RANDY HISNER & DANE FUELLING
WZBD.com
The New Haven boys’ track team made history in the NE8 Track and Field Meet at Columbia City Friday night.
The Bulldogs racked up 145 points to win the school’s first conference track title in more than 40 years. They easily outdistanced runner-up Columbia City (118 pts.). Norwell was third with 90 points.
Kevion Mitchell led the way with 30.5 points by winning the long jump and 100 hurdles, placing second in the 300 hurdles, and running a leg on the Bulldogs’ winning 4X400 relay. Brian Garcia, who won the 800 meters, racked up 28 points in four distance events.
The Bellmont Braves finished eighth with 20 points but recorded several personal best performances.
Freshman Nehemiah Richmond cut more than a second from his previous best in the 400 meters to post a 54.05, good for eighth. “It felt really great,” said Richmond. “It was very unexpected. I was just expecting to get, maybe, a 54.9, but I did a lot better than I thought I would, and I’m happy with it.”
Veteran thrower Alex Schirack threw 44-1.75 to place fifth in the shot put. “I’ve been watching a lot of videos to help with the form, and Tony (throws coach Tony Ordway) has been helping me fine-tune that,” said Schirack, explaining how he has added almost four feet to his throw since the early season. Schirack also threw well in the discus at 130-6, placing ninth, one spot short of scoring.
In the 800 meters, Harry Gunsett cut two seconds from his season best, running 2:02.39 for fifth place. He is closing in on his career best of 2:00, which he ran in last year’s sectional.
Jackson Hicks took sixth in the long jump at 20-3, and Maddux Miller finished seventh in the 1600 in 4:45.23, less than two seconds from his career best.
The Braves’ 4X100 relay (Parker Frietas, Will Kintz, Mason White, Chris Richmond) finished sixth in 47.34. The 4X400 relay (Harry Gunsett, Will Kintz, Xavior Palacios, Maddux Miller) placed seventh in 3:43.00. The 4X800 relay team of Kaden Ramsey, Landon Rich, Owen Garcia, and Joe Koslowski finished eighth in 9:46.1.
Sophomore Logan Whitacre placed just out of the money in 11th in the 3200 meters, but his time of 11:11 was an eight-second career best.
Other Notes & Times:
Bellmont’s Chris Richmond ran a PR in the 100 prelims, finishing in 12.64.
Nolan Miller of Leo bettered his NE8 record from last year’s meet by .6 seconds in the 400.
Harry Gunsett of Bellmont set a season-best mark and was in the points in fifth in 2:02.39. His freshman teammate, Landon Sielschott, cut a big chunk of his time in the race, as well, running a PR of 2:17.49.
Aaron Hoffer of New Haven broke the record of Norwell’s Dylan Felger from back in 2017 in the 300 hurdles.
Bellmont’s Hudson Krull also had a good performance in the 300 hurdles, running a PR and finishing in tenth place for the Braves.
Kevion Mitchell of New Haven set a new meet record in the long jump, breaking the seven-year old record by two inches. Mitchell was also part of the New Haven 4×400 team that set a new conference record, just edging out Leo for the title as both teams surpassed the old mark set by the Lions back in 2018.
Norwell’s Jase Harmon also broke the long jump record, but was beaten by Mitchell and had to settle for second place.
Jackson Hicks measured the longest jump of any Adams County long jumper this season with his distance of 20 feet, 3 inches to finish in sixth place for the Braves.
Leo’s Taran Davis set a record in the pole vault for the NE8 conference, clearing 14 feet.
Just three weeks away from graduation, senior Alex Schirack set a new career best in the discus, throwing over 130 feet for the first time in his career for the Braves.
Team Scores: New Haven 145, Columbia City 118, Norwell 90, Leo 75, East Noble 66, Huntington North 58, DeKalb 49, Bellmont 20
100 M Final
1. Logan Hatton-EN 11.13
Prelim Times
Jase Harmon-N 11.38
Will Kintz-B 11.89
Chris Richmond-B 12.64
200 M Final
1. Nolan Miller-L 22.11
Prelim Times
Jase Harmon-N 22.57
Dylan Painter-B 25.49
Preston Schirack-B 26.21
400 M
1. Nolan Miller-L 49.59
8. Nehemiah Richmond-B 54.05
14. Xavior Palacios-B 57.82
800 M
1. Bryan Garcia-NH 1:58.76
2. Caiden Petrie-N 1:59.85
5. Harry Gunsett-B 2:02.39
15. Landon Sielschott-B 2:17.49
1600 M
1. Gavin Good-CC 4:20.60
2. Bryan Garcia-NH 4:20.71
4. Gavin Threewits-N 4:42.89
7. Maddux Miller-B 4:45.23
12. Owen Adams-B 5:04.33
3200 M
1. Gavin Good-CC 10:11.49
2. Bryan Garcia-NH 10:11.49
3. Gavin Threewits-N 10:20.29
5. Gage Reinhard-N 10:27.47
11. Logan Whitacre-B 11:11.69
16. Landon Rich-B 12:07.75
4×100 Relay
1. New Haven 43.95
6. Bellmont 47.34
Ripley-Hicks-Frietas-Kintz
7. Norwell 48.29
Morgan-Garrett-Nunn-Kaehr
4×400 Relay
1. New Haven 3:23.98
6. Norwell 3:40.72
Baxter-Petrie-Petrie-Ford
7. Bellmont 3:43.00
Gunsett-Kintz-Miller-Palacios
4×800 Relay
1. Norwell 8:13.27
Petrie-Petrie-Threewits-Reinhard
8. Bellmont 9:46.10
Ramsey-Rich-Gunsett-Miller
110 Hurdles
1. Kevion Mitchell-NH 14.95
5. Elijah Nunn-N 16.94
11. Hudson Krull-B 18.29
300 M Hurdles
1. Aaron Hoffer-NH 39.46
4. Zane Borne-N 43.32
10. Hudson Krull-B 46.68
High Jump
1. Blake McCoy-CC 6-01
5. Jase Harmon-N 5-08
12. Hudson Krull-B 5-04
Long Jump
1. Kevion Mitchell-NH 22-02.5
2. Jase Harmon-N 22-01
6. Jackson Hicks-B 20-03
14. Cole Sipe-B 16-03
Pole Vault
1. Taran Davis-Leo 14-00
4. Kale Meredith-N 11-00
5. Easton Scherrer-N 11-00
Jack Riehm-B No Height
Landon Sielschott-B No Height
(Beginning height was 9-06)
Shot Put
1. John Bussard-NH 51-11
2. Wes Carmean-N 50-07
5. Alex Schirack-B 44-01.75
6. Wyatt Clifton-N 44-00.75
15. Zayne Roop-B 37-00
Discus
1. John Bussard-NH 151-01
9. Alex Schirack-B 130-06
11. Wes Carmean-N 127-06
12. William Gerber-N 114-01
15. Zayne Roop-B 86-00
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