Columbus North’s Will Russell hands the baton to Akot Tong for the start of the second leg of the 4x800-meter relay at the Boys Track Regional at Greenfield-Central High School on Thursday, May 25, 2023.
The Republic file photo
Columbus North has established itself as one of the state’s top boys and girls cross-country programs over the past two decades, and in some cases that success has carried over to the distance events in track and field.
That especially was the case last year, when the Bull Dogs broke the state record in winning the boys 4×800-meter relay and finished second in the girls 4×800 relay at the state meet. And despite losses to graduation and injury, both North teams are back in the thick of things and hoping to compete for 4×800 titles this weekend in Bloomington.
“You look on paper, and we’re right there,” North coach Rick Sluder said. “It’s really hard to get a state medal. They give out nine in each event, and that’s it. So that’s our first goal. If we can go in and get a medal, that’s huge. We want to compete up front, and it’s becoming a sense of pride here at North to be part of that 4×800 and to go to state. It means something to them. So the guys breaking 8 minutes again this year, and the girls breaking 9:20 again this year and breaking 9:15 now, it is very much a sense of pride.”
The girls 4×800 team of sophomore Carys Glyn-Jones and seniors Julia Kiesler, Julie Klaus and Lily Baker are seeded second for Saturday’s Girls Track and Field State Finals with their regional time of 9:13.76. That’s less than a second-and-half behind top-seeded Carmel.
Carys Glyn-Jones
Julie Klaus
Lily Baker
The boys 4×800 team of senior Will Russell, junior Akot Tong and seniors Adler Larson and Mateo Mendez are seeded fifth at 7:51.65 going into Friday’s Boys Track and Field State Finals.
Adler Larson
Mateo Mendez
“I think we have a pretty good chance because all of us like to go out and race people and race hard,” Russell said. “Seeing how we’re going to be racing with the best competition in the state, we’ll just do what we always do, which is race and compete.”
“I think we have as good a chance as anybody else,” Larson added. “All of our 4x800s have been solo. We haven’t had much competition at all, so I think once we’re in that state-meet scenario, I think we’ll be able to stick with them and maybe even be able to pull it off.”
Both 4×800 teams had to replace key members. The boys lost Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff, who now is running at Colorado, and Matt Newell (Navy) to graduation, and returned Mendez and senior Clayton Guthrie. Russell and Larson stepped in, and they won the state indoor meet. But then Guthrie, an Indiana University recruit, was lost to the season with an injury, and Tong has stepped in and continually improved.
“I knew that it hurt when we lost Clayton,” Mendez said. “That hurt us quite a bit because he also had experience, like me, from last year. But we knew like in the cross season, we had to have people step up and compete. I knew Adler had to step up, and I knew Will had it in him. We just had to put it all together.”
Baker, Klaus and senior Brianna Newell were on the girls’ third-place 4×800 team in 2021 and the runner-up squad last season. Kiesler stepped in for Katherine Rumsey, who now runs at Purdue, and then after Brianna Newell, a Navy recruit, needed time to heal after the state indoor meet, Glyn-Jones stepped in and became a stellar leadoff leg and a state qualifier in the open 800.
“In February, we knew we’d be good (both boys and girls), but maybe not this strong,” Sluder said. “But then come March and April, they were working really hard, and they’re getting better. It’s really fun to see somebody like Akot come out and drop 10-11 seconds and running 1:57s in the relay, and Carys to just explode and run well. We knew some of the others that were returning were very good, but to watch Carys and Akot in particular fill those spots was really great to see.”
Two of the boys and all four of the girls also qualified in individual distance events. Baker, who has signed with Tennessee, made it in two individual events and is seeded sixth in both the 1,600 and 800.
“It’s pretty tiring,” Baker said. “(Regional) week and (sectional) week, I was not too sure if I was going to make it, but I’m glad that I did. We want to go after the 4×800, and then I’ll see what I can do in the mile and give what I’ve got for the 800. Whatever my legs give me, I’ll take.”
Columbus North’s Julia Kiesler leads a Center Grove runner on the second leg of the 4×800-meter relay at the Girls Track Sectional at Franklin High School on Tuesday, May 16, 2023.
The Republic file photo
Kiesler, who is headed to Boise State, placed sixth in the 3,200 last year and is seeded third this year. Glyn-Jones is seeded 10th in 800.
Glyn-Jones was a JV runner last track and cross-country seasons before emerging this spring.
“I would say it’s the environment,” Glyn-Jones said. “The whole team is kind of like a family, and they’ve just helped me realize that running is a really cool thing that can improve your life. I just realized that I loved it so much, so I wanted to work harder at it. I think I just realized it was a lot better to push myself and not just be JV.”
Klaus, a state qualifier in the 800 last season, bumped up to the 3,200 and is seeded 23rd.
“It wasn’t a super-big adjustment,” Klaus said. “It was more like learning how to race it was a little bit different. But so far, I’ve enjoyed it. It’s been fun.”
Klaus earned a call-back to the state meet after finishing fourth at the regional, one spot out of the an automatic-qualifying berth.
“I was really excited,” Klaus said. “I didn’t know that they did call-backs for individual events at the state meet, so I was really relieved because it’s my last year, and the 3,200 is kind of new to me. So to be able to make it to the state meet in the 3,200 is really exciting.”
Baker said at the beginning of the season, the returning distance runners sat down with Sluder and decided what they were going to focus on this year, and a big part of it was the 4×800 and seeing how good they could be as a relay.
“It really means a lot to me because it’s nice running as a part of a team,” Kiesler said. “There’s a different type of motivation there that just running an individual event.”
“Running with the 4×800 is really nice because you can run with the team, and it’s not just for you,” Glyn-Jones added. “It’s for your teammates, and it’s a really cool experience.”
For the boys, Mendez in the 800 and Russell in the 3,200 both are seeded 15th. Their initial focus is the 4×800 relay.
“The entire year, it’s been really fun just being a part of a good squad and competing as hard as we can compete with everybody and going out and winning meets,” Russell said. “It’s just been a very enjoyable time.”
“It’s kind of similar to cross-country, where you have a group of guys all working together for the same goal,” Larson added. “So I definitely wanted to be a part of the 4×800 team.”
So did Tong.
“I think I knew at the beginning of the year that I could pull it off and get my 800 time down,” Tong said. “It’s kind of like surreal to me to be on this team”
Sluder isn’t surprised that his distance crew will be well-represented at the state meet.
“Our distance team came in with high expectations, and then they worked very hard to make those realizations,” Sluder said. “‘Expect’ is a big word, but that was our goal, and they really worked hard to achieve it.”
