BY FRANK BONNER
For The Tribune

COLUMBUS

Brownstown Central boys track and field coach Derrick Koch said he knew going in that the Braves’ meet with Columbus East and Jennings County was going to be a tough meet.

Brownstown still managed to walk away with two boys first-place finishes and three girls first-place finishes Thursday.

Joe Barnes threw 40 feet, 5 inches in the shot put and 149-11 in the discus to help the Braves score 23 points and finish behind Jennings County’s 67 and East’s 66. Reece Covert also placed second in the 400 meters.

“Overall, I was really pleased with Joe Barnes,” Koch said. “We made some big improvements, even though we didn’t place well. Some of our times and throws were better than expected, so I’m happy about that.”

The Brownstown girls scored 46 points to finish behind Jennings County’s 56 and East’s 54.

Brooklyn Snodgrass had a solid day for the girls team, being a double winner and breaking the school record in the 100 for the second time. Snodgrass crossed the finish line in 12.4 during the 100, and her 27.1 time in the 200 earned her a second first place.

Sophomore Kaelyn Johnson did not run the time she wanted in the 3,200, but her 13:20 time was fast enough to earn her the Braves’ third first-place ribbon.

“Overall, we’re pretty pleased with everything,” Brownstown girls coach Maria Conklin said. “We can see we can run these times. If we can run these right now, hopefully a month from now in the tournament, we can run a heck of a lot faster and get people to advance.”