Boys track sectional

Kokomo Tribune - Thursday, May 22, 2015

On paper, the Kokomo boys track and field team looked like a heavy favorite ahead of Thursday’s sectional at Walter Cross Field.

The North Central Conference squad proved every bit worthy of the billing with a convincing win, claiming first place in seven events and finishing with a score of 1331/2 in a 53-point margin of victory.

“The kids ran very hard and did what the needed to do,” Kokomo coach Tom Byrnes said. “It’s nice to see them finally get that championship. We finished runner-up at Muncie [relays], runner-up in conference. It’s nice to see that championship.”

Kokomo regained the sectional hardware after a two-year absence. Overall, it’s the Kats’ 59th sectional crown.

“We’re third in the state in championships,” Byrnes said. “There’s a lot of history here, a lot of tradition. It’s pretty special to wear that shirt that says Kokomo on it.”

Andrecus Eddington led the way for the Kats, taking first in two individual events and helping the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams to victory as well.

“I really wanted to get this quadruple,” the speedy Kat sophomore said. “I felt pretty loose out there, can’t really complain about the way we performed. This was important for us. I felt pretty confident about winning sectional. We did it as a team.”

Individually, Eddington was first in the 100 (:11.21) and the 200 (:23.78) dashes.

Eddington had plenty of help from his counterparts, joining with Hanif Burnett, Jordan Rawlins and Jordan Nix to win the 4x100 in :43.56. Eddington teamed with Burnett, Rawlins and Farod Knox to close out the meet with a strong 4x400 relay win in 3:31.37.

In addition to the 4x100 relay, Nix took two first place wins individually, winning the 110 hurdles (:15.19) and long jump (22-41/2 ). Nix also took second in the 300 hurdles (:41.61).

Avery Barrett won the pole vault for the Kats with a 13-6.

Top-three finishers in Thursday’s events advance to next Thursday’s regional at South Bend St. Joseph where the level of competition will increase as the local winners join with sectional winners from Plymouth, Goshen and Penn to compete.

”Tough, tough, tough,” Byrnes said. “We’ll need to bring our A game and hopefully get a few kids out of there.”

Other regional qualifiers for the Kats were Rolando Tyler, who finished second in the 110 hurdles (:15.42) while Burnett was second in the 400 dash (:51.26).

Also for Kokomo, Ethan Sharp was second in the 800 run (2:05.96) and third in the 1,600 (4:38.40). The Kats 4x800 relay team of Knox, Austin Cordell Brandon, Justin Taflinger and Colten Pearce took second with a time of 8:41.68 to advance.

With 801/2 points, Western finished a solid second in the sectional, 151/2 points ahead of third-place Logansport (65).

”We did about as well as I thought we would,” Panthers coach Gary Jewell said. “No real surprises there with Kokomo coming out on top. We had some guys who had big nights. Josh Everetts had a nice night in the 1,600 and 3,200. He had those two races set up exactly as he wanted. Cameron Dessing, his time in the 300 hurdles was the third fastest in school history. Each of our seniors accomplished something.”

Everetts scored both of Western’s wins on the night, taking first in the 1,600 (4:36.88) and 3,200 (10:28.54). Dessing took third in the 300 hurdles with a time of :41.79. J.T. Benziger was third in the pole vault with an 11-4, while Western scored a second-place finish in the 4x100 with the team of Dessing, Mica Beard, Stacy Hutchinson and Zach Shahan. Hutchinson also placed third in the 200 (:23.53). Corey Hinkle placed second in the discus with a throw of 151-3.

Among the county schools, Northwestern finished in fifth place with a score of 59. Owen Munson won the 400 in :51.06 and finished second in the 200 at :23.95. Josh Perry was a double winner, taking first in the 800 (2:04.48), while teaming with Spencer Hutchins, Brayden Chou and Ethan Dubbels to take first in the 4x800 relay at 8:40.95. Perry also advanced in the high jump, taking third at 6-0.

Eastern finished 10th overall with a score of 32, while Taylor was 11th with 26 points.

For the Comets, Andrew Doak advanced to regional with a second-place pole vault of 11-10. Braden Evans placed second in the long jump at 21-3.75.

Dontae Campbell had a third-place finish in the 100 dash (11.46) for the Titans, while Eli Meadows logged a 19-113/4 to take third in the long jump for Taylor.

Maconaquah finished in sixth place with 42 points and Ben Stephenson advanced to the regional with third-place finishes in the discus (141-11) and shot put (45-1).

Cass finished in seventh (41) with James Champ advancing with a first-place in the discus (153-9) and second-place in the shot put (47-9). Also for Cass, Isaac Shaffer advanced with a third-place finish in the 800 (2:06.23).

Peru placed eighth overall (39), with Jonah Lester winning the high jump at 6-2 to advance.

For ninth-place Tipton (37), Chase Bess took first in the 300 hurdles (39.94) and third in the 110 hurdles (15.56), while teaming with Eli Bogard, Jake Mahaney and Noah Bogard for a third-place finish in the 4x400 relay (3:32.04). The team of Mahaney, Sam Phillips, Jake Benefiel and Noah Bogard took third in the 4x800 relay (8:45.51).