Tigers, Eagles race into sectionals

By Eric Smith/The Lebanon Reporter

Carmel May 16, 2008 12:24 am

— Zionsville’s Shane Mikesky took first place in both hurdles events, and ran a leg on the Eagles’ second-place 1600-meter relay team at Thursday’s boys track sectional meet at Carmel High School.
The Eagles finished fifth as a team, and will send competitors to next week’s regionals in seven events. The Lebanon boys track team finished 10th out of the 12 teams competing.
The meet’s three state-ranked teams finished 1-2-3 on the evening. No. 7 Carmel finished first with 135 points, No. 6 Noblesville came in second at 128.5 points, and No. 16 Fishers finished third at 80 points.
It was Mikesky’s night for Zionsville. The freshman won the 110-meter hurdles race at 14.73 seconds, and then locked up the 300-meter hurdles victory at 40.26 seconds.
“He’s been running well all year, and he’s developed into one of the top hurdlers in the area,” Zionsville head coach Gabe Porras said.
Joined by Ryan Dickson, Dano Mattingly, and Kevin McCarthy, Mikesky helped the 1600-meter relay team finish second with a time of three minutes, 31.24 seconds.
A fourth-place finish or better advances runners to regionals, and the 3200-meter relay team gave Zionsville just that. The team of Chad James, Alex Kovach, Travis Stauffer, and Dylan Sorensen picked up a fourth-place finish at 8:10.37. Lebanon’s senior-laden team of Bennie Boyer, Dustin Long, Cody Turner, and Josh Westfall picked up points for the Tigers with a seventh-place finish at 8:50.32.
Lebanon’s Josh Westfall will head to regionals in the 400-meter dash. His time of 52.57 seconds was good enough for a trip to Lafayatte next Thursday.
Zionsville’s McCarthy was successful in an individual event of his own, finishing third with a time of 2:00.23. Kovach finished seventh with a time of 2:03.62.
The Eagles were also represented well in the field events, as Tyler Mantel finished fourth in the pole vault. He sprung up for a height of 12 feet, six inches. His teammate Drew Morden took seventh place at 11-00.00.
In the shot put event, Zionsville’s Nick Wisnewski grabbed third place with a throw of 48-00.25. His teammate Caleb Collier came in ninth at 42-11.50. Lebanon’s Adam Debard finished 18th in the shot put at 34-04.75, while the Tigers’ Chad Hale finished 20th at 31-00.75.
Zionsville’s Nathaniel Chapman was just shy of a regional berth in the 100-meter dash, taking fifth place in the finals at 11.40 seconds.
“It’s nice to see that all of our points were scored by seniors,” Lebanon head coach Bob Willhite said.
Mattingly finished eighth for the Eagles in the 400, clocking in at 53.26. His teammate Dickson was 11th at 53.73, and Lebanon’s Gabe Frietzsche came in 18th at 56.71 seconds.
In the 200-meter dash, Zionsville’s Melvin Woodard took the ninth spot at 23.52 seconds. Sorensen finishe in ninth place in the 1600-meter run at 4:36.72.
Zionsville’s 400-meter relay team of Chapman, Michael Hegeman, Woodard, and Stauffer finished sixth overall at 44.94 seconds. Ervin Solomon took 12th place in the 300-meter hurdles at 45.76 seconds.
Caleb Reiff posted a ninth-place throw in the discus at 125-10.00 for the Eagles. Jared Gough came in eighth in the long jump at 19-10.25, while his teammate Stauffer took 10th at 19-06.50. In the high jump, Zionsville’s Jack Denton grabbed eighth-place points with a jump of 5-06.00.
Thursday’s qualifiers meet back up in a week, as Lafayette Jeff will hold regionals at 5:30 p.m. May 22.