RANDY HISNER
WZBD.com
Heritage senior Logan Teichman will miss his school’s graduation ceremony on June 1. He has other plans that day.
He’ll be competing in the state track and field meet!
With a dramatic heave of 56-8 on his final throw, Teichman beat the state standard of 56-2.5 while securing his hold on third place, the last qualifying spot for state, in the Carroll Regional Track and Field Meet Thursday night.
It turned out that Teichman’s final throw was the icing on the cake. His 55-6.75 effort in the trials would have been good enough to eke out third by 1.75 inches over Bluffton’s Johnny Cruz and punch his ticket to state.
“Absolutely insane, great feeling,” Teichman said of his clutch performance and a new personal best by over three feet. “Can’t believe it—just have to thank my coaches for that.”
What was going through his mind before that final effort?
“Before I walked out there, my coaches looked at me and said, ‘You’re not cemented in yet, but you’re close,’” Teichman said.
“I walked out there and they’re like, ‘You know, it’s better if you throw it farther,’ and I’m like, ‘Well, thanks, coaches,” he added with a chuckle.
“He’s all effort, all the time,” said Heritage throws coach Jason Habisch. “Logan is a great kid to coach, and he’s just very consistent and every day just wants to get better. That’s all you can ask, really.”
Teichman’s junior teammate, Charlie Riddle, also placed in the shot put, taking sixth with a throw of 52-5.5. He added an eighth-place in the discus with his 138-4.
Dane Sebert of Eastside won both throwing events, the shot put with a 62-2.5 effort and the discus with a mammoth throw of 177-0, nearly 25 feet ahead of runner-up Gavin Huelsenbeck of Churubusco.
Heritage got four more points from Marshall Harris, who finished fifth in the 400 meters with a time of 50.58. That gave the Patriots 14 points and a 17th-place finish in the team standings, tops among Z-Land squads.
South Adams junior thrower Uriel Gutierrez sailed the discus 149-3, only a few inches from his PR, to grab fourth place, just one spot and two and a half feet from qualifying for state. Teammate Caiden Neuenschwander finished seventh in the 800 meters in a time of 2:03.13. The two placings gave the Starfires seven points and a tie for 23rd.
The ninth-ranked Homestead Spartans won two individual titles (Ethan Widenhoefer, high jump at 6-6; Eli Griffin, pole vault at 15-6) and scored in 12 events to claim the team title with 72 points, edging the 65.5 of runner-up Northrop. Norwell placed third with 36.5 points.
Sprinters Trevon Stoppenhagen (second in the 100 and 200) and Devon Dale (seventh in the 100, third in the 200) scored most of Norwell’s points. They also ran legs on the Knights’ winning 4X100 relay, along with Zane Borne and Jase Harmon. Cohen Bailey was eighth in the long jump (21-1), and Trace Moser tied for seventh in the high jump (6-0).
Westview sophomore phenom Noah Bontrager was a double winner in the distance events, taking the 1600 meters in 4:18.56 and the 3200 meters in 9:25.48.
Other Z-Land competitors:
Bellmont: Harry Gunsett, 12th in the 800 meters in 2:05.59.
South Adams: 4X800 relay (Wyatt Mann, Dakota Sprunger, Easton O’Dell, Caiden Neuenschwander), 14th in 8:37.59
4X400 relay (Zach Schwartz, Tytus Lehman, Jackson Garcia, Caiden Neuenschwander), 16th in 3:43.57.
Heritage: Braden Walter, 11th in the long jump at 20-3.
Adams Central: Ethan Crockett, 16th in the 3200-meter run in 10:23.00.
The boys’ state meet is scheduled for Saturday, June 1, at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. Field events start at 3:00 P.M.
