Boys track sectional

Kokomo Tribune - Fruday, May 20, 2016

Kelly Lafferty Gerber | Kokomo Tribune
PANTHER: Western's Cameron Dessing and Tipton's Chase Bess in the 300m hurdles.

The memory of former teammate and 2013 Kokomo High School graduate Waylon Coulter, who passed away last fall, was heavy on the hearts of the Wildkat boys track and field team ahead of Thursday’s sectional meet at Walter Cross Field.

The team wore his name across their sleeves, on the back of their shirts, and carried his spirit along with them into the event.

“Waylon was one of my best friends,” Kokomo junior Andrecus Eddington said moments after hoisting the sectional hardware following the Kats repeat as sectional champs. “His spirit was definitely out here. He was a good competitor and always brought what he needed to the track and gave 100 percent every time. I felt all that in all the athletes on the team [Thursday].”

And at the end of the night, that might have been just the push Kokomo needed as the Wildkats posted 119 points to take first despite Eddington racing hurt and the Kats actually winning fewer events than Western, which took second place with 96 points.

“We wanted to honor Waylon and everything he meant to us, he was a big part of our program,” Kokomo coach Tom Byrnes said. “We really push our kids and on a night like [Thursday] and with Andrecus being injured, we didn’t know if he was going to be able to go at all.”

Eddington injured his hamstring in a dual meet with Logansport last Friday and showed little signs of that injury when he took first in the 100 dash in 11.34 seconds, just ahead of teammate Robert Lambert’s :11.35. Eddington also finished second in the 200 dash at :22.62 behind Northwestern’s Owen Munson (:22.35), returning to compete in the dash after being carted off the field.

“He’s fast, definitely improved,” Eddington said of Munson, who also took first in the 400 at :49.56.

Eddington also helped the 4x400 team to a win.

“It feels real good,” Eddington said of the repeat as sectional champ. “It’s a different team, a different squad, and we had to teach a lot of younger kids to step up and bring what they had to the table. They did that and we’re happy to say we got this sectional championship.”

Kokomo needed all the points it could get on a night when its only other first place finish came in the 4x800 relay at the start of the night.

“I’m just pleased that the kids really pulled together,” Byrnes said. “We scored points in the throwing events and the jumping events and the sprints and the pole vaults. I think we scored in most of the events and that’s key in a big event like this. A point here and there can really add up. The kids really stepped up across the distance events and the throwing events.”

That paid off down the stretch as Western made plenty of noise in winning four events. Cameron Dessing was a double winner, taking first in the 110 high hurdles (:15.20) and the 300 hurdles (:40.77). Dessing was also third in the 200 dash at :23.23. Josh Everetts won the 3,200 in 10:15.59, more than 15 seconds ahead of his closest competition, and Tyler Gilbert took first in the discus with a 145-2 throw.

“We got contributions all across the board,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “Josh was mad at himself after the 1,600 but in the 3,200, that was a personal best for him by a long, long way.”

Everetts was second in the 1,600 at 4:37.24.

Logansport finished third with 78 points, Peru was fourth at 67, Northwestern fifth at 47.5, and Eastern sixth at 44. Rounding out the scoring were Tipton (43.5), Cass (41), Maconaquah (40.5), Pioneer (20.5), Taylor (16), Madison-Grant (12) and Tri-Central (0).

Other Howard County first-place finishes went to Taylor’s Tyler Delon with a 48-2 in the shot put, and Eastern’s 4x100 relay team with a :44.20.

Also for Eastern, Evans advanced with a second-place long jump of 20-4. Nolder took a third-place finish in the 100 (:11.37) to advance, while Andrew Doak advanced with a 12-0 jump in the pole vault.

Also for Kokomo, Rolando Tyler advanced with 15.79 in the 110 hurdles and Kendale Harris was second in the shot put (48-0) and third in the discus (141-4).

Northwestern’s Joe Mast took third in the high jump at 5-8 to advance.