Intermittent sleet and 30 mph winds? That wasn’t going to stop the Seymour track and field team’s first home meet of 2017.
Especially with Hoosier Hills Conference rivals Bedford North Lawrence and Jennings County coming to town.
Jennings County won Thursday’s tri-meet on both sides, with their boys posting 68 points and the girls amassing 89 points.
Seymour tied with Bedford North Lawrence (39 points) for second in the girls meet, while the Owls’ boys finished just behind Jennings County with 60 points.
Top four finishes counted towards team scoring individually while the top two in relays earned points.
Seymour’s Jake Vance pole vaulted 10-feet for a blue ribbon finish and Max Otte won the high jump at 5-10. Vance was also second in the 300 hurdles (47.81)
Jacob Voss won the 1,600 in 4:45.36 and was third in the 3,200 at 10:38.68. Hunter Bauserman was second in the 3,200 (1:36.48) for Seymour.
In the 400, Luke Champ grabbed another first for the Owls by timing 53.79. The Owls’ Conner Lane came right in behind Champ at 54.37.
Landing at 17-7 on his leap, Lance Roark got second in the long jump.
For the 100, Ethan Ortman finished second (11.25) and Jackson Morris notched fourth (11.44).
Bradan Thomasma and Trent Hohenstreiter had a three and four finish in the 800, with times of 2:08.52 and 2:09.09.
Gavin Blanton ran a 23.68 for fourth in the 200.
The 400 relay went to the Owls in 44.67 while the 3,200 relay finished second at 9:01.52.
Combining for 3:42.1, Seymour won the 1,600 relay to conclude the meet.
Caleb Madden tossed 117-3 (second place) for discus and Shawn Bittce heaved 37’8 (third place) in shot put.
Owls coach Randy Fife saw a lot of good things from the team.
“I think Max Otte going 5-10 was very solid for us,” Fife said. “Our sprinters did another good job tonight. Our relays, all three ran well, we won two of three. Jennings County, I think they’re a very good team this year. I think for us to be that close right now, I’m pretty pleased with that.
“It was about effort tonight, and the kids still worked hard. We made some progress tonight.”
The Owls 3,200 relay squad of Ashton Chase, Oriana Morales, Brett Kleber and Makenna Sunbury posted a time of 11:35.00 to open the evening with a first place finish.
Avery DeHart placed third in the 100 hurdles with a time of 18.49 for Seymour and Elizabeth Lenart was runner-up in the 100 dash in 13.12. Clocking 28.65, Lenart garnered third in the 200.
Makenna Sunbury’s placed second in the 1,600 and 3,200, timing 6:09 and 12:25.21.
In the 400, the Owls’ Koralin Mitchell placed second in 1:10.68..
The 300 hurdles saw Kleber finish runner-up, hitting the finish in 52.84.
Sarah Benefiel cleared 6-0 for third place in the pole vault, Ritz made it over 4-6 for fourth in the high jump and Jessica Blevins leaped 13-7 for the long jump third place finish.
Paige Kestler tossed 31½, which earned third place in the shot put.
Both the 1,600 and 400 relay teams got second for Seymour.
“We had a couple girls step up,” Owls girls coach Bob Sexton said. “Koraline Mitchell did a great job in the 400. Makenna Sunbury, who wasn’t feeling 100 percent, came out with a pretty good time in the 3,200.”
Sexton said that the elements made a difference in all the times for all teams.
“The wind wreaked havoc on the back stretch in almost every race,” Sexton said. “If this was a normal year, it probably wouldn’t have been so difficult. When you turn around Tuesday, which was so warm, and then have the opposite Thursday it really catches up to you.”
For Seymour, it was the first home track meet in a long time.
Last year the football field was changed to turf, so the track was torn up in the spring.
There’s a new long jump pit and shot put throwing area, and all the field events are in one location.
“The last few days have been rainy, and we’ve been still out on the field and not had a problem. We have very good drainage on the track and the surface of the middle of the turf,” Sexton said.
“This being our first home meet, it’s kind of different to be able to look on the west end and see all the field events down there. It was really neat to see all those kids and families gathered in one spot.”
Bulleit Stadium’s sound system was also updated this week.
Seymour will host Columbus North on Tuesday.