North opens season with sweep against Seymour

Columbus North’s boys and girls track teams finally got to hit the track against Seymour after the weather caused three consecutive cancellations to start the season.

North coach Lou Sipe said his athletes were eager to finally compete, and they showed they were ready to race after wining both dual meets. The boys won 115-17, while the girls won 74-58.

Logan Abbott won the shot put (47 feet, 7 inches) and discus (140-5), and Damon Hunter took the 100 meters in 11.1 seconds and the 200 in 23.1.

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Sami Heathcote won the girls 100 hurdles in 16.6 and the pole vault with a 9-0 for the girls. La’Monica Smith took the 100 in 13.4 and the 200 in 28.6.

“It feels great to get a meet in finally,” Sipe said. “Mother Nature has been kind of tough on us, but it feels really good. I was proud of our kids, working hard in practice, and obviously that showed today.”

The boys team won all but one event. Noah Kestler took the 100 hurdles in 17.4, Drew Thompson won the 1,600 in 4:44 before Zach Friend took the 400 in 55.2.

Ben Malone led the 300 hurdles with a 42.9 finish, and Sam Horak won the 800 in 2:07. Charlie Allen’s 10:20 in the 3,200 earned him a first place and the Bull Dogs swept the 4×800, 4×100 and 4×400 relays.

Other field event winners were Preston Terrell in the high jump (6-0) and Brigham Kleinhenz in the pole vault (13-0). The boys swept the majority of the events and only allowed six top-three finishes by Seymour.

Olivia Morlok helped the girls get their win by taking the 3,200 in 11:47.2. Jahna Smiley jumped 5 feet to place first in the high jump. She also placed second in the long jump at 15 feet. Other second-place finishes came from Carly Finke in the 100 (13.47) and 200 (29.0), Arig Tong in the 1,600 (5:44.0) and Roxanna Mendoza in the 300 hurdles (54.3). Sydney Wheeler’s 8-foot pole vault earned her a second-place finish and Summer Spencer placed second in the discus at 91-3.

“It’s really important to be able to finally compete,” Sipe said. “Obviously, you can identify things you need to work on, and it gives them motivation to continue to work hard in practice. To have that opportunity to compete, it changes things up for them and kind of energizes them.”