By RYAN WALKER
Bluffton’s boys and Norwell’s girls dominated the 2024 South Adams Invitational Friday night.
It was a chilly, rainy evening at Bluffton High School, but it didn’t slow down either school to their respective wins in the long-running history of the invite. This year, hosted by Bluffton due to South Adams redoing its track.
The Knight girls won the event two years in a row, even after losing key pieces to graduation. They won it with a team score of 129, 30 points ahead of second-place South Adams.
Head coach Deidre Stoppenhagen was thrilled after the meet to be able to take home the hardware again, shouting out the youth on her team stepping into bigger roles this season.
“It feels good, because we did back-to-back winning last year and we won this year,” Stoppenhagen said. “We lost some key players, but all of these girls stepped up and filled all of those roles perfectly.”
Of the primary standouts, it was the Dale sisters, Jada and Abigail, who combined for either first or second place in six of the events Friday night.
Haley Williamson, who finished first or second in four total events, also received high praise from her coach.
For the Tigers, it was their first win in this invitational since 2017. Last season, head coach Brent Kunkel’s squad finished in third with a team score of 64. This season was much different, winning it by 69 points over second place Norwell with 155.
“This is a big deal meet for us,” Kunkel said. “(The) South Adams Invite has gone back 40-50 years. It’s our first time winning it since 2017. I feel great about our performance tonight. Obviously, anytime you win a big invite by as many points as we did, it kind of speaks to a whole team effort.”
The highlight of the night in both the boys and the girls was senior Tyler Godwin, who scored a whopping 32.5 of his team’s points as an individual.
In four events, he won the 800m, the 1600m and the 3200m, and helped the 4x800m relay team capture first too.
“Tyler Godwin scoring 32.5 points, you’ve got to start right there. He’s just incredible,” Kunkel said.
The Norwell boys and Bluffton girls also had solid showings at the event.
The Knight boys, who placed second with 86 points, have been hit by sickness recently and are still trying to figure out some spots in their lineups.
Head coach Adam Prater said they used three individuals to help replace Trevon Stoppenhagen, the IU Kokomo signee, who competed in the state finals last year in sprinting events. He was out due to illness, so in stepped Jase Harmon, Nolan Weedaman and Caiden Petrie. The three held their own and scored points in key parts Friday night.
“As far as the meet going, we had young guys stepping up,” Prater said. “We had to make a lot of changes last minute with guys being sick and hurt. So proud of the way we stepped up … (I) Wish were full steam tonight, but it is what it is guys stepped up. Love where our young guys are.”
The Bluffton girls finished in third place, one spot up from last year and 28 points higher.
The program has been taken over by Sebastian Baxter, although he and Kunkel both work with both teams.
The Tigers placed in the top three in six events and got contributions from several athletes in all four grade levels. Baxter is encouraged to see the group be tightly knit and wanting to work hard together and learn from one another, and it’s paying off.
“These upperclassmen are starting to buy into refusing to lose and wanting to lead these eager freshman and sophomores,” Baxter said. “It’s just exciting to see this program culture start to shift because they see a chance to actually do something pretty good.”
Bluffton will host South Adams and Heritage at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, April 30.
Norwell will host Huntington North next at 5 p.m. Tuesday, April 30.
ryan@news-banner.com
Top-three finishers:
Boys
Bluffton
• Andrew Hunt first in the 110m hurdles with a time of 16.43.
• Tyler Godwin first in the 1600m 4:40.70.
• Alex Mechling, Ben Ramseyer, Trey Bustos and Khamel Moore third in the 4x100m relay with a time of 46.16.
• Johnny Cruz first in the shot put at 51-7.75, Sam Mechling second at 42-4.
• Eli Bertsch second in the high jump at 5-8.
• Godwin first in the 3200m with a time of 10:31.99 and Levi Johns third at 10:35.38.
• Baumgartner, Ayden Teeple, Johns and Godwin first in the 4x800m relay with a time of 8:34.71.
Norwell
• Hayden Bennett second in the 110m hurdles with a time of 16.88, Zane Borne third at 17.11.
• Devin Dale first in the 100m with a time of 11.36 and Jase Harmon third at 11.84.
• Godwin first in the 800m with a time of 2:04.03.
• Elijah Kerner, Maksym Laishevkin, Andrew Hunt and Jude Baumgartner first in the 4x400m relay with a time of 3:36.07.
• Kyler Morris, Luke Johnson, Gavin Threewits and Caiden Petrie third in the 4x800m relay with a time of 8:55.21.
• Quentauris Jones, Ryan Smith, Bennett and Harmon first in the 4x100m relay with a time if 45.23.
• Harmon third in the high jump at 5-8.
Girls
Bluffton
• Rylynn Penick third in the 100m with a time of 13.87.
• Maryn Schreiber third in the 400m with a. time of 1:06.85.
• Dakota Lee third in the 300m hurdles with a time of 53.33.
• Haley Gibson, Penick, Olivia Schreiber and Lee third in the 4x100m relay with a time of 54.87.
• Rori Drayer second in the shot put at 29-11.75, Alexandria Koby third at 29-6.75.
• Madelyn Funk third in the long jump at 14-5.
Corina Raider second in the discus at 95-2.
Norwell
• Jada Dale first in the 100m with a time of 13.66 and Abigail Dale second at 13.70.
• Dale first in the 400m with a time of 1:04.28, Haley Williamson second at 1:05.91.
• Haleigh Reinhard second in the 800m with a time of 2:37.03.
• Dale first in the 200m with a. time of 27.63, Graft second at 27.90.
• Makenzie Fuess, Abigail Dale, Jada Dale and Haley Williamson first in the 4x400m relay with a time of 4:26.09.
• Reinhard, Larkin Smith, Ali Riley and Brooklyn Meyer first in the 4x800m relay with a time of 10:41.94.
• Fuess, Williamson, Abigail Dale and Graft first in the 4x100m relay with a time of 52.93.
• Williamson in the high jump at 4-8.
• Fuess second in the long jump at 14-7.
Kaylee Eicher third in the discus 92-3.
Team Scores
Boys
1. Bluffton (155 points), 2. Norwell (86), T3. Rockford Parkway (55), T3. South Adams (55), 5. Monroe Central (48), 6. Convoy Crestview (36), 7. Bellmont (30).
Girls
1. Norwell (129 points), 2. South Adams (99), 3. Bluffton (75), 4. Bellmont (56), 5. Rockford Parkway (50), 6. Monroe Central (49), 7. Convoy Crestview (7).
