One day after rain, lightning and a power outage forced postponement of the IHSAA Kokomo Boys Track and Field Regional, there was little suspense Friday at Walter Cross Field as favorite and defending champion Marion led almost wire-to-wire to claim the title.

The Giants out-distanced runner-up Plymouth 66-52, with the host Wildkats right behind with 48. Peru was seventh with 31 points and Western (14) was 18th, with Maconaquah (7) 25th, Taylor (5) 26th and Cass (4) 28th. Eastern and Northwestern did not score.

The top three finishers and all athletes who met the state’s three-participant standard earned automatic berths in the state meet June 3 at Indiana University in Bloomington.

For Kokomo, it was the fourth time this season losing to Marion, which beat the Kats at both the Marion and Kokomo relays and the North Central Conference meet.

“I had us seeded to score 50 points and we were pretty close to that,” said Kokomo coach Tom Byrnes. “We’re a good track team. Marion is a good track team, but … this is the fourth time they’ve gotten us. Obviously they are a little better track team.”

The Kats’ Justin Pugh had a banner night. The senior hurdler qualified for state in both the 110-meter high and 300 intermediate hurdles, setting a school record (38.80 seconds) in the latter while finishing second to South Bend Clay’s Carl Buchanon.

Pugh finished third in the high hurdles to earn his automatic berth there, although his time of 14.79 seconds met the state’s three-participant standard, as did his 300 time.

“Justin ran really well today,” Byrnes said. “The neat thing was that Dalon Liggon, the former record-holder until [Friday], all week long was down here helping [Justin]. That was a cool thing.” As for Pugh’s chances next week, “The intermediates in the last couple years have gotten pretty fast,” said Byrnes. “Usually if you could run a low 39 that pretty assuredly placed you. I don’t know.”

Although two-thirds of his goals were met, Pugh was still disappointed with his high jump effort — eighth place with a jump of 6 feet.

“I did pretty bad in high jump but broke the school record in the 300 and that made me excited,” Pugh said. “It’s kind of mixed emotions because I really wanted to go in high jump again, but it makes up for it that I’m going in both hurdle events.”

Junior Jesse Rayl had Kokomo’s only win. He leaped 22 feet, 9 inches — another state standard — to walk away with the long jump title. Rayl missed last year’s regional meet for disciplinary reasons after winning the sectional competition.

“I got into a little trouble, but that’s in the past,” Rayl said with a smile. “It’s only motivated me more for this year.

“I’ve been practicing all week, focusing on getting 23 but 22-9, I was pretty pleased with that personal record. I’m going to have to stay pretty consistent in the high 22s or actually get above 23 [next week]. That’ll be a faster surface.”

Senior K.T. Moses was the Kats’ third and final state qualifier. He put the shot 52 feet, 10 inches to finish second.

Senior Zeb Bartolome placed fifth in the 200-meter dash (23.06), sixth in pole vault (12-6) and anchored the fourth-place 4x100 relay team (43.76) that included Lorren Davis, James Armstrong and Rayl.

“Our 4x100 relay team ran the fastest time of the year,” said Byrnes. “Our 4x800 relay team [that placed eighth] ran 11 seconds faster, so we did what we were supposed to do in a big meet like this. The kids were sharp and focused, considering the delay we had [Thursday].

“It’s sad to see our seniors leave. They were a big part of our team and we’re sure going to miss them next year.”

Western senior Brandon Youngdale successfully defended his high jump regional title, soaring above 6 feet, 7 inches. He was locked in a battle with Triton’s Blake Harrison and South Bend Washington’s Chris Newman.

“That gave me an extra kick,” Youngdale said. “I haven’t had that much competition this year, so this is really what I needed going into state.

“It’s going to be tough [next week]. There’s a lot of good jumpers right there — 6-9, 6-8, 6-7. It’s going to be great. I finished ninth last year and I really just hope to get top five this year. That would be good.”

Youngdale led off the 4x400 relay team that finished seventh with its best time of the year, 3:32.3. That team included Brad Speck, Kyle Irwin and Alex Sigler, who was 10th in the 400 meters.

Blair Stellhorn placed eighth in pole vault, clearing 12-6. Kyle Gann was ninth. Freshman Kyle Brown competed in three events but didn’t place. His best finish was 12th in the 200 meters.

“Regional is always a fun night,” said Western coach Dana Neer. “Our one disappointment was our pole vaulters. We were hoping to get one of those to advance, but we got eighth and scored.

“Our 4x400 team did a marvelous job and saved our best for last with a PR for the season. Kyle learned a valuable lesson. He came in, watched some people, learned some drills, and for a freshman to come in and qualify in three events is tremendous. It was a good night for Western.”

The Bengal Tigers qualified one individual, Steve Swinford (third, 22.80) in the 200, and their 4x800 relay team of Mick Heron, Aaron Garretson, Cody Siblisk and Tony Zimmerman. They were second in 8:11.95 behind Oak Hill.

Siblisk placed eighth in the 1,600, Zimmerman was fifth in the 800 and Swinford was fifth in the 100. Clint Heisler placed in both the 100 and 200.

Taylor senior Jason Thompson was fourth in the 100-meter dash, narrowly missing a spot downstate by 5/100ths of a second.

Maconaquah’s Matt Cox and Philip Garnett placed fourth and seventh, respectively, in high jump.