Columbus North’s Mateo Mendez, from left, Matt Newell, Clayton Guthrie and Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff celebrate after winning the 4x800-meter relay during the 2022 IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals at Indiana University’s Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington, Ind., Saturday, June 4, 2022. The Bull Dogs won the state championship in the event and set a state record of 7:37.90.
Mike Wolanin | The Republic
BLOOMINGTON — Two firsts, two seconds and a third.
Those were five of Columbus North’s results from its eight entries in Saturday’s Boys Track and Field State Finals. It all added up to 43 points for a third-place overall team finish.
The third-place finish is the best in Columbus North history. Columbus High School took second as a team in 1952.
The Bull Dogs kicked off the running events with a bang, winning the opening 4×800-meter relay in a state meet record 7 minutes, 37.90 seconds. Junior Mateo Mendez opened with a 1:54.20 split to get North out to an early lead.
“We prepared well for it,” Mendez said. “We talked before the race, and everything went as planned. We’re happy with it.”
Junior Clayton Guthrie ran a 1:58.27 second leg. Senior Matt Newell ran 1:54.23, and senior Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff closed in 1:51.20.
“This is the first real race where we’ve gone 100 percent all out, and obviously, it paid off,” Guthrie said. “At the end, I don’t think we could have asked for a better race.”
Meanwhile, North senior Tucker Smith defended his state title in the shot put with a throw of 66 feet, 6 3/4 inches. Although he didn’t throw as far as he did last year when he set the state meet record, he had focused more on the discus in practice this week.
That practice paid off. Smith, who was seeded 15th in the discus coming into the meet, threw 170-4, bettering his regional distance by 11 feet, to finish second.
“I was focused on discus all week, trying to win state (as a team),” Smith said. “I was really happy with the discus. I was staying a lot lower in the ring. That was the main focus all week. I came out and did what I needed to do and got points for the team. That was about as good as I could have done.”
Kilbarger-Stumpff came back from the 4×800 with a runner-up finish in the 1,600 in 4:09.56. He stayed with Carmel’s Kole Mathison for three of the four laps, but Mathison pulled away to win in 4:04.82.
“I felt pretty good until 1,200,” Kilbarger-Stumpff said. “Kole is so, so good at what he does, and he’s so tough. So to get second to him when he’s running 4:04, I can’t be mad at that.”
In his third event of the day, Kilbarger-Stumpff finished 11th in the 800 in 1:56.49.
“To make it to the start line, my coaches had to talk me through it, my parents had to talk me through it,” Kilbarger-Stumpff said. “I made it to the start line, which was more than last year. That was kind of nice.”
Newell ran to a third-place finish in the 800 in a personal-best 1:53.26.
“What matters most is, I put it out there,” Newell said. “I can’t be disappointed with this performance coming off of the 4×800. I think overall, it’s been a successful day for me and my team, and I’m very happy for how it played out. It’s definitely a great conclusion to my career.”
North junior Will Russell and senior Evan Carr both ran personal-bests in the 3,200. Russell finished 17th in 9:26.34, and Carr was 18th in 9:28.63.
“My time wasn’t exactly what I was looking for, but I can’t complain about a PR,” Russell said. “I wanted to come in and get top nine, but I’m satisfied with the race for sure.”
“I couldn’t be happier,” Carr added. “My plan worked out just as I wanted it to. It couldn’t have gone better. I was able to move up a ton. I knew if I wanted to place well, that was the plan I had to execute, and I think I did that today.”
Plainfield won the team title with 61 points. Brownsburg took second with 47, followed by North (43), Fishers (39) and Carmel (38).
“We were happy with everything, really,” North coach Rick Sluder said. “Tucker was phenomenal again. Our track events were unbelievable. The distance guys really came through race after race. I can’t speak enough to our seniors. Reese and Matt doubling back in their individual events and scoring big for us, and Evan and Will running PRs in the 3,200 to finish out their season, it was just a great night all the way around. There was nothing we could be upset about. We gave it our best, and third is phenomenal. We’re excited with that.”
Brown County also had an entrant in the state meet. Junior Chase Austin finished 21st in the 1,600 in a personal-best 4:24.25.
“I was pretty happy with it,” Austin said. “I was pretty nervous. Thuis is my first time at the state (track) meet, so I was happy that I got a PR and placed a couple of spots higher than I was seeded.”
Jennings County senior Lane Elsner and Aidan Ernstes, junior Eli Wahlman and senior Brenden Baker finished 26th in the 4×800 relay in 8:18.91.
