The Columbus North boys track and field team ran away with Tuesday’s tri meet against East Central and Shelbyville behind Mitchell Burton’s three individual first-place finishes.
Burton’s jump of 21 feet, 10 1/4 inches won the long jump. He also won two sprint races by running the 100 meters in 11.2 seconds and the 200 in 22.8 to help the Bull Dogs win the meet with 109 points. Shelbyville ended with 37 and East Central finished third with 20.
“I felt pretty good. I was pretty confident from practice and the last few meets that I was going to win it today,” Burton said about the 100 and 200. “As a team, I thought we did really well. I started to see guys step up. Now, we’re going to have more depth going into conference and sectional.”
North’s boys won every event except the 400 and high jump, which were both won by Shelbyville. Triston Perry was a double-event winner, taking both the 110 and 300 hurdles. Perry finished the 110 hurdles in 15.0 and the 300 hurdles in 39.8. The 4×100 relay finished in a hand-held 43.1, which is .09 off the school record.
North coach Lou Sipe said the team is excited about the chance to set a record in Friday’s Conference Indiana meet.
“We had a great opportunity, and we just have to clean some things up,” Sipe said. “We’ve got the talent to do it. It’s just a matter of making sure everything is clean, and we get our exchanges right. Hopefully we’ll be able to break that sooner than later.”
The North girls scored 50 1/2 points, placing second behind East Central’s 89 1/2. Shelbyville finished third with 27.
The Bull Dogs’ Emma Wetherald threw the discus 98-10 to place first, and Maura VanDeventer ran 48.5 in the 300 hurdles to give the girls their second first-place finish of the day.
Sipe said the girls set multiple personal records.
“I thought their performance was good,” Sipe said. “East Central girls are tough. We competed, and we’ll see them again at the regional. I thought our girls did really well tonight.”
