COLUMBUS, Ind. — There will be star power for certain in Thursday’s Columbus North boys track sectional.
Two Columbus North and one Columbus East athlete are ranked first in the state in an event, and the Bull Dogs are ranked second in two other events. They’ll look for sectional titles when they compete beginning at 5:30 p.m. today.
But even though they have those lofty state rankings in a few events, the fifth-ranked Bull Dogs will enter the sectional as underdogs in the chase for the team title. No. 2 Center Grove, which won the sectional in 2019 after North won the previous year, will be the favorite.
“Our boys team has been trending in the right direction since conference,” North coach Rick Sluder said. “We had a good, but not a great meet at conference, then we ran well at Pike and maybe even better against Franklin. We should be as strong as we’ve been all year. We’re starting to get better in the jumping events and some consistency in the sprints. We’ve been led by our throwers and our distance runners. We’re going to give Center Grove the best run we can.”
Bull Dog juniors Tucker Smith in the shot put and Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff in the 800 meters have state-best performances this season, and Smith’s 69-foot, 7-inch mark in the shot is an all-time state record. Kilbarger-Stumpff also has the second-best time in the 1,600 and is part of North’s 4×800 relay team that ranks second in the state.
Smith also ranks 10th and David Sandusky 18th in the state in the discus. Matt Newell is 10th in the 1,600.
For the sectional, Newell is seeded second in the 1,600 and fourth in the 800. J.J. Montgomery is second in the shot, Austin Pulkowski is second in the 3,200, Marquis Mixon is third in the 100, Alex Narvaez is fourth in the 200 and Evan Carr is fourth in the 3,200. North is seeded fourth in the 4×100 relay.
“We should score pretty well in most events, and we should get a lot of kids through,” Sluder said. “We’re top heavy, and if our second people in each event come through, we could have a full bus going to regional.”
Meanwhile, East senior Crase Bergman is ranked first in the state in the long jump. Bergman also runs on the Olympians’ second-seeded 4×100 and 4×400 relay teams.
For the full story, see Thursday’s Republic.
