For The Tribune
Brownstown
Track coaches at Seymour and Brownstown Central said the main thing they were looking for Thursday was improvement from their athletes.
Both teams’ coaches left Blevins Stadium on a positive note, regardless of the final tallies, after the Seymour girls won 80-52, and the Seymour boys came home with a 76-56 win.
It was senior night for the Braves, and all of the Brownstown Central seniors were introduced before the meet.
The Seymour girls went 1-2-3 in the distance events, as Oriana Morales won the 800, Megan Winter took the mile and Abby Voss earned gold in the 3,200.
Seymour also swept the high jump where Macey Warren was first, as well as the 3,200 relay.
The Owls’ Mikaela Grout won the long jump and pole vault.
“We did have a lot of pluses,” Seymour coach Bob Sexton said. “We had the distance runners pulling together, and our throwers in second and third. Those girls looked good, and it was an enjoyable meet for us.
“Also, the high jump, going 1-2-3 there helped. We went first and second in the long jump. Any time you’re getting two places in the scoring, that really helps. We do have strength in our distance. We’re trying to keep everybody healthy, and our sprinters, and we’re kind of building them.”
Brownstown girls coach Maria Wiegel said she had a lot to be pleased with, as Kristen Stuckwisch won the 100 and 200 and ran on the winning 400 and 1600 relay teams, and Jaelyn Reynolds won the shot put and discus.
Sophie Kries took the 100 hurdles, Olivia Goecker won the 300 hurdles, and Elisa Gallion claimed the 400.
“Kristen Stuckwisch really stepped up and won the 100 and also won the 200, and Sophie Kries won the 100, and Olivia Goecker had her best in the 300 hurdles, Jaelyn Reynolds won both her events,” Wiegel said. “She finally had a PR in the discus, her best since her freshman year (119-3). She was really excited and on the upswing there.
“Most of the distance girls had season-best times. Seymour has a great distance squad. We fed off of them and ran pretty well. I’m excited for the rest of the season.”
The Brownstown boys held a 55-54 lead with 13 events in the books before the Owls swept the 800 and 3,200, and won the 1,600 relay to pull away.
“It was a very solid meet for us,” Owls boys coach Randy Fife said. “The kids stepped up. We’re just looking to get better every meet, and that’s what I think we’re doing. The positive thing was winning all of the relays. When you win all the relays, you’re going to be in pretty good shape. We had a couple of sweeps late in the meet with 800 and 3,200.”
Fife said that the shorter distances have room for improvement.
“Even though we didn’t perform as well in the sprints, I think we did OK,” he said. “It was still a good meet for us. We’re finishing up our dual part of our season and starting to point to those big meets, the invitationals where you have trials and finals, and you don’t have the girls races mixed in. That’s why I like to run my kids in a lot of races early in the season and get some good conditioning.”
Daniel Hauersperger topped the Owls by winning the 1,600 and 3,200.
Other firsts came from Austin Hatfield in the long jump, Keegan Bowman in the 800, and Seth Ragon in the high jump.
Leading the Brownstown boys were Rob Fox in both hurdles and Clay Wilkerson in the shot put and discus.
John McKinney won the 100, Matt Conrad claimed the 400, and Jacob Bollinger earned first in the pole vault.
“Seymour is a good team,” Brownstown coach Sam Terrell said. “Any time you take 5-0 in events that is kind of tough to overcome. That is the biggest thing that hurt us today.
“We lost all three relays, and we took a zero in the 800, and a zero in the 3,200. They’ve got great team and they’ve got strong distance runners. We’re just looking to the end of the year to conference and sectional.”