NASHVILLE — One streak continued, but a longer one came to an end Saturday at Brown County’s Talon Relays.
The Columbus North boys won the meet for the third consecutive time the meet has been contested. The Bull Dog girls, however, saw their streak of eight consecutive Talon Relays titles ended by the host Eagles.
The North boys won six events in racking up 142 points to 120 for runner-up Lawrence Central.
“It’s always good to come out and compete against pretty good teams,” said North senior Alex Algee, who was a part of two winning relay teams. “We were really competitive against Lawrence Central, and it’s great to come out and get a win.”
Algee and Harley Huser combined to win the long jump (41 feet, 3 inches), and Huser, Algee, Cortez Bandy and Mitchell Burton took the 4×100-meter relay (43.47 seconds). Grant Fehribach and Brigham Kleinhenz captured the pole vault (23-6), and Drew Schoeberl and Brandon Wolter won the discus (282-11).
Also for the Bull Dogs, Ben Rankin, Justin Spoon, Elijah Brooks and Eli Fischer opened the meet with a win in the 4×1,600 relay (18:50.44). Rankin and Brooks went 1-2 in the 3,200 in 9:57.54 and 10:06.19.
“It was a lot of fun,” Rankin said. “It was different because the 4×1,600 is a race we never run. It was a good experience. Track always has special things like this, and it feels good to be a part of such a big win.”
Brown County won a pair of distance events. Wyatt Wyman, Collin Hoskins, Job Lawson and Cole Chudy set a school record in the distance medley relay (10:39.28); and Wyman, Marino Dolph, Lawson and Chudy won the 4×800 relay (8:25.45).
On the girls side, the Eagles outscored North 113½-108 to win their first-ever Talon Relays.
“All the girls on this team work so hard, and knowing that we had the strength and the mental capacity to be able to beat eight other schools that are huge compared with our little tiny team, it’s pretty amazing,” said sophomore Kathleen McCann, who was a part of two victories.
McCann and Elly Wertz finished 1-2 in the 100 in 12.76 and 13.16 and teamed with Vivien Crimmins and Shaelyn Biddle to take the 4×100 relay (51.24). Biddle and Wertz captured the long jump (30-2).
“If you look at the results, there was a nice mix all the way through, and there wasn’t necessarily one dominant team, so I think that helped us out,” Brown County coach Rob Abraham said. “Being 1-2 in the 100 helped us out. Our 4×100 … even when we’re coming in second place in the 4×800, all these things come together, and the girls did a great job.”
North’s Rachel Brougher and Sierra Lax went 1-2 in the 3,200 in 11:24.84 and 11:32.58 and teamed with Karol Espinosa and Arig Tong to win the distance medley (12:59.35). Katrina May and Espinosa took the pole vault (19-6).
Also for the Bull Dogs, Jahna Smiley and Johanna Anderson won the high jump (10-0). Allison Coffey, Arig Tong, Ana Singhal and Nina Bouthier took the 4×1,600 relay (22:31.16); and Singhal, Coffey, Kirsten Ballard and Bouthier captured the 4×800 relay (10:26.44).
“Our kids got to see some good competition,” North coach Lou Sipe said. “Brown County has a great team this year. We gave some young kids opportunities, and they stepped up and did some good things. We weren’t able to get the win, but I’m proud of how the girls competed.”
