BLOOMINGTON — A third-place finish in Saturday’s Unified Track and Field State Finals was the capper to a big season for Columbus North.
But that wasn’t the most important thing for coach Nathan VanDeventer.
“It’s great being here,” VanDeventer said. “It would have been nice to get first or second, but in the end, everyone in this sport is a winner, and it was really neat for these kids to experience all this. It’s something these kids will always remember when they get old.”
The Bull Dogs edged Warren Central 94-92 for third. Elkhart Memorial won with 104 to 101 for runner-up Merrillville.
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Bailey Hester won the fast heat of the 100 meters in a personal-best 11.83 seconds.
“That was the first time all season I’ve ran in (starting) blocks,” Hester said. “This week, I’ve been practicing with blocks, so I think that was a big part of my improvement.”
Max Wilson won the second-fastest heat of the 400 in 58.27. Marisol Castenada, Jenna Borger, Alana Cook and Liz Tynan finished second in the fastest girls heat of the 4×100 relay in 1:02.39.
James Dwyer finished third in his flight of the long jump with a leap of 8 feet, 5 inches.
“It was pretty nice, a bit hot,” Dwyer said. “I like this team.”
Devin Ashcroft won his flight in the shot put at 24-7 1/2. Dalton Kirk was second in his flight at 39-2 ½, and Devin Greenlee was third in the top flight (43-6).
“I thought we came out and competed and had a lot of fun,” Hester said. “That’s all that really matters — that we had fun. We were able to come here to IU and this beautiful track facility and compete.”
The Bull Dogs went undefeated in the regular season, then won the Borden Sectional and Bedford North Lawrence Regional. The regional title was the second in a row for North, which finished fifth at state last year.
“I’m so proud of these kids,” VanDeventer said. “They gave everything they had. I just can’t say enough about how tremendous and how respectful these kids are. I’m definitely going to miss the seniors.”
