RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
Columbia City’s boys and East Noble’s girls claimed team titles at the NE8 Conference track and field meet Friday night at Columbia City High School.
A big factor in the Eagles’ win was a sterling performance by three members of their distance crew. The trio scored the maximum number of points (54) in the three individual distance events. Gavin Good won the 1600 (4:19.09) and the 3200 (9:58.64); Marcus Ridge won the 800 (1:57.52) and placed second in the 1600 (4:19.15); and Daniel Mullett finished second in the 800 (1:58.49) and 3200 (10:02.20).
The Eagles totaled 126 points to the 116.5 of New Haven and the 110 of Norwell.
East Noble’s girls were bolstered by double sprint victories from freshman phenom Ellisyn Will. She won the 100 meters in 12.68 seconds and the 200 meters in 26.23.
The Knights scored 139 points, comfortably beating runner-up Huntington North (111.5) and Columbia City (98.83).
Both Bellmont squads found points hard to come by on their way to eighth-place team finishes. The girls scored 16.33 points, the boys 11.
However, there were several bright spots for the Braves. Chief among them on the girls’ side was the dominating shot put performance of senior thrower Hailey Cole. All she did was trounce the field by almost six feet with her 39-2 heave to win a conference title just a few months after she picked up a shot put for the first time.
Cole, better known for her volleyball and basketball exploits, is learning to like the throwing events. “It’s crazy,” she said. “Coming into my first year, I didn’t know what to expect, so it’s really exciting. The coaches are great, the other girls are great, so I’ve just had a lot of fun.”
The girls’ team also got points from their 4X100 relay team (Khia Cannon, Taylor Louis, Adi Knipstein, and Chloe Post), eighth in 55.86; 4X400 relay team (Cannon, Knipstein, Madison Witte, and Quinn Buchan), seventh in 4:34.34; and 4X800 relay team (Keeley Carpenter, Buchan, Witte, and Lilly Franz), sixth in 10:55.73. Freshman Jazlyn Brown picked up a third of a point by tying for eighth in the high jump at 4-6.
The surprise of the evening for the Bellmont boys came from sophomore Maddux Miller, who cut a remarkable 12 seconds from his previous best time in the 1600 to place seventh in 4:44.95. He credited his pacing for his big breakthrough. “I really focused on the middle laps,” he said. “The first lap I go out at 70, and then the middle laps are the hardest. The final lap I just went all out.”
Harry Gunsett (7th in the 800 in 2:05.11) and Jackson Hicks (7th in the long jump with a distance of 18-10.5) also earned individual points for the Braves. The 4X800 relay (Hudson Krull, Gavin Braun, Owen Adams, and Cayden Rauch) placed eighth in 9:35.13 for one point, while the 4X100 team (Hicks, Parker Frietas, Evan Sovine, Will Kintz) got two points for seventh in 46.58 seconds. The 4X400 squad (Gunsett, Miller, Kintz, Sovine) finished seventh in 3:40.39.
Norwell’s boys got a great night from sprinters Devin Dale and Trevon Stoppenhagen. Dale won the 200-meter dash in 22.43 and placed second in the 100 in 10.94. Stoppenhagen took third in the 200 and won the 100 in 10.77, setting a new NE8 record. Both ran on Norwell’s winning 4X100 relay.
Columbia City freshman Kenya Leitch was a double winner in the girls’ distance events, taking the 1600 in a conference record 5:00.08 and the 3200 in 11:05.84.
In one of the most impressive feats of the night, New Haven’s Makenna Dommer won the discus with a throw of 135-9, almost 27 feet ahead of her closest competitor. She was second to Cole in the shot put.
Both Bellmont teams will tune up for the state tournament series with a meet at Adams Central against the Jets and Norwell on Thursday, May 9.
Boys’ Notes & Times:
-Parker Frietas ran a PR in the 200 prelims for the Braves.
-Maddux Miller scored two points for the Braves with a PR in the mile, taking seventh in 4:44.97.
-The Braves’ 4×4 team ran a season-best time and finished in seventh place. Harry Gunsett, Maddux Miller, Will Kintz and Evan Sovine crossed the line in 3:40.39.
-Isaiah Herman finished just out of the points with a new career best in the high jump.
-Jack Riehm cleared 8 feet for the first time in his career and finished in 12th place in the pole vault.
-Jackson Hicks finished in the points in seventh place in the long jump with a new career best.
Boys’ Team Scores
Columbia City 126, New Haven 116.5, Norwell 110, Leo 77, Huntington North 74.5, DeKalb 56, East Noble 53, Bellmont 11
Note: ***-denotes the time, distance or height meets the IHSAA State Meet qualifying standard.
100 M Finals
1. ***Trevon Stoppenhagen-N 10.77
2. ***Devin Dale-N 10.94
100 M Prelims
Will Kintz-B 11.90
Colin Ripley-B 13.32
200 M Finals
1. Devin Dale-N 22.43
200 M Prelims
Evan Sovine-B 24.19
Parker Frietas-B 25.13
400 M
1. Nolan Miller-L 50.21
15. Owen Adams-B 1:00.03
16. Cole Sipe-B 1:03.78
800 M
1. Marcus Ridge-CC 1:57.52
7. Harry Gunsett-B 2:05.11
16. Gavin Braun-B 2:24.99
1600 M
1. Gavin Good-CC 4:19.09
7. Maddux Miller-b 4:44.97
16. Logan Whitacre-B 5:30.43
3200 M
1. Gavin Good-CC 9:58.64
9. Hayden Whittenbarger-B 10:55.33
12. Hudson Krull-B 11:20.30
110 M Hurdle Finals
1. Kevion Mitchell-NH 14.94
300 M Hurdles
1. Aaron Hoffer-NH 39.75
11. Jackson Hicks-B 47.43
4×100 Relay
1. Norwell 43.50
Stoppenhagen-Dale-Harmon-Smith
7. Bellmont 46.58
Hicks-Frietas-Sovine-Kintz
4×400 Relay
1. Leo 3:28.16
7. Bellmont 3:40.39
Gunsett-Miller-Kintz-Sovine
4×800 Relay
1. DeKalb 8:19.03
8. Bellmont 9:35.13
Krull-Braun-Adams-Rauch
High Jump
1. Jase Harmon-N 6-01
9. Isaiah Herman-B 5-04
10. Hudson Krull-B 5-02
Pole Vault
1. Ian Stahl-CC 13-00
12. Jack Riehm-B 8-00
Long Jump
1. Kevion Mitchell-NH 20-06.25
7. Jackson Hicks-B 18-10.5
15. Isaiah Herman-B 15-09.5
Shot Put
1. Wyatt Birch-D 48-06
2. John Bussard-NH 48-04
14. Alex Schirack-B 37-11.75
15. Zayne Roop-B 36-02.5
Discus
1. John Bussard-NH 143-03
13. Alex Schirack-B 110-09
Girls’ Notes & Times:
-Bellmont freshman Lilly Franz ran a career best in the 400 and finished just behind teammate Quinn Buchan in 13th place.
-Bre Feasel went 13:30 in the 3200, the best time of her career, and finished in 10th place.
-The Braves’ 4×4 team of Madison Witte, Adi Knipstein, Quinn Buchan, Khia Cannon had their best performance of the season, finishing in 4:34.34.
-Bellmont got an even better performance out of the 4×8 team, trimming 45 seconds from their time at last week’s South Adams Invite to score sixth-place points.
-Freshman Maya Schlemmer set a personal best to finish just behind classmate Jazlyn Brown in 12th place.
-Hailey Cole did not need to reach her PR in the shot put to win, with five of her six throws going further than the best throw by second-place Makenna Dommer.
-Cole would have needed to break her PR to finish second in the discus, but she still took ninth.
Girls’ Team Scores
East Noble 139, Huntington North 111.5, Columbia City 98.83, Norwell 73, Leo 60, DeKalb 56, Bellmont 16.33
100 M Finals
1. Ellisyn Will-EN 12.68
100 M Prelims
Khia Cannon-B 13.55
Sophia Schumm-B 14.78
200 M Finals
1. Ellisyn Will-EN 26.23
200 M Prelims
Khia Cannon-B 28.14
400 M
1. Gracie Fields-HN 1:00.24
2. Jada Dale-N 1:00.43
12. Quinn Buchan-B 1:07.33
13. Lilly Franz-B 1:08.57
800 M
1. Samantha Lickey-CC 2:24.16
13. Keeley Carpenter-B 2:51.37
15. Mackenzie Selzer-B 3:06.59
1600 M
1. ***Kenya Leitch-CC 5:00.08
12. Madison Witte-B 6:22.16
15. Chloe Garcia-B 6:55.67
3200 M
1. Kenya Leitch-CC 11:05.84
10. Bre Feasel-B 13:30.83
15. Sophia Silva-B 15:14.20
100 M Hurdle Finals
1. J’NQE Jackson-NH 15.24
100 M Hurdle Prelims
Emily Barton-B 19.28
Tia Coyne-B 19.99
300 M Hurdles
1. Lauren Munson-EN 49.22
11. Jazlyn Brown-B 54.93
4×100 Relay
1. New Haven 51.31
Gardner-Koepke-Jordan Colter-Graves
8. Bellmont 55.86
Cannon-Louis-Knipstein-Post
4×400 Relay
1. Columbia City 4:09.68
Baxter-Bonaham-Sigler-Richmond
7. Bellmont 4:34.34
Witte-Knipstein-Buchan-Cannon
4×800 Relay
1. Huntington North 9:52.76
Colclesser-Haupert-McDonald-Friesen
6. Bellmont 10:55.73
Carpenter-Buchan-Witte-Franz
High Jump
1. Scout Warner-D 5-00
8. Jazlyn Brown-B 4-06
14. Maya Schlemmer-B 4-04
Pole Vault
1. Emerson Meredith-N and Kylie Walz-EN 10-0
Long Jump
1. Julianna Crow-EN 17-00.5
11. Jazlyn Brown-B 14-03
12. Maya Schlemmer-B 14-00.5
Shot Put
1. Hailey Cole-B 39-02
2. Makenna Dommer-NH 33-10
13. Elizabeth Selzer-B 27-02.5
Discus
1. ***Makenna Dommer-NH 135-09
2. Breann Fordyce-D 108-10
9. Hailey Cole-B 89-10
13. Kinleigh Coffey-B 83-06