Sometimes, all it takes is a good county rivalry to bring out the best in athletes.
In Thursday’s track and field meet at Seymour High School’s Bulleit Stadium, the host Owls had just enough depth in some events to pull out a 73-59 win against Brownstown Central. While in the boys’ meet, Browns
town had good balance in running and field events to beat Seymour 87-45.
“I realize that first place brings in the most points, but that third and second place, those rack in points, and not many people realize that, and we killed it,” Seymour senior Audrey Clark said. “It was just everyone putting their effort in pushing into that third place, second place and ultimately the first place. It’s not just first place who gets everything. It’s third place and second place, too.”
Clark was leadoff in the winning 400-meter relay, and Hannah Kleber and Clark went 1-2 in the 200-meter dash. Zoey Johnson had a big night, running leadoff in the winning 3,200-meter relay, leading a 1-2-3 finish in the 400-meter dash and taking first in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs.
Megan Kimbley and Michelle Hoene once again went 1-2 in the high jump, while Megan Winter and Delaney Sunbury took the top two spots in the 800-meter run.
“We changed our lineup around,” Seymour girls coach Bob Sexton said. “It’s still early in the season, so you’re still trying things and moving things around. Girls are getting stronger, they are getting more in shape, they are coming in more racing than they were two weeks ago, so it’s kind of a different mindset.”
For the Brownstown girls, Elisa Gallion and Olivia Goecker went 1-2 in the hurdle events, with Gallion taking the 100-meter race and Goecker winning the 300-meter race. Both girls also were on the winning 1,600-meter relay along with Becca Bishop, who took first in the 100-meter dash.
The Braves had another strong night in the field events. Regan Harrison and Jaelyn Reynolds went 1-2 in the shot put, Reynolds and Miranda Stuckwisch went 1-2 in the discus, and Emily Newberry won the long jump and pole vault.
“Really great effort across the board,” Brownstown girls coach Maria Weigel said. “We had a ton of PRs. They knew they had to compete, and that’s what they did. It has been a fun year so far. We’re small, but I tell them, ‘We’re small but mighty.’”
Field events were strong for the Brownstown, boys too. Levi Hinderlider led a sweep of the shot put, and he won the discus and Ian Anderson placed third. Also, Jacob Wilson won the long jump and high jump, and Noah Cotten and Caleb Wischmeier placed third in those events, respectively.
“Basically, the top three just kind of finish in the top three every meet,” Hinderlider said of the throwers. “We really do push each other a lot. We just kind of challenge each other about setting a better mark every throw, every meet.”
The Braves also were solid on the track. Along with winning all three relays, John McKinney and Wilson went 1-2 in the 100-meter dash; Rob Fox won the 200-meter dash and both hurdle races with Cotten taking second in the 300s; Brandon Merkle won the 400-meter dash; and Ryan Franklin placed first in the 3,200-meter run.
Jack Tormoehlen was a double winner for the Seymour boys, taking the 800- and 1,600-meter runs. The only other winner was Ben Coomer in the pole vault, and Jake Vance finished second.
“We figured it was going to be hard to beat Brownstown,” Seymour boys coach Randy Fife said. “We did a few things different with the lineup just to maybe have a chance, and even then, we knew we would have to have some real solid performances all the way around.
“Some of the kids really stepped up and competed well, but we had a few kids that didn’t have their best meet by any means. And against a team like Brownstown, you can’t bring your B game.”
Fife said he expects his team to keep working to make up some of those points by sectional.
“We’ve got some good, solid individuals. We’re just not a good team right now,” Fife said. “We’ve got to get everybody healthy and start developing in some events that we’re a little off in right now if we’re going to be a better team come conference and come sectional.”