By RICHIE HALL
CARMEL – Carmel boys track and field coach Ken Browner said that the seniors on the Greyhounds team this year “are a really good group of seniors.”
But the coach realized something as Thursday’s sectional at Carmel Stadium was going on: Many of those seniors were competing in their first-ever sectional.
“Some of those guys didn’t run as sophomores,” said Browner. “They didn’t make the sectional roster.”
Those Greyhounds stepped it up, though, delivering another sectional championship to Carmel. The ‘Hounds won with 186 points, triumphed in six individual events, and had many performances earn places in next Thursday’s regional at Lafayette Jefferson.
“I thought we did what we were supposed to do on paper,” said Browner. “We advanced the guys out we should have, so we are excited to get after it at regional.”
Carmel started with a 1-2 finish in the 110 hurdles, with James Philpott winning and Zachary Cox taking second, both advancing to the regional. Cox would later win the 300 hurdles. He was one of those seniors competing in his first-ever sectional.
“The whole goal is the state meet, and I feel like from the beginning to now, I’ve only progressed,” said Cox. “I’ve gotten a lot better and my times are dropping today as I’m going. It’s all good news in my books.”
“He rebounded well,” said Browner. “He was a little tight in the 110s, but he came back in the 300s and did what he needed to do.”
Kole Mathison dominated the 3200 run, winning by nearly 13 seconds. Nolan Ring took the discus with a throw of over 161 feet. The Greyhounds also won two relays, with Anthony Iskander, Thomas Maurer, Colton Parker and Owen Schafer teaming up to take the 4×100, and Schafer, Andrew Willman, Isaiah Thompson and Parker joining together to win the 4×400.
In all, Carmel had 19 automatic qualifications to the regional by finishing in the top three in their respective events, with several more to come through callbacks. Other qualifiers were Parker and Maurer in the 100 dash, Charlie Schuman and Hudson Alden in the 1600 run, Schafer and Willman in the 400 dash, Parker in the 300 hurdles, Philpott and Gregory Gottlieb in the 200 dash, Seth Hutchinson in the pole vault, Evan Brehl in the shot put, and the 4×800 team of William Anderson, Alden, Mathison and Owen Urtel.
NEW RECORD BY SYDNOR
Hamilton Southeastern took second as a team with 120 points. The Royals won five individual events, led by a record-setting performance by Stephen Sydnor in the long jump.
The junior won that event with a jump of 23 feet, 8.25 inches, exactly two feet more than second place. Sydnor beat the old record, which had stood for 14 years, by over seven inches.
“It was a decent day,” said Sydnor. “It’s a little bit under my PR, but 23’s still decent. It’s around the top in the state, so I should be good.” Sydnor’s personal best is 24 feet, 5 inches.
Southeastern, in fact, won the majority of the field events. Xan Cluff took the pole vault in a state standard effort of 14 feet, 4 inches. Manraj Grewal was first in the high jump and Jack Greer won the shot put.
Another big Royals win came from Nolan Satterfield, who nosed out Schuman for first place in the 1600 run. Satterfield won the race in 4:22.33, victorious by 0.06 seconds.
Southeastern had six other automatic qualifiers for the regional: Will Gerig in the 110 hurdles, Bennett Dubois in the 800, Lamine Sall in the long jump, Jackson Constantine in the discus, Brandon Gonzalez in the shot put, and the 4×100 relay of Jaylon Cooper, Xavier Dokes, Kobe Dade and Bryce Gray.
BUSY MAC
Noblesville took third place by scoring 91 points. The Millers picked up two wins courtesy of senior Mac Smith, who might have been the busiest man at the sectional Thursday evening.
Smith began with a win in the 100 dash, finishing in a time of 11.03 seconds. He would later take the 200 dash in 22.14 seconds. In between, he joined Brayden Colon, Christ Degni and Tanner Gibson on the second-place Noblesville 4×100 relay. And somehow, he found time to place third in the long jump, meaning he advances to regional in all four events.
“I think I ran pretty well today. My coaches had been working with me on fixing my race model a little bit so I was able to finish better,” said Smith.
The Millers had four other auto qualifiers for the regional: Andrew Anderson in the 800, Travis Hickner and Cole Kimmel in the 3200 and Sam Greenaway in the high jump.
MIDDLE DISTANCE WINS
Fishers placed fourth with 86 points and also got two event wins.
In this case, the Tigers swept the middle distance events. Keefer Soehngen placed first in the 400 dash, clocking in at 48.76 seconds. Later, Jaylen Castillo won the 800 run in 1:54.91.
“I was pretty happy about the open 8,” said Castillo. He and Soehngen would finish the meet by joining Tyler Tarter and Grady Stanley on the 4×400 relay, which finished second and qualified for the regional.
Fishers’ 4×800 relay team of Benjamin Greiwe, Jonathon Roth, Soehngen and Alec Foster also qualified for regional by taking second. The Tigers had two field event qualifiers as well: Paul Kelley in the high jump and Caleb Gates in the discus.
Westfield began the meet with a win in the 4×800 relay, as Kai Connor, Jacob Beene, Colin Lakomek and Joshua Springborn clocked in a 7:52.37. The Shamrocks 4×400 relay squad of Lakomek, Tyler Smith, Springborn and Joseph Harris placed third to advance to the regional, as did Jonathan Frey in the pole vault.
Guerin Catholic’s Tyler Backlund finished third in the 300 hurdles to qualify for the regional. All of the above schools are likely to have more qualifiers through callbacks. Hamilton Heights and University will have some callbacks as well. The Huskies’ Peyton McQuinn placed fourth in the pole vault and the Trailblazers’ Steven Scott was fifth in the long jump to lead their respective teams.
Team scores: Carmel 186, Hamilton Southeastern 120, Noblesville 91, Fishers 86, Westfield 70, Guerin Catholic 28, Hamilton Heights 17, University 17, Lebanon 8, Western Boone 1.
4×800 relay: 1. Westfield (Kai Connor, Jacob Beene, Colin Lakomek, Joshua Springborn) 7:52.37, 2. Carmel (William Anderson, Hudson Alden, Kole Mathison, Owen Urtel) 7:52.66, 3. Fishers (Benjamin Greiwe, Jonathon Roth, Keefer Soehngen, Alec Foster) 8:14.84, 4. Southeastern (Nolan Satterfield, Ian Ross, Andrew Knight, Garrett Hicks) 8:24.92, 5. Guerin Catholic (Gavin Morrow, Thomas King, Ethan Hines, Nicholas Schramm) 8:25.46, 6. Noblesville (Ian Montarsi, Alex Hipkiss, Caden Click, Evan Campbell) 8:31.14, 7. Heights (Josh Russell, Steven Case, Clay Forrer, Tyler Overton) 9:09.75.
110 hurdles: 1. James Philpott (C) 15.31, 2. Zachary Cox (C) 15.52, 3. Will Gerig (HSE) 15.70, 4. Tyler Backlund (GC) 15.96, 5. Dan Nevitt (N) 16.37, 6. Michael Scnhurr Jr., (F)16.52, 7. Tyler Tarter (F) 16.73, 8. Carson Voorhis (W) 16.76, 9. Clayton Allen (HSE) 16.86. Prelims – 12. Peter Rooney (GC) 18.23, 13. Ben Kern (N) 18.35, 15. Preston Pearson (HH) 18.39, 16. Peyton Cross (Sheridan) 19.26, 17. Coleton Vondersaar (W) 19.34, 18. Aiden Helm (HH) 20.15.
100 dash: 1. Mac Smith (N) 11.03, 2. Colton Parker (C) 11.13, 3. Thomas Maurer (C) 11.28, 4. Malachai Corbett (F) 11.42, 5. Jayden Bernavil (W) 11.50, 6. Ronald Jackson (GC) 11.63, 7. Kobe Dade (HSE) 11.71, 8. Ethan Falconer (HSE) 11.79, 9. Alex Knepper (H) 12.38. Prelims – 9. Ryan Creager (W) 12.07, 10. GiGi Metayer (S) 12.10, 15. Jayden Seaton (U) 12.60, 17. Christopher Millen (U) 12.91.
1600 run: 1. Satterfield (HSE), 2. Charlie Schuman (C) 4:22.39, 3. Alden (C) 4:23.56, 4. Hicks (HSE) 4:24.22, 5. Joel Mumaw (N) 4:25.34, 7. Tate Meaux (F) 4:28.38, 8. Kyler Koning (W) 4:30.67, 9. Joshua Barnett (W) 4:31.78, 10. Austin Wilson (F) 4:40.13, 11. Hines (GC) 4:43.07, 12. Russell (HH) 5:00.91, 13. Forrer (HH) 5:08.14, 16. Ben Gleason (U) 5:31.85, 17. Axel Aleman (S) 5:31.95, 18. Owen Ascioti (U) 5:32.46.
4×100 relay: 1. Carmel (Anthony Iskander, Maurer, Parker, Owen Schafer) 42.05, 2. Noblesville (Smith, Brayden Colon, Christ Degni, Tanner Gibson) 42.88, 3. Southeastern (Jaylon Cooper, Xavier Dokes, Dade, Bryce Gray) 43.65, 4. Westfield (Voorhis, David Frey, Dylan Walker, Christiaan Husiden) 44.13, 5. Fishers (Corbett, Dawson Scally, Eligh Dodd, Joseph Syrus) 44.15, 6. Heights (Trey Ehman, Luke Knepper, Daniel Collier, Nate Jozsa) 44.30, 8. University (Kasey Ash-Simpson, Steven Scott, Jacob Smith, Millen) 47.59.
400 dash: 1. Soehngen (F) 48.76, 2. Schafer (C) 49.20, 3. Andrew Willman (C) 50.82, 4. Isaiah Smith (U) 51.29, 5. Sam Greenaway (N) 52.02, 6. Matthew Conard (N) 52.50, 7. Caine Ardayfio (U) 52.64, 8. Alex Gibbs (GC) 53.00, 9. Robert Seay (F) 53.29, 10. Landon King (W) 53.74, 11. Rico Ortiz (HSE) 53.28, 12. Nick Bauman (GC) 56.41, 13. John McCoy (HSE) 56.55, 15. Patrick Orlando (S) 58.26, 18. Jace Warren (S) 1:04.84.
300 hurdles: 1. Cox (C) 38.23, 2. Parker (C) 39.21, 3. Backlund (GC) 40.85, 4. Huisden (W) 40.91, 5. Gerig (HSE) 41.50, 6. Tarter (F) 41.62, 7. Kern (N) 42.38, 8. Voorhis (W) 42.51, 9. Allen (HSE) 42.51, 11. Schnurr Jr. (F) 44.24, 13. Pearson (HH) 45.89, 14. Rooney (GC) 46.45, 15. Nevitt (N) 46.58, 17. Cross (S) 49.97, 18. Helm (HH) 50.11.
800 run: 1. Castillo (F) 1:54.91, 2. Bennett DuBois (HSE) 1:55.72, 3. Andrew Anderson (N) 1:56.27, 4. Connor (W) 1:57.25, 5. Shammah Dosunmu (C) 1:57.63, 6. Bingham Hudson (C) 1:57.97, 7. Foster (F) 1:58.07, 8. Knight (HSE) 1:58.71, 9. Luke Shinneman (N) 2:00.89, 10. Maxwell Woehler (W) 2:03.32, 11. Jack Weber (GC) 2:06.90, 13. Ben Grissom (GC) 2:09.18, 14. Lucca Conti (U) 2:09.56.
200 dash: 1. Smith (N) 22.14, 2. Philpott (C) 22.30, 3. Gregory Gottlieb (C) 22.68, 4. Walker (W) 22.80, 5. Frey (W) 22.97, 6. Luke Moody (GC) 23.15, 7. Jathan Willis (F) 23.41, 8. Gibson (N) 23.61, 9. Falconer (HSE) 23.69. Prelims – 10. Dade (HSE) 24.00, 11. Scally (F) 24.01, 12. Scott (U) 24.06, 13. Metayer (S) 24.31, 14. J. Smith (U) 24.56, 17. A. Knepper (HH) 25.12, 20. Kevin Speck (S) 25.78.
3200 run: 1. Mathison (C) 9:10.60, 2. Travis Hickner (N) 9:23.45, 3. Cole Kimmel (N) 9:23.92, 4. William Clark (F) 9:24. 16, 5. Jacob Fisher (C) 9:24.93, 6. Will Marquardt (HSE) 9:25.35, 7. Austin Callahan (GC) 9:27.87, 8. Matthew Leppert (F) 9:33.49, 9. Morrow (GC) 9:56.09, 10. Beene (W) 10:10.45, 11. Connor Sakovics (HSE) 10:10.56, 12. Garrett Mowry (W) 10:20.83.
4×400 relay: 1. Carmel (Schafer, Willman, Thompson, Parker) 3:20.35, 2. Fishers (Tarter, Soehngen, Castillo, Grady Stanley) 3:22.25, 3. Westfield (Lakomek, Tyler Smith, Springborn, Joseph Harris) 3:27.44, 4. Noblesville (Greenaway, Anderson, Chase Alsup, Conard) 3:30.00, 5. Guerin Catholic (Jackson Lewis, King, Backlund, Gibbs) 3:37.18, 6. University (Conti, J. Smith, Ardayfio, I. Smith) 3:46.88.
High jump: 1. Manraj Grewal (HSE) 6-0, 2. Greenaway (N) 6-0, 3. Paul Kelley (F) 6-0, 4. Aydrian Caldwell (C) 5-10, 5. Matthew Penley (W) 5-10, 6. Gerig (HSE) 5-8, 7. Ardayfio (U) 5-8, 8. Carver Wood (C) 5-8, 9. Ellis Tarver (N) 5-8, 12. Aiden Collins (F) 5-6, T13. Joseph Youngman (GC) 5-4, 15. Brooks Ellery (GC) 5-4.
Pole vault: 1. Xan Cluff (HSE) 14-4, 2. Seth Hutchinson (C) 13-8, 3. Jonathan Frey (W) 13-4, 4. Peyton McQuinn (HH) 13-0, 5. Lester Gonzalez (W) 13-0, 6. Bayden Lutz (HH) 12-6, 7. John Underhill (C) 12-6, 8. Nathaniel Samson (F) 11-0, 9. Dylan Parodi (F) 11-0, 10. Patrick McGrath (HSE) 9-0, 11. Aaron Bauman (GC) 9-0.
Long jump: 1. Stephen Sydnor (HSE) 23-8.25, new sectional record, 2. Lamine Sall (HSE) 21-8.25, 3. Smith (N) 21-5.75, 4. Jaedon King (C) 21-5, 5. Scott (U) 20-10.5, 6. Penley (W) 20-10.25, 7. Joseph Syrus (F) 20-0, 8. Patrick Schramm (W) 19-11, 10. Metayer (S) 19-5, 11. Peyton Doty (F) 19-1, 12. Jo Matsumoto (C) 18-3, 13. Jozsa (HH) 18-1, 16. Aidan Walker (N) 16-10.25, 18. A. Bauman (GC) 15-7.5, 19. Orlando (S) 14-9.
Shot put: 1. Jack Greer (HSE) 51-7, 2. Evan Brehl (C) 50-8, 3. Brandon Gonzalez (HSE) 49-9, 4. Silas Martin (F) 44-1.75, 5. Vance Farrar (W) 43-10, 6. Josh Brown (HH) 43-1, 7. Jacob Gates (F) 41-10, 8. William Goodvine (W) 41-2.75, 9. Joseph Franklin (C) 41-1.5, 10. Robert Sapienza (GC) 40-1, 12. Reece Bowen (N) 38-1.5, 13. Zach Blevins (N) 38-1, 17. Luke Schenk (GC) 35-3.75, 18. Tresdon Hamilton (S) 32-9.5, 19. Eric Ferren (S) 31-11.
Discus: 1. Nolan Ring (C) 161-8, 2. Jackson Constantine (HSE) 147-0, 3. Caleb Gates (F) 140-8, 4. Mark Herman (C) 132-11, 5. Teddy Miller (HSE) 132-7, 7. Brown (HH) 120-10, 8. Nathan Allgeier (F) 118-4, 9. Hayden Netral (W) 114-1, 10. Randall Hubbell (HH) 110-0, 11. Ferren (S) 108-11, 12. Gabe Henthorn (W) 105-8, 13. Evan Augspurger (N) 101-1, 14. Trent Gallagher (GC) 95-8, 16. Mason Anderson (N) 94-3, 17. Sapienza (GC) 91-1.