The Warren boys and girls track & field team returns a lot of experienced student-athletes and leaders who have their eyes set on a team region title, individual district titles, and potential PIAA state qualifiers.

Head coach Kevin Dustin returns for his 14th year and is ready and excited to take the kids to the next level.

“What really drives our excitement is seeing the kids attain success through meeting their goals,” commented Dustin. “These goals look different to everyone. It can be a state qualification, district qualification, or a personal best. The beauty of track and field is that not only is it a team sport where you see how you match up week to week against teams, but you are always competing against yourself and your own best every week as well. We always seem to have a great group of kids that are fun to get along with and make coaching them to their best a fun job day-to-day.”

Establishing the right culture is something Dustin is familiar with. Competing on multiple national qualifying teams at Slippery Rock for cross country and track and field, he has the experience to help grow the kids athletically and academically.

“We have very structured practices to get them to perform at their best,” he said. “Our coaches do an excellent job of working through events and sharing athletes so they are getting everything they need to be successful. Personally, we are looking to teach them the values of athletics: teamwork, personal drive, working hard, attaining goals and being respectful to others in the process. We are trying to build a competitive and success-driven culture. We do competitive sports to be the best we can be and to find success. Too often we hear, ‘Well, we are just from Warren,’ and that is something we are always trying to beat. We need to be proud to be from Warren, and anyone can be great no matter where they are from. That culture is something we drive into them constantly.”

With the addition of student-athletes from all around the county, the Dragons add more depth and talent to last year’s squad.

“We have a lot of kids out this season, which is a great and a great motivator,” Dustin said. “There will be meets with limited spots and you need to compete within the program to get these spots. It’s great to see the kids pushing in practice to set themselves up front and compete with one another.”

The Dragons are anticipating a highly competitive schedule with Meadville and Oil City as their top opponents.

“Due to schools being realigned, the region has shifted greatly for us this year. We have to bring our best every week and are looking forward to the challenge and the competition that will bring,” Dustin said.

Obviously winning is great, but Dustin sees successes in other forms.

“There are many ways to measure success for our program,” he said. “Beyond wins and losses, we want the kids to walk away with a positive experience having learned something about themselves. We really try to instill in them that through hard work you can achieve success, no matter what that looks like. If we can do that, it’s a successful season.”