Boys track regional tonight

The top finishers in Kokomo will get a ticket to state.

Kokomo Tribune - Thursday, May 27, 2010

Kokomo — For a guy who’s about as close to a sure thing as anyone in today’s IHSAA Boys Track and Field Kokomo Regional, Eastern senior Kevin Jackson has to feel a bit like the Maytag repairman.

Jackson, the lone returning state qualifier from the area, just keeps chugging along this season.

After winning the indoor 1A-3A state title in pole vault with a jump of 15 feet, 3 inches, Jackson has yet to be beaten outdoors and carries the No. 1 seed into regional.

The University of Louisville recruit cleared 15-0 in lousy conditions a week ago at the Kokomo Sectional. He didn’t even begin to vault until the rest of the field had been eliminated.

The weather should be much nicer tonight by the time Jackson makes his first attempt. Field events and running trials begin at 6 p.m. The top three finishers in each event advance to the state meet June 5 at Indiana University.

“Kevin just quietly goes about his business of taking care of the pole vault,” said Comets coach Paul Nicholson. “He’s planned what he intends to do. He’s very settled in what his goals are. We’re looking forward to seeing what he can do.

“I do have faith in Kevin. He’s been steady and consistent and we’re looking forward to having some teammates down there with him.”

Eastern has been the Cinderella story of 2010 as both the girls and boys teams captured Howard County and Mid-Indiana Conference championships, a first for the two teams in tandem.

Tuesday at Bremen, the ladies qualified two individuals and a relay team for the state finals in Bloomington. After seeing their undefeated season stopped by Kokomo at sectional, Nicholson said his boys has been inspired to look for redemption today.

“They have the utmost admiration for those girls,” said Nicholson. “To be pulling off the kinds of performances they are, we are really proud of those girls, as are the girls of us.

“The guys have a look in their eyes like, ‘We will be better.’ They have faith in each other and there will be nothing left when they leave the track.”

Eastern will look to two of its relay teams, the 4x800 and the 4x400 — both of which are senior-laden teams — to perform well.

The 4x800 team of Caleb Gibson, Sam Clark, Mitch Padfield and Hansen Martin, as well as the 4x400 team of Martin, Dylan Buck, Padfield and Brett Buckmaster, are all seniors with the exception of Clark and both are No. 6 seeds.

Junior Blake Donson is the No. 5 seed in discus, where he finished fifth a year ago. Senior Kelly Kingseed is No. 7 in long jump.

“Our goal is to be just a little bit better [than last week’s meet],” Nicholson said. “It’s all about getting it done.

“Let’s face it — this is the last chance we get at a state berth in a relay or any individual events.”

Coach Tom Byrnes, even as his Wildkats were celebrating their first sectional win since 2006, was already turning his attention to the next step, which is qualifying individuals and relay teams for the state meet.

Coincidentally, 2006 was also the last time a boy from Kokomo made the finals when Jesse Rayl placed ninth in long jump while Justin Pugh and K.T. Moses also competed.

“At least we’re in the ballgame and that’s all that matters,” said Byrnes, whose best shot might be junior John Alsup, the No. 5 seed in long jump.

“I told the kids we need to walk off the track [tonight] with the best performance we’ve had all year long. No matter what happens we can hold our heads high.”

Alsup was a four-time sectional winner last week, including the 100, the 200 and the long jump with a leap of 21 feet, 21⁄2 inches. His best distance this season of 23-3 would put him well over the state standard of 21-9.

“If John can just relax and do what he is capable of doing, we feel like he has a great opportunity of advancing,” Byrnes said. “John sometimes gets excited, the adrenaline kicks in and in a big meet like [regional] he gets nervous.”

Alsup also ran a leg of the 4x400 relay team seeded No. 5. Junior Adrian Glover, also a member of that relay team as well as the 4x800 team, will skip the 4x800 to concentrate on the 800 (the No. 5 seed) and the 4x400.

“We’d like to keep him as fresh as possible and hopefully get him qualified,” Byrnes said of Glover. “We feel like if we can get a half a second faster out of each one of those guys [in the 4x400] we can be right there.”

Robert Lancaster posted his personal-best time of 15.30 seconds to win the 110-meter high hurdles and is the No. 3 seed with Taylor Killings No. 5. Tony Moses, another member of the 4x400 relay team, is No. 8 in the 400. Senior David Sirmons is the No. 4 seed in shot put.

Western senior Trevor Buckalew has saved his best throwing for last, and at his favorite venue.

Buckalew won the sectional discus competition with his personal record 154-2 after having thrown 152-4 at the Kokomo Relays. He’s the No. 2 seed today.

“Things are real comfortable for [Buckalew] right now,” said Panthers coach Marvin Boswell, a pretty fair discus thrower himself once. He still holds the more-than-30-year-old school record at Oak Hill.

“We had changed some things about midseason and it’s just now starting to come together. We’re hoping the work we did midway through the season is going to pay off for us at the end of the season.”

Western senior Indy Mathew holds No. 8 seeds in both long jump and the 300-meter hurdles.

Taylor senior Austen Conwell, who went down midway through that 300 sectional race, is seeded No. 6 in the 110 hurdles. He just missed qualifying for the regional finals a year ago, finishing ninth.