From left, Columbus North’s Avery Johnson, Columbus East’s Carsyn Schlehuser and North’s Lexi Denny compete in the 200 meters during Tuesday’s Columbus North Sectional.
Tommy Walker | For The Republic
In winning its first girls track sectional title in 11 years, Columbus North was nothing short of dominant.
The Bull Dogs’ 205 points were nearly three times that of the tightly-bunched second-, third- and fourth-place teams Tuesday night when they hosted the North Sectional. Jennings County (74.5) edged Lawrenceburg (73) and Columbus East (72) for the runner-up spot.
“We had a very good night,” North coach Rick Sluder said. “This team is definitely the best team we’ve had since (the 2014 title). We felt like we lost a year in COVID (in 2020) where we could have competed, so we’re really excited with the performance they put on tonight. I just couldn’t be more excited about this whole girls team.”
The top three in each of the 16 events automatically qualify for the May 27 Bloomington North Regional. Beyond that, the next-best four performances in each event from the four feeder sectionals to that regional earn call-backs.
The Bull Dogs earned at least one automatic bid and sometimes two in 15 of the 16 events and were in position for more call-backs.
“We had great field event performances, and then our track was just phenomenal, also,” Sluder said. “We had a lot of qualifiers, and we’re going to get several call-backs.”
Senior Sierra Newell was a double-winner for North, taking the pole vault at 9 feet, 6 inches and the long jump in a personal-best leap of 16-11 1/2.
“I was definitely trying to go for 17 because the last meet was around 17, but I scratched,” Newell said. “I thought it was an awesome day. I just wanted to come out here and do my best and perform, and I definitely did that today. I was hoping that the weather would hold off. I know there was a chance of storms, but thankfully, it held off.”
The Bull Dogs went 1-2 in the long jump with Newell and Avery Johnson (16-4 1/2) and all the middle distance and distance events, with Tristan Works (5 minutes, 27.49 seconds) and Emma Lowther (5:34.02) in the 1,600 meters, Reece Peeples (1:02.77) and Hazel Sasse (1:03.20) in the 400, Carys Glyn-Jones (2:17.05) and Macy Eaton (2:23.40) in the 800 and Kyleigh Wolf (11:47.34) and Adira Sluder (12:18.66) in the 3,200. Emma Haston won the high jump (5-2).
Sasse, Wolf, Glyn-Jones and Eaton won the 4×800 relay (9:51.55). Johnson, Lily Miller, Newell and Emerson Chambers took the 4×100 relay (49.72). Peeples, Natalie Rohm, Sasse and Glyn-Jones captured the 4×400 relay (4:08.80).
Chambers finished second in both the 100 hurdles (15.18) and 100 (12.86). Sydni Schiefer took second in the shot put (39 1/2), and Rohm was second in the 300 hurdles (48.07). Lily Miller placed third in the 100 hurdles (15.82), and Johnson was third in the 200 (26.68).
Fourth-place finishers and likely call-backs include Annelou Briand in the high jump (5-1), Gabby Revell in the shot (34-7), Emma Beaver in the discus (97-5) and Lexi Denny in the 300 hurdles (49.02).
“We showed all of our depth tonight, and it was really special,” Rick Sluder said. “When you can put different girls in all events, and we won all three relays with a lot of different girls mixed in. It was really impressive what this girls team did tonight. To be 30 girls deep is really special. A lot of coaches overuse this, but it really was a total team performance with so many different girls scoring points and getting involved.”
Jennings was moved into the North Sectional after competing at Seymour the past several years. Ilene Hifo and Aylah Belding finished second and third in the high jump, both at 5-1. Sariah Hifo took third in the 200 (26.73), Alana Watts was third in the 3,200 (12:58.69) and the Panthers placed third in the 4×100 relay (51.38).
“It’s completely different, and we were a little nervous about that,” Jennings coach Jill Stoner said. “We always go to Seymour. That’s home for us, kind of, but I’m proud of them. I have a young group this year, a lot of freshmen and sophomores, and seniors were ready to go. I have a great group of girls, and I’m really proud of how they performed tonight.”
East was led by a win from Carsyn Schlehuser in the 200 (26.54). Schlehuser also finished third in the 100 (12.86).
“I was just listening to what my coach said — ‘Get out of the blocks fast and push as hard as I could. You never know what can happen in a race. Go into being excited and happy and don’t have any negative thoughts,’” Schlehuser said.
The Olympians placed second in the 4×100 (51.31) and 4×400 (4:20.40) relays. Grace McMahon took third in the discus (107-8), and Kai Scott was third in the 300 hurdles (48.95).
“It was definitely a good day,” East coach Kareem Ash said. “I knew they had it in them, and they just came out and put their best foot forward. They worked hard for it, and we’re going to keep pushing until next week.”
Hauser freshman Addyson Russell had a big day, setting two school records and advancing to regional in three events. Russell finished second in the 200 in 26.68 after breaking her own school record with a 26.67 in the preliminaries. She took third in the long jump (15-7 1/2) and will earn a call-back with a fifth-place finish in the 100 in a school-record 12.96.
The Jets and South Decatur tied for eighth in the team standings with 20 points.
“I am so thrilled,” Hauser coach Shannon Dailey said. “Like I said at the beginning of the season, they’re small, but they’re mighty. Addyson Russell we knew would show up. All the other girls, too, I’m just excited that some of them competed in their individual events and then the relays and still tried and did their best. And now, we get to go get ice cream because Addyson Russell broke the record again in the 100 and the 200.”
South Decatur was led by a fifth-place finish in the 100 hurdles from Kate Schoettmer and from the 4×100 relay team (53.03). Madisyn Danforth entered as the top seed in the long jump, but fouled on her first two and five of her six overall attempts and finished seventh at 15- 1/2.
