BOYS TRACK: Area athletes among the best

Turner, Gilbert, Lester, Everetts compete today at state track meet

By MARK SALUKE
Kokomo Tribune June 02, 2017

Two are back from last year, one is returning for the first time since 2014, and another is making his first trip to the IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Championships.

It's a mixed bag of talent and a range of emotions racing through the heads and hearts of the four KT-area athletes converging at Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex at Indiana University in Bloomington today, with field events slated to begin at 3 p.m.

Eastern junior pole vaulter Aren Turner called his first trip to Bloomington exhilarating, a mix of excitement and nerves that he's sure will eventually set in.

"It hasn't hit me yet," Turner said Wednesday. "I'm sure it will once I get on the track and start warming up."

Western junior thrower Tyler Gilbert says he is trying to remain calm and collected in his return trip to state after a 12th-place finish with a 154-foot discus toss last season.

Peru senior jumper Jonah Lester, who finished 17th with a 6-foot-2 high jump last year, is set to compete in both the high and long jump. Despite a few nerves, he's feeling confident and capable.

And Western senior distance runner Josh Everetts, well, he's just a little bit of everything, especially happy.

"I'm fired up, hyped, excited," said Everetts. "I'm just going to go out there and give it my all. Right now it's a little overwhelming, to accomplish a lifetime goal."

Everetts, who advanced to the championships as a freshman on the Panthers' 4x800 relay team, punched his ticket to the state's biggest track and field stage in a pair of individual Kokomo Regional events, blazing to a 4:21.2 win in last Tuesday's 1,600, while also advancing in the 3,200 with a third-place time of 9:43.48. He sits at seventh on the performance list in the 1,600 based on his regional run.

"For me this is a dream come true," said Everetts, who has signed to run track and cross country at IUPUI next year. "This has been my goal since freshman year to go to state in an individual event. To go in two events, I'm just very humbled."

Gilbert raised eyebrows with a record-setting Kokomo Sectional discus toss of 177-01. He'll carry that momentum into today's championships, where he's no longer an underdog and will have plenty of eyes focused in his direction.

"Last year I was seeded 26th and I wasn't really worried, I didn't have anything to lose going in," Gilbert said. "I'm going to try to go in with the same mindset and try to stay calm. I usually end up doing better that way."

Gilbert is slated at fifth on the performance chart in the discus based on his first-place regional toss of 167-10. His sectional toss is better than top seed Logan Calvin of Bloomington North (173-01).

"I'm just going to try and stay consistent and maybe get a PR," Gilbert said. "A big part of it is the weather and the weather I think should actually be pretty decent. At the beginning of the year I wanted to finish top-five. I still do. Top five would be nice."

Lester, a Bethel College recruit, surprised even himself when he snuck into state with a 21-08.25 first-place regional long jump.

"It's exciting, I've only been doing long jump for a year," Lester said.

In his main event, the high jump, Lester was runner-up with a 6-04 in the regional, placing him in a nine-way tie for seventh on the state performance list. He's hoping last year's state experience carries over to a podium finish this time around.

"I got some good experience but didn't perform the way I wanted to," Lester said. "I'm shooting for a top-five finish but at least top-ten is the hope.

"Just the whole experience is exciting," Lester added. "It's senior year and I feel like I've got nothing to lose. I'm confident. There's some nerves but I think they'll go away once we get there and scope it out."

For Eastern's Turner, the idea of competing at state wasn't even on his radar at the start of the season.

"I was just trying to set new PRs," Turner said. "I wasn't thinking about state until I found out I'd made it."

Turner vaulted to a second-place finish of 11-feet, 6 inches at the Kokomo Sectional and then cleared 13-3 for a second-place finish at the Kokomo Regional. He sits at 24th on the performance list but is within six inches of 11 other vaulters. He's also upgraded from his 13-1/2 foot pole, and he's enjoying the difference.

"We borrowed a pole from Western, a 15-foot pole," Turner said, "and I've been getting up to heights I've never seen before. I'm getting up to around 15 feet.

"It would be real nice to be on podium," Turner aded. "Top-eight would be awesome and I think that's doable but it wouldn't be the end of the world if I ended up dead last. It's just awesome to be able to go down there."

Everetts is looking forward to the IU track, where he'll add the final paces to a successful high school career.

"I think that A, it's fast, and B, it's beautiful," Everetts said. "It's just a phenomenal facility."

"I'm just honored, privileged and humbled," Everetts added. "I wouldn't be here without my friends, family, coaches and teammates."