Champs / Bull Dogs edge Trojans by one point to win boys track sectional

Brigham Kleinhenz survived a scare, Damon Hunter Jr. pulled an upset and Drew Thompson scored a birthday present on Thursday in the Columbus North boys track sectional.

The trio of seniors won individual events to lead the Bull Dogs to the sectional title in the final meet on their home track. North won by the slimmest of margins, upsetting three-time defending sectional champion Center Grove 132-131 to win their first sectional since 2014.

“Every point matters,” North coach Lou Sipe said. “We came in tonight, and we told them it was going to be close, and we had to fight for every point. The kids responded and did a great job tonight. A lot of kids stepped up and outperformed their seeds.”

That included Hunter and Thompson. Hunter was seeded second in the 100 meters, but won in 11.26 seconds.

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“I knew I had it in me,” Hunter said. “I knew if I got a good start, I could power through at the end. I came here and did what I wanted to do and executed like I wanted.”

Thompson, who was celebrating his 18th birthday, was seeded second in the 800. He was fourth after the opening lap, but seized control of the race in the final 200 and won in a personal-best 2:00.78.

“I wanted to stay in front with those boys the first 500 and then a spot just opened on the inside the last 100, so I took it and used everything I had,” Thompson said. “It’s what I wanted coming in.”

The Bull Dogs survived a near catastrophe in the pole vault. Kleinhenz came in with one of the top 10 vaults in the state this year at 14 feet, 9 inches, but missed his first two attempts at his opening height, 13-0.

Kleinhenz, who had failed to clear his opening height of 13-0 in North’s previous two meets, made it over on his third attempt. He then made 13-4 and 14-0 to win the event.

“I’ve just been kind of inconsistent on the runway, so I was switching back and forth between poles and couldn’t get on the right one,” Kleinhenz said. “On my third attempt, I went back down (to a lighter) pole and said, ‘OK, I’m just going to get over it any way I can.’ It wasn’t the prettiest vault, but I got over it.”

The Bull Dogs also got a win from its 4×100 relay team of Hunter, Hunter Spalding, Ben Malone and Daveed Jolley in 43.11.

Finishing second for North were Preston Terrell in the high jump (6-2), Logan Abbott in the discus (152-8), Sam Horak in the 1,600 (4:30.22), Hunter in the 200 (22.41) and John Sluys in the 3,200 (9:44.35). Also advancing to the Franklin Regional with third-place finishes were Hunter Huser in the high jump (6-2), Malone in the 110 hurdles (15.57), and the 4×800 (8:27.15) and 4×400 (3:31.23) relay teams.

Columbus East finished sixth with 47 points and had a pair of sectional champions. Senior Zarrien Johnson-Bey won the high jump at 6-2.

“It’s a little windy outside, but it’s not too bad,” Johnson-Bey said. “I felt good, and my legs feel bouncy. Earlier in the season, (Terrell) had beat me, so it’s good to get a (win) under my belt.”

East freshman Crase Bergman leaped a personal-best 21 feet, 2 1/4 inches to win the long jump.

“I want to thank God for that,” Bergman said. “I pray to him before every meet.”

Those were the Olympians’ only two automatic qualifiers with top-three finishes. Beyond those, the next four-best performances in each event from the four feeder sectionals to the Franklin Regional will advance.

Hauser finished 10th with five points. John Bragg took sixth in the high jump at 5-10.