Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
KOKOMO - Of the four local schools - Tippecanoe Valley, Triton, Manchester and Whitko - that were represented in the boys track regional Thursday at Kokomo, two will be represented at the state meet June 3 in Indianapolis.
Manchester's David Bazzoni took the only first place among local competitors with his jump of 14 feet, 6 inches in the pole vault. Marion's Brent Peterson was second with a jump of 14-0. Triton's Matt Yankovich finished seventh in the event with a jump of 13-0.
Bazzoni advanced to the state finals a year ago as well.
"David struggled a little bit," Manchester coach Ned Bowman said. "Obviously he set a personal record, but he hoped to jump higher. He's real happy with it."
Bazzoni's older brother John owns the Manchester pole vault record of 16-3.
The top three teams or individuals in each event, or those who make the state qualifying standard, advance to the state finals.
Triton's Matt Anders will compete in next weekend's state finals in the 400, after his time of 49.97 seconds was good enough for a third-place finish. Huntington North's Brett Hoopingarner won the race with a time of 49.34 seconds. Manchester's Nate Kerr competed in the event and finished eighth with a time of 51.99 seconds.
Marion won the team title with a score of 72, taking first place in the long jump, high jump and 800. Penn was second with 63, followed by Huntington North (52), S.B. LaSalle (49), S.B. Adams (43, Wabash (28), Kokomo (24), Columbia City (23), Mishawaka Marian (21) and Logansport (20.5) to round out the top 10. Manchester tied for 11th with 19 points with Northfield and Plymouth. Whitko finished 18th with 13 points; Triton was 22nd with 10 and Tippecanoe Valley was 26th with seven points.
Manchester's Nick Winters finished fifth in the shot put with a hurl of 49-4. Huntington North senior Aaron Wilson took first in the shot put with a hurl of 53-2. Tippecanoe Valley's Craig Kuhn was 16th in the shot put with his hurl of 41-2.
Other finishers for Manchester included Nate Kerr's eighth-place time of 51.99 seconds in the 800, Annon Gaerte's eighth-place time of 41.73 seconds in the 300 hurdles, and the 1600 relay team of Kerr, Gaerte, Josh Whiteman and Trent Penrod's time of 3:31.21.
"We had a very good night," Manchester coach Ned Bowman said. "We placed in five of the six events we were entered in, four of which were personal records."
The Squires set personal records in the pole vault, shot put, 1600 relay, and 400.
Tippecanoe Valley senior Eric Carlin came in seeded third in the 110 hurdles. He finished fifth with a time of 15.11 seconds. Carlin won the second preliminary heat, a heat in which second-seeded Brad Cohee of Peru was disqualified due to a false start.
"I felt like I had a good chance," Carlin said. "I ran a decent race, but it wasn't the time I wanted."
Carlin also finished sixth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 41.49 seconds. Other Valley finshers were Jeff Whetsone with his 16th-place time of 5:06.56 in the 1600 and the 400 relay team of Carlin, Casey Wise, Kevin Paxton and David Tilden's time of 46.03 seconds.
"I told the kids we just want to run well and let the chips fall where they may," Valley coach Terry Screeton said. "The relay team ran four places above their seed. Carlin ran well in both races. We're real happy."
Other Triton finishers include Aaron Trieschman who finished 15th in the discus with a throw of 125-2.
Whitko's best finish came in the 800 where Tylen Hull was fourth with a time of 2:00.55. Whitko's 3200 relay team of Mike McKeighan, Micah Moncreif, Phil Fetro and Hull was fifth with a time of 8:23.22. The 1600 relay team of Moncrief, McKeighan, Brent Goble and Hull came in fifth with a time of 3:30.45.
"Our young me really ran well tonight," Whitko coach Ron Cherry said. "The 4x800 relay team and Tylen Hull each ran personal records. Tylen Hull's run was bittersweet because he ran his best time ever yet barely missed placing in the top three."
2000 KOKOMO TRACK REGIONAL
The top three individuals or teams in each event, and those who make the state qualifying standard, advance to the state finals in Indianapolis June 3. Listed are the top six in each event, as well as local finishers.
Team scores - 1. Marion 72, 2. Penn 63, 3. Huntington North 52, 4. S.B. LaSalle 49, 5. S.B. Adams 43, 6. Wabash 28, 7. Kokomo 24, 8. Columbia City 23, 9. Mish. Marian 21, 10. Logansport 20.5, 11. (tie) Plymouth 19, Northfield 19, Manchester 19, 14. (tie) Bremen 16, S.B. St. Joe 16, 16. S.B. Clay 14.5, 17. Peru 14, 18. Mishawaka 13, 19. Whitko 13, 20. Culver Military Academy 12, 21. Northwestern 10.5, 22. Triton 10, 23. Eastern 9, 24. Churubusco 8, 25. Tippecanoe Valley 7, 26. S.B. Riley 4.5, 27. Cass 4, 28. (tie) Oregon-Davis 3, Glen 3, Taylor 3, Western 3, Pioneer 3, 33. North Miami 2, 34. (tie) Southwood 1, Maconaquah 1, Oak Hill 1
Abbreviations - Marion (M), Penn (P), Huntington North (HN), S.B. LaSalle (SBL), S.B. Adams (SBA), Wabash (Wab), Kokomo (K), Columbia City (CC), Mishawaka Marian (MM), Logansport (L), Plymouth (Ply), Northfield (NF), Manchester (Man), Bremen (Bre), S.B. St. Joe (STJ), S.B. Clay (SBC), Peru (Per), Mishawaka (Mish), Whitko (Whi), Culver Military Academy (CMA), Northwestern (NW), Triton (Tri), Eastern (E), Churubusco (Chu), Tippecanoe Valley (TV), S.B. Riley (SBR), Cass (Ca), Oregon-Davis (OD), Glenn (Gl), Taylor (Tay), Western (Wes), Pioneer (Pio), North Miami (NM), Southwood (SW), Maconaquah (Mac), Oak Hill (OH)
110 hurdles - 1. Adam Beck (Ply) :14.58, 2. Brandon Hazinski (SBA), 3. Alex Gill (STJ), 4. Aaron Atkinson (K), 5. Eric Carlin (TV), 6. Jeremy Zimmerman (NF)
3200 relay - 1. Penn 8:08.15, 2. Marion, 3. Mishawaka, 4. Plymouth, 5. Whitko, 6. CMA
Discus - 1. Aaron Wilson (HN) 171'10", 2. Ryan Smith (CC), 3. Brent Geiger (P), 4. Jason Brown (SBC), 5. Matt Clayton (Cas), 6. Jeff Hronchek (Wes), 15. Aaron Trieschman (Tri)
Long jump - 1. Anthony Reed (M) 22-10, 2. Darryl Cook (SBA), 3. Cory Brainard (NF), 4. Jackson Parker (CC), 5. Noah Shelton (SBA), 6. Colin Miller (OD)
1600 - 1. Kurtis George (Wab) 4:25.15, 2. Michael Bowditch (L), 3. Dan Burk (P), 4. Nick Stefaniak (P), 5. Kyle Beck (M), 6. Travis Moyer (MM), 16. Jeff Whetstone (TV)
400 - 1. S.B. LaSalle :42.70, 2. S.B. Adams, 3. Marion, 4. Penn, 5. Columbia City, 6. Mish. Marian, 13. Tippecanoe Valley
400 - 1. Brett Hoopingarner (HN), 2. Kenneth Freeman (SBL), 3. Matt Anders (Tri), 4. Andrew Walton (NW), 5. Reed (M0, 6. Randy Rodriguez (Gl), 8. Nate Kerr (Man)
300 hurdles - 1. Gill (STJ) :38.35 (meet record), 2. Mike Nimmo (Wab), 3. Atkisson (K), 4. Kyle Bedwell (E), 5. Jeremy Zimmerman (NF), 6. Eric Carlin (TV), 8. Annon Gaerte (Man)
800 - 1. Beck (M) 1:59.04, 2. Kenneth Poulard (K), 3. Jason Hatch (Per), 4. Tylen Hull (Whi), 5. Jason Biesel (P), 6. Karl Hausman (CMA)
100 - 1. Leroy Dixon (SBL) :10.79, 2. Mike Hammons (Bre), 3. Reggie Nevels (M), 4. Brandon Sutherland (SBL), 5. Sam Penrod (P), 6. Brett Hoopingarner (HN)
200 - 1. Dixon (SBL) :21.75, 2. Hammons (Bre), 3. Brandon Tinkle (HN), 4. (tie) Sal Shabazz (SBC), Andrew Walton (NW), 6. Penrod (P), 7. Anders (Tri)
3200 - 1. George (Wab) 9:39.14, 2. Patrick Gross (Chu), 3. Jason Parks (NF), 4. Mike Varda (Mish), 5. Stefaniak (P), 6. Dan Sweet (CMA)
High jump - 1. Nevels (M) 6-6, 2. Noah Shelton (SBA), 3. Mark Hyndman (CC), 4. Cook (SBA), 5. Kyle Schoof (Ply), 6. Michael Fuller (Per), 10. (tie) Jim Read (Tri) 5-10
Shot put - 1. Wilson (HN) 53-2, 2. Jesse Peters (L), 3. Geiger (P), 4. Kevin Gnivecki (M), 5. Nick Winters (Man), 16. Craig Kuhn (TV)
1600 relay - 1. Huntington North 3:25.88, 2. Mishawaka Marian, 3. S.B. LaSalle, 4. S.B. Clay, 5. Whitko, 6. Manchester
Pole vault - 1. David Bazzoni (Man) 14-6, 2. Brent Peterson (M), 3. Chris Gurchieck (P), 4. (tie) David Jancha (SBR), Anthony Perfetto (L), 6. David Shoaf (CMA), 7. Matt Yankovich (Tri)
