Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, October 21, 2007

— Howard County’s creeks and streams aren’t the only things overflowing this spring. High school track and field rosters are swelling as well.

Kokomo, despite a disappointing season in 2007, has more than 60 boys in the fold this year.

Northwestern, riding a wave of success a year ago, has 43 new athletes among its roster of 58. And Western, which traditionally has strong numbers, is up to 57 boys this year.

“That’s quite a turnout for us,” said Northwestern coach Dave Stevens, now in his second season with the Tigers. They were fourth at the Kokomo Sectional a year ago, their best finish there in a decade.

“It’s hard to believe I have 43 guys out for the first time,” Stevens said. “And it’s not all freshmen. We’ve done a real good job in the hallways, getting the word out, and it’s been an exciting spring.”

A different kind of success is helping the Wildkats. After an 8-2 record last fall and a North Central Indiana Conference championship, football coach Brett Colby is sending his players track coach Tom Byrnes’ way, as is basketball coach Brian McCauley.

“Coach Colby has a similar belief as I do about the relationship between track and football,” Byrnes said. “Linemen will get better feet by throwing the shot and discus. Running backs and defensive backs will get faster by running track.

“Coach McCauley has also encouraged basketball players to come out. Basketball players generally make excellent high jumpers, long jumpers and hurdlers.”

Unfortunately it’s a drought season for Taylor and coach Steve Hanlon, who says the Titans number around 20. He has just three seniors, two of whom are foreign exchange students.

“These things kind of go in cycles,” Hanlon said, “and right now we’re in a down cycle. But the guys we do have are all working hard and want to be here.”

The following are capsules of the five county teams in alphabetical order:

Eastern

The Comets have 33 athletes in the fold, including everyone back from an outstanding group of 10th-graders that made an impressive debut as freshmen in 2007.

Sophomores Dylan Buck, Brett Buckmaster, Caleb Gibson, Drew Maple, Mitch Padfield ran anything from the 400-meter dash on up. Classmate Kevin Jackson is already pole vaulting near 14 feet indoors this spring.

“If we can keep them together and healthy for the next couple of years, they could be a really special group,” said Eastern coach Paul Nicholson.

Nicholson expects Buck, Buckmaster, Maple and Padfield to continue running middle distance, with Padfield concentrating on the 400 meters and 1,600-meter relay.

Gibson and junior returnee Cody Young handle long distance, along with sophomore Hansen Martin and freshman Ryan Horner. Senior Cody McMahon and freshman Cale Roark are sprinters.

Junior Paul Scheidler returns in the hurdles and is joined by senior Ethan Flick, who won the sectional high jump last season.

Jackson and senior Cody Swisher placed third and fourth, respectively, a year ago in the sectional pole vault. Jackson was ninth at regional.

Kyle Land and Evan Pyke return in the throws, with Land sixth at sectional in shot put. Senior Mike Pratt adds depth.

Nicholson, now in his 37th year of coaching the Comets, is as enthusiastic as ever about the 2008 edition.

“I really look forward this year, as I always have, to watching how this team matures,” he said. “It’s all about seeing how their hard work pays off at the end of the season.”

Kokomo

The Wildkats slipped to fifth place in their own sectional last season after having won or shared five of the six previous titles.

But 2008 hopes to be a stronger team, with many key team members who were young and inexperienced a year ago but are older and more seasoned.

“Our entire focus will be the North Central Conference championship and state tournament series,” said Byrnes, hoping he can mold the large roster of athletes to be ready for the postseason.

“We hope to be in the top half of the NCC with Marion and Anderson being the teams to beat and one of the top two or three teams in the sectional with [defending champion] Oak Hill and Western being the teams to beat.”

The distance group will be one of Kokomo’s strongest areas again this spring, led by seniors Devin White, Brandon Sheline and Mason McGovern. Other distance runners Ian Holtson, Matt Wyss and Vince Calabro should have a strong year.

White and Holtson were fifth and sixth, respectively, in the sectional 3,200 meters last season. Wyss was eighth in the 1,600.

Sophomore Onesimus Blackamore, who was eighth in the sectional 200 meters, heads a young and inexperienced sprint group, including Jeremy Gilman, Damond O’Neal and Terrell Johnson. One of the questions will be how Braxton Shelton, Jacob Blackamore, C.J. Reeves and Justin Patterson fit into the mix.

A bright spot is the group of freshmen sprinters who have been working very hard. They include John Alsup Jr., whose father is a former state long jump champion at Kokomo, T.T. Catlett, Mike Jones, Robert Lancaster and Terrence Powell.

Pole vault should be a strong event. Jeremy Gilman and Onesimus Blackamore have already bettered their 2007 performance. High jump could be another strong area with Reeves, Jacob Blackamore and Brock Duke.

Long jumpers include Ryan Hurst, Onesimus Blackamore, Jacob Blackamore, Alsup, Lancaster, O’Neal, and Patterson.

Hurdles are still a question mark for the Wildkats, led by Aaron Armstrong, Gilman and O’Neal. Some help in this area might come from Darius Williams, Jordan Jackson and Patterson.

The throwers are also young with juniors Doran Slater, Jerrell Johnson and Cliff Burns leading the way.

“I am very exited that several young football players are throwing this year,” Burns said. They include Michael Barton, Marcell Collins, Alex Reagle, Troy Wethington and Rick Woemer.

Northwestern

The Tigers have so many new faces that the challenge for coach Stevens is molding everyone into a cohesive unit.

Stevens said he has athletes from almost every sport in the fall and winter seasons, including sophomores Brayden Merrell, Michael Schulte, Jaimey Werich and Jordan Wilson, all of whom will bolster the sprint corps.

“I’m quite impressed with them,” said Stevens. “I don’t know how I missed them last year but I’m not going to complain because they’re here this year.”

Merrell, a member of the state-ranked basketball team, is expected to hurdle and high jump while Schulte has already surpassed 18 feet in the long jump.

More depth in the sprints and jumps will come from senior Ben Catt and juniors Zech Sanders, Imhotep Thomas-Miller, Steve Vas and Jimmy McKee.

Senior Cam Bannon, already the school record-holder in low hurdles, is a Hoosier State Indoor Relays qualifier this weekend in Bloomington. Stevens called him a leader by example.

Senior Quintin Burkett returns in the throws after his participation in the state wrestling tournament. Classmate Joe Williams returns in the distance events.

Junior Brock Ford, a regional discus qualifier last season, is the anchor of the throws. He already has a personal-best this spring in shot put to qualify for the Hoosier State Relays.

Junior Kory Kennedy won the sectional 3,200 meters a year ago and has qualified for the state indoor meet. Classmate Jeremy Robison returns in the 400 and 800 meters, along with juniors Ryan Pattison (800, 4x800 and 4x400 relays) and Elliot Mervis (400, 4x400 relay).

Sophomore Rob Brunner returns in the high jump, as does Andy Hunkeler in the throws.

Freshman Sam Freeman emerged as the cross country team’s No. 2 runner last fall. He runs anywhere from 400 meters to the 1,600.

Classmates Nolan Cockrell (distance), Hayden Jarvis (distance) and Bryan Weaver (hurdles) are expected to contribute.

“We have role players all up and down,” said Stevens. “We’re going to run lots of relay teams and lots of double events. I’m looking forward to it.”

Taylor

The Titans have just one individual athlete, Austen Conwell, who placed at the Kokomo Sectional last season.

Conwell was runner-up to Oak Hill senior Cory Anderson in the 110-meter high hurdles and wound up qualifying 13th at regional.

Junior Shawn Fogleman returns to sprint and long jump, and thrower Andrew Rusch has been slowed by a knee injury during wrestling season.

Despite the low numbers and inexperience, Hanlon says the team will be respectable.

“I certainly can’t complain about their enthusiasm or their effort,” said Hanlon of his team members. “They all show up and do whatever I ask them to do. This is the team we have and we’ll be competitive.”

Western

The Panthers lost their grip on the Mid-Indiana Conference crown to Peru last season but have all the pieces in place to regain that title and more.

With a solid corps of sprinters and a set of distance runners who came into their own during cross country, plus another dominant pole vault group, the bar is set high again.

“Having big goals for the season is nothing new to these guys, and right now the competition even among themselves is pretty fierce,” said first-year coach Marvin Boswell. “That’s a sign of just how good our senior leaders have been.”

Among the seniors is Alex Sigler, a former 400-meter sectional champion who was the boys MVP of the Howard County meet in 2007. He was also a regional qualifier in the 200 and 400 meters and this spring qualified for the Hoosier State Indoor Relays in the long jump.

Junior returnee Kyle Brown and classmate Jerel Hall are pushing each other in the sprints. Both qualified for the 55-meter dash at the Hoosier State Relays. Brown was second in the sectional 400 meters and third in both the 100 and 200 a year ago.

Senior Patrick Lennon anchors the hurdles. He fell in the finals of the sectional high hurdles race after having qualified second.

Lennon also qualified this spring for the Hoosier State Relays and is joined in the hurdles by returnee Indy Mathew.

The distance group starts with junior Zac Martinez (regional qualifier) in the 800 and includes classmate Corey Scott, sophomores Austin Young and Kody Harmon and freshman Chris Love. All were members of the Western cross country team that qualified for semistate.

“Right now we have so much balance everywhere in that lineup,” Boswell said. “And we have the benefit of several younger athletes who are more than willing to take a spot if anyone slips up.”

Despite losing Kyle Gann, who placed fourth in the state and won the Midwest Meet of Champions, pole vault will be ably handled by holdovers Dean Shepherd, Trent Lawlyes and Chris Harter. All three qualified for the Hoosier State Relays held Saturday.

The aforementioned Sigler leads the long jumpers that include Brown and Hall. Sigler and senior Kyle Young return in the high jump.

The throws include holdover Bart Shepherd in discus, as well as junior Stephen Truesdell and sophomore Trevor Buckalew.