Columbus North was missing several of its top Unified Track and Field athletes for last week’s Seymour Sectional, but that didn’t stop the Bull Dogs from claiming the third-and-final team qualifying spot to today’s Franklin Regional.
Now, North will be at full strength for the regional as it looks to return to the state finals for the first time since 2018.
“It was actually really exciting,” North coach Elizabeth Dwyer said. “Some of our students weren’t able to make it the day of the meet, so we didn’t know how much that would hurt us. But our kids had their eyes set on making it to regional this year, and to see them meet that goal was pretty cool.”
The last time the Bull Dogs made it to regional was in 2019, when Dwyer was a senior. The tournament was realigned this year, with three teams making it out of each sectional, and there are three regionals this year instead of two.
Bedford North Lawrence won the Seymour Sectional with 129 points, and Whiteland finished second with 107. The Bull Dogs (97) edged Franklin (95), Indian Creek (93) and Seymour (90) for third.
“I was still unsure how good we would do with the other teams that were in our sectional,” Dwyer said. “I knew Bedford was a good team because we had seen them in an invitational. Our kids had to bring their A game, and they definitely did.”
Ben Wiltrout won the second-fastest section of the 400 meters. Brennan Hester finished second in the top flight of the long jump, Seth McCauley took second in the top flight of the shot put and Alyce Shoaf, Harper Brand, Audrey Nordman and Rosie Brockhaus were second in the girls 4×100 relay. Nathan Arnold finished second in the second-fastest section of the 100.
North held its graduation May 24, which took away several graduating seniors and assisting juniors, including Noah Corney, Marianna DeLuca, Noah Marsh, Gabby Spurgeon and Luke Spurgeon.
The Bull Dogs will be among nine teams competing in the Franklin Regional at 11 a.m. today. The top four teams qualify for the June 7 state finals at North Central.
“Looking at the competition, it definitely looks like it’s going to be a challenge, but I don’t think it’s impossible,” Dwyer said. “I noticed a lot of the schools have a conflict with graduation, and our biggest conflict was last week. Our strongest team wasn’t able to make it last Saturday, but this week, we have the majority of them back, so we’re ready.”
