Boys track squads clash in Kokomo Sectional today

Kokomo Tribune - Thursday, May 21, 2015

With 13 schools descending on Walter Cross Field for the IHSAA boys track sectional today, the favorite heading into the competition appears to be the host.

“Kokomo is a clear favorite,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “They’ve got depth that most of the other teams don’t have. They’ve got two outstanding hurdlers, a great relay team in the 4x100. [Andrecus] Eddington has really turned it on here and the rest of the team seems to have really turned a corner as well.”

Kokomo turned heads in its May 8 North Central Conference meet, finishing with 93 points to take second place behind overall winner McCutcheon, which scored 103.

“They came within 10 points of winning NCC and I think that surprised some people,” Jewell said. “It showed how they’ve improved. You really need to score two guys near the top in an event to beat them.”

That’s exactly how the Kats nearly walked out with the NCC hardware a few weeks ago as Eddington and Hanif Burnett took first and second in the 400 dash, while Jordan Nix and Tyler Rolando were second and third in the 110 hurdles. Eddington won the 400 in 49.9 with Burnett finishing 50.43. Nix ran a 15.50 in the 110 with Rolando finishing in 15.79.

“I’ve always told kids track and field is a team sport and the best team is going to win but it takes the distance kids, and the sprinter kids, and the throwers, and the jumpers,” Kokomo coach Tom Byrnes said. “The best team will win. After what happened [Tuesday] in the girls sectional you couldn’t have a better example to refresh people’s mind about that. Those sevenths and eighths can sometimes be just as important as the firsts and seconds.”

Peru won Tuesday’s girls sectional, half a point ahead of Eastern. Maconaquah was just three points behind Eastern.

Eddington also finished second in the 200 (22.92) at the NCC and fourth in the 100 (11.47). Barnett was a cog in the second-place 4x400 relay team (3:31.6). Nix took first in the long jump (21-8.5) and placed fourth in the 300 hurdles (43.09). Avey Barrett won the pole vault with a 12-6.

“We were obviously disappointed in finishing second in the conference but our kids really couldn’t have done a whole lot more than we did,” Byrnes said. “We have a couple areas that we feel we’re weak in, and we’re healthy and excited and we want to get the sectional championship back that we haven’t done in two years. It matters at Kokomo.”

The game plan for the Kats to do that isn’t complicated.

“I kind of feel like if our kids come out and take care of business that our team is in control of our own destiny,” Byrnes said. “Speed-wise according to seeds, I think were in a pretty comfortable situation, but seeds are a piece of paper and don’t mean anything if our kids don’t come out and perform.

“According to seeds,” Byrnes continued, “I think we’re about 120 points and I think that Western was about 80 points. So I feel like Western is our main competition for the team title but Pioneer has some good kids and obviously Northwestern has some good kids and Eastern has some good kids. Taylor is an improved team and they’re going to score some points this year.”

The defending sectional champ Panthers took first in the Howard County meet earlier this month and placed second in last week’s Mid-Indiana Conference meet. Western scored 114 points to finish behind Hamilton Heights in the MIC meet. Heights took the final crown with a 134.

Josh Everetts was the big winner for Western in the MIC, taking first in the 1,600 (4:37.56) and 3,200 (10:26.14) while also running a leg of the winning 4x800 relay team (8:46.46). Everetts also placed second in the 800 at 2:06.20. Auston Davenport could provide additional points for the Panthers in the distance events. He finished fourth in the 3,200 (10:51.11) and fifth in the 1,600 (4:59.92) and 800 (2:11.25). Davenport was also part of the winning 4x800 relay.

Western will also look to Zach Shahan, Stacy Hutchinson and Cameron Dessing to score on multiple events. In the MIC, Dessing took second in the 110 (16.29) and 300 hurdles (43.05). Shahan finished third in the 100 (11.66), fourth in the 200 (23.84) and third in the high jump (5-10). Hutchinson added depth in the MIC with a fourth-place finish in the 100 (11.77), a fifth-place spot in the 200 (24.10) and a fifth-place long jump of 19-0.25.

Corey Hinkle and Jeremy Benziger give the Panthers added strength in field events. Hinkle had a 131-0 discus throw for fourth place in the MIC, while Benziger finished third in the pole vault at 10-0.

“I think we’ve done pretty well,” Jewell said. “I think, going through the seeds, there is probably three teams in addition to us — Northwestern, Mac and Eastern — that any one of those can go second, third or fourth in any given order.”

Northwestern finished third behind Western in the MIC meet with a score of 102.

“This team has been just like I would want a team to be,” Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. “They got hot late in the season and it wasn’t just one guy. We had 14 season bests at the MIC and of those, seven were personal bests. Guys are coming along and are just where we want them to be. The excitement is there. We’re ready.”

Owen Munson was a triple winner for the Tigers, finishing first individually in the 200 (23.09) and 400 (50.01), while joining Josh Perry, Grant Condon and Joe Mast for a first-place finish in the 4x400 relay (3:33.58). Perry finished second in the 400 (51.98) and high jump (6-0) as well as joining Brayden Chou, Spencer Hutchins and Ethan Dubbels for a second-place finish in the 4x800 (8:57.78). Condon and Mast joined Chase Moser and Riley Hudson for a second-place finish in the 4x100 relay (47.24).

Parker Fessenden took first in the pole vault (11-6) while Condon was fourth in the long jump (19-3.5). Ethan Dubbels finished third in the 800 (2:06.60) while Taylor McLain was fourth in the 300 hurdles (45.26).

“For us, it’s another meet,” Stevens said. “Yeah, the stakes are higher, but it’s another meet. I think it’s going to be fun. Seven of the eight MIC schools will be there, so it will be fun to go after those guys again. Hopefully, at the end, I get to work another week.”

Mac, which finished fourth in the MIC at 96.5, looks strong in field events with Ben Stephenson placing first in discus (147-9) and second in shot put (45-10) at the MIC, while Nathan Robinson was third in the long jump and Jesse Scott was third in the shot put (44-11).

Eastern placed seventh in the MIC with 36 points, while Taylor was eighth with 15. Braden Evans was fourth in the 110 hurdles (17.0) for the Comets and Benjamin Cole finished second in the pole vault (11-0). For the Titans, Tymon Hall was fourth in the high jump (5-10) and Tyler Delon was fifth in the shot put (43-6).