enter 2026 with a mix of proven talent, experienced leadership and growing depth across their boys and girls programs.

Marlington

At Marlington, longtime coach Bob Dagenhardt returns for his 47th season leading the Dukes’ boys program, bringing with him decades of stability and success. After finishing 5-0 in dual meets and placing third at the Eastern Buckeye Conference meet last year, the Dukes are looking to reload despite key losses.

Marlington graduated several standouts, including distance runner Luke Ryan, thrower Sam Bair, high jumper Micah Black and sprinter Kar’Wan West-Cole. Still, the cupboard is far from bare.

Junior Cameron Evanich, an All-State long jumper, headlines a talented group that should make the field events an early strength. Senior Carter Frank adds versatility in the high jump and hurdles, while Blaise Horn gives the Dukes another strong option in the jumps and sprints after qualifying for the indoor track state meet.

In the throwing events, Joel West-Cole, Andy Frederick, Noah Seaburn and Oliver Bungard form a deep and experienced group that could produce consistent points throughout the season.

On the track, Evanich and senior Logan Kuhn will lead the sprint group, while a young distance unit featuring Casey and Gabe Minor looks to develop as the season progresses.

“We have talented young competitors that will mature throughout the season,” Dagenhardt said. “We hope to be competitive in all events by May, so it’s going to be an interesting April.”

With defending champion Minerva and an improved Salem squad in the league, Dagenhardt expects another competitive conference race.

“We plan to be in the hunt,” he said.

On the girls side, Marlington enters the season with high expectations after capturing the EBC championship, finishing as district runner-up and placing third at regionals a year ago.

Coach Ryan Cernansky’s team returns 13 letter winners, including a strong senior class led by Olivia Callahan, Quinn Cernansky, Grace Kungl and Addison Wittensoldner.

The Lady Dukes are particularly strong across multiple disciplines. In the distance events, Irelyn Johnson leads a deep and talented group that includes several runners from a state-qualifying cross country team. In the sprints, hurdles and jumps, Callahan, Cernansky and Kungl all return as state qualifiers, giving Marlington a strong foundation in key scoring events.

“We are a very well-rounded team, with strong senior leadership,” Cernansky said. “We had a very successful season and should be just as good or better this year.”

While throws and high jump will be areas to develop early, the overall depth and experience position the Lady Dukes as a strong contender once again.

“EBC champs, district champs, top three at regionals and several state qualifiers,” Cernansky said of his team’s goals.

Lake

At Lake, head coach Miguel Hunt enters his 14th season with a program that continues to grow – literally.

The Blue Streaks boast a roster of 185 athletes this spring, the largest in program history and an increase of 30 from a year ago. That depth spans both the boys and girls teams and gives Lake a unique advantage as it looks to compete across every event.

“Our numbers are our strength, plus we have talent everywhere to fill all events at full strength,” Hunt said.

Lake also celebrates a milestone this season, as the program welcomes its first seated athlete in school history – a freshman competing in the shot put and 100 meters.

The Blue Streaks return a large and balanced roster, including 10 seniors, eight juniors and seven sophomores, while also integrating a promising group of newcomers. Among those expected to contribute are freshmen Grace DeGeorge, Heidi Hart and Riley Lovell in the sprints, along with senior additions Hayden Croyle, Nicholas Geyer and Zachary Novak.

With so many athletes, one of the early challenges will be experience, as several competitors are new to the sport.

“Our only weakness would be some athletes have never run track before, so it would be inexperience,” Hunt said.

Despite that, expectations are high as Lake looks to make program history.

“Hopefully, we would love to compete for a Federal League championship and finish 6-0 for boys and girls,” Hunt said. “That would be Lake’s first league title in track and field in school history.”

With Marlington aiming to stay atop the EBC and Lake building toward a breakthrough in the Federal League, both programs enter the season with plenty of motivation – and the pieces in place to make some noise this spring.