By RYAN WALKER
The three Wells County schools competed in the boys’ track and field sectional at Marion High School Thursday night, with Norwell falling just short of first place.
The Knights had the lead for most of the night, but Oak Hill trailed by just one point with the final two races to go. In the 3200m, the Golden Eagles had two runners finish first and second in the 3200m and second place in the 4x400m relay to take the lead and win with 136 points to Norwell’s 116.
As much as a disappointment it was, Norwell head coach Adam Prater couldn’t have asked for anything more from his group of guys.
“We came in, and I told them, ‘you don’t have to be perfect, just give me your best,’ and that’s exactly what we got,” Prater said after the meet. “You could see it, just the exhaustion. We didn’t have anything left in the tank, and that’s all I could ever ask is that they gave me their best. They gave each other their best, and I’m proud of them.”
The Knights will be well-represented at the regional meet next week at Carroll High School, with multiple athletes to continue their season.
First, the two sectional champions. Kyle Zeddis won the discus with a throw of 144-4, and Winston Frauhiger won the high jump with a jump of 6-5.
Jake Parker made it in the 110m and 300m hurdles, Trevon Stoppenhagen in the 100m dash and in the 200m dash, Cohen Bailey in the long jump and the 400m, Zach Waldman in the 1600m, and the 4x100m relay team with Timothy Bonjour, Parker, Ryan Smith, and Brady Smith.
Prater is happy to keep some of his team going another week and plenty of them.
“We’re all over the place with guys in distance, sprints, and throws,” he said. “I mean, we bring a little bit of everything back, and that’s real nice. We get to keep quite a few guys around and go take a yellow bus someplace. So, I’m excited for next week and the opportunity for them to go to Carroll and run and give themselves a chance to get that state-run that not a lot of people get to enjoy.”
Bluffton finished in sixth with a score of 43 points. The goal of the ACAC meet two weeks ago was to win it as a team, but the sectional was a time for the individuals to shine.
“You know, we feel really good,” Kunkel said. “Our peak is the conference meet. That’s what we want to focus on. Our kids ran their guts out two weeks ago now, so we’re very, very happy and pleased with our season. Sectional I told them to be selfish and told them to go for something on their own. Conference is a team thing, and we make sacrifices. This is where we try and get guys in events.”
The coach was happy to see both his underclassmen get experience as well as his three seniors in for their final race.
Freshman Khamel Moore made the finals in the 100m, while Trey Bustos in the long jump, Eli Bertsch in the 110m hurdles, and Alex Mechling in the 4x100m relay were noted as standouts to Kunkel.
Seniors Anthony Cruz, Sam Baumgartner, and Andrew Hunt ran their final races, and Hunt will advance to the regional with his third-place time in the 110m hurdles.
The highlight of Bluffton’s night was one that was expected from Johnny Cruz, who was the winner in the shot put. The senior threw three feet further than second place did with a throw of 51-0.50.
Cruz won the sectional last year as well and was thrilled to do it again.
“It feels very good, considering I won last year. It’s a great accomplishment, and I’m looking forward to next week,” Cruz said.
Cruz also mentioned he will be working hard for next week to throw a heavier shot to eclipse the 55 feet mark.
Southern Wells tied for 11th with Alexandria Monroe and Northfield with a score of four points. Like the girls’ team, head coach Gary Paxson liked what he saw from his group as both his boys’ and girls’ teams ran personal bests and gave everything they could.
“Again, just like the girls meet, we had several personal bests tonight,” Paxson said. “How are the 4×800 team knocked off five seconds from their best time. Both of our 3200 guys either tied or got their personal best. Peyton Long almost hit 100 in the discus, and Miles Garrett showed a lot of grit and hard work that he’s put in and got a personal best in the 400.”
The points for the team score were scored by Kane Jenkins in the 110m hurdles, the 4x800m relay team of Potter Garrett, Miles Garrett, Andrew Aker, and Joshua Bricker, and the 4x100m relay team of Aidan Brewster, Peyton Ellis, Jenkins, and Nick Lozoya.
A number of freshmen competed well in their first season with the team, Paxson mentioning Jenkins and Ellis in the hurdles and in the relay races, as well as some other first or second-year runners.
Paxson said that over the last three years, Southern Wells had not won a track meet. This season, the Raiders not only won their first conference meet in a while against Adams Central but picked up four more wins against Daleville twice, Whitko, and Northfield.
“There are good times coming at Southern Wells on the track,” Paxson said.
The regional meet will take place at Carroll High School for the boys starting at 6 p.m. Thursday, May 25.
Team scores — Oak Hill 136, Norwell 116, Marion 110, Wabash 74, Mississinewa 64, Bluffton 43, Eastbrook 25, Southward 22, Frankton 14, Blackford 8, (tie) Alexandria, Northfield, Southern Wells 4 each.
Wells County results
(Point scorers only)
4 x 800 relay — 4. Norwell (Kwandrans, Morris, Welcher, Neuenschwander), 8:23.22; 5. Bluffton (Baumgärtner, Baumgärtner, Johns, Godwin), 8:29.28; 8. Southern Wells (Garrett, Bricker, Garrett, Aker), 9:00.8.
110m hurdles — 2. Jake Parker (N), 15.16; 3. Andrew Hunt (B), 16.08; 7. Kane Jenkins (SW), 17.75.
100m dash — 3. Trevor Stoppenhagen (N), 11.04; 7. Tmothy Bonjour (N), 11.81.
1600m run — 3. Zach Waldman (N), 4:34.28; 7. Sam Baumgartner (B), 4:47.24.
4 x 100 relay — 3. Norwell (Bonjour, Parker, Stoppenhagen, Smith), 44.35; 4. Bluffton (Mechling, Ramseyer, Cruz, Moore), 45.30; 8. Southern Wells (Brewster, EDllis, Jenkins, Lozoya), 47.99.
400m dash — 4. Cohen Bailey (N), 52.17; 8. Kline Neuenschwander (N), 54.46.
300m hurdles — 2. Jake Parker (N), 39.96; 3. Hayden Bennett (N), 41.56; 4. Andrew Hunt (B), 42.28.
800m run — 4.Tyler Godwin (B), 2:04.26; 6. Zach Waldman (N), 2:05.26.
200m dash — 3. Trevon Stoppenhagen (N), 22.48; 8. Timothy Bonjour (N), 24.37.
4 x 400 relay — 7. Norwell (Bailey, Morris, Neuenschwander, Parker), 3:41.02; 8. Bluffton (Hunt, Laishevkin, Godwin, Baumgartner), 3:45.36.
Pole vault — 4. Jasper Kreigh (N), 11-6; 6. (tie) Trent Singleton (N), 9-6. *Singleton tied with two others for sixth.
Discus – 1. Kyle Zeddis (N), 144-4; 7. Tavin Frees (B), 132-2.
High jump — 1. Winston Frauhiger (N), 6-5; 5. Trace Moser (N), 5-10.
Long jump — 2. Cohen Bailey (N), 20-5.5; 4. Jase Harmon (N), 19-10.75.
Shotput — 1. Johnny Cruz (B), 51-0.5; 5. Kyle Zeddis (N), 43-2; 6. Sam Mechling (B), 43-0.
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