TRACK AND FIELD: Class of the county

Kokomo Tribune - Thursday, May 07, 2015

RUSSIAVILLE — Western senior Zach Shahan made the most of his final home track and field meet.

Shahan finished as a triple winner in the final Howard County meet Wednesday night. He sprinted to victories in the 100-meter dash (:11.56) and 200 dash (:23.38) and anchored the winning 4x100 relay team, which posted a meet-record time of :44.23. Shahan just missed another individual victory as he tied for second in the high jump (5-10). Northwestern's Josh Perry had a winning jump of 6-0.

Shahan won the meet's boys high-point award.

"I was pretty pleased," he said. "High jump, I have to tip my hat off to Josh Perry. He's been a tough competitor this whole year. I felt pretty good with my individual sprints."

Most of all, Shahan was pleased with the Panthers' team title. Western posted a score of 103.5 points to take its third straight title. Northwestern was second with 68, Eastern was third with 52 and Taylor was fourth with 20.5.

"We have a pretty good team this year," Shahan said. "We only have five seniors so I wasn't expecting this good of a year. The underclassmen have really stepped it up."

Eastern won the girls title, reclaiming the title after Northwestern ended Eastern's four-year reign last year. The Comets had a score of 93 1/2 and were followed by Western with 79 1/2, Northwestern with 59 and Taylor with 10.

Eastern sophomore Arienna Ewing won the girls high-point award. She won her three individual events — pole vault (8-6), 100 high hurdles (:17.31) and 300 intermediate hurdles (:55.16). She helped Eastern's 4x100 relay team take second.

BOYS MEET

Western won 10 events to run away from the field. In addition to Shahan, Cameron Dessing and Josh Everetts also won a pair of individual events. Dessing swept the 110 high hurdles (:16.70) and 300 intermediate hurdles (:43.33) and Everetts won the 1,600 run (4:53.98) and 800 run (2:10).

Also for the Panthers, Corey Hinkle won the discus competition (129-3), Josh Scott won the 3,200 run (11:14.01), Auston Davenport, Tyler Lechner, Andrew Granfield and Everetts won the 4x800 (8:58.35) and Mica Beard, Dessing, Stacy Hutchinson and Shahan won the 4x100 with their meet-record showing.

"We had a lot of first places and a couple seconds that we didn't expect. It starts with our five seniors. They really step up in big competitions," Western coach Gary Jewell said.

"Like I said in the [season] preview, we lean on seven guys to score a lot of points. Right now, that's what's happening, but we're also getting some contributions in some areas that we hadn't thought about before," Jewell added.

Jewell pointed to Beard as an example. The Panther sophomore is part of the 4x100 relay team that broke the school record earlier this season. In the county meet, he also ran in the 300 hurdles and took second place. The hurdles are a new event for him.

Northwestern's Perry finished as a triple winner. Individually, he won the high jump and the 400 dash (:51.77) and he anchored the winning 4x400 relay team. Joe Mast, Grant Condon and Owen Munson joined Perry on the team. Also for the Tigers, Darren Curry won pole vault (12-6).

Braden Evans led Eastern. He was the long jump champion, jumping 20-5, and he was 110 hurdles runner-up. Also for the Comets, Brent Bachman was second in both throwing events.

Taylor's Tyler Delon was the shot put champion. He putted the shot 44-2.

GIRLS MEET

Eastern showed good balance in winning the team title. Arienna Ewing, Avery Ewing and Carly Jones won two individual running events apiece, Arienna Ewing won pole vault and the Comets dominated the throwing events.

"Our field events came up big," Eastern coach Michael Goodspeed said. "We went 1-2 in the discus and both girls set new personal records — Danielle Reed by more than 10 feet. And we went 1-2-4 in the shot. That's a big deal.

"We're getting better," Goodspeed said of the field events. "We have upperclassmen now. We've been track-side heavy [in the past]. Now, we're balanced with the field events a little bit so that's good."

Reed won the shot with a put of 34-9 1/2, Daisy Byers was second and Jenny Keith was fourth. Keith won the discus with a throw of 104-11 and Reed was runner-up.

The Ewing sisters and Jones took care of business on the track. Arienna Ewing swept the hurdles, Avery Ewing won the 400 dash (1:02.15) and 800 dash (2:34.69) and Jones won the 1,600 run (5:37.74) and 3,200 run (12:51.48).

"Our leaders came through," Goodspeed said. "We're really excited for next week in the conference. We're coming together at the right time."

Northwestern senior Tearsten Munson also had a terrific meet. She won the 100 dash (:12.87) and 200 dash (:26.57), ran on the winning 4x100 relay team and on the runner-up 4x400 relay team.

"I ran the best times I've run all year," Munson said. "I've worked really hard. I'm really blessed, I have a great team behind me and I have a great support system."

Bailey Gaither, Hannah Wilson and Kaitlyn Daanen joined Munson on the 4x100 team.

Western had a pair of wins in field events. Miranda Pressgrove won high jump (4-8) and Madi Shepherd won long jump (14-4.25). The Panthers also won a pair of relays — Allison McMinn, Bronwyn Getts, Nicole Hampshire and Erin Knepley won the 4x800 in 10:47.57 and McMinn, Grace Sullivan, Bretta Tate and Knepley won the 4x400 in 4:20.46.