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Make it three straight county titles for both the Southmont boys and the Crawfordsville girls track and field teams. Crawfordsville held Friday’s county meet and the CHS girls dominated their way to a third straight title by scoring 96 points while both the Chargers and Mounties tied for second with 35.5 points each. The Southmont boys were able to pull away from both of their county rivals and score 68 points with CHS coming in second with 56 and the Chargers third with 43.
Both the Athenian girls and Mountie boys used their overall depth and talent to win as both teams had plenty of individuals rise to the occasion.
In the girls race junior Na’arah Byard went a perfect 4-4 by winning titles in the 100, 200 4x100 and the long jump. Crawfordsville’s 4x800 team of Sophia and Caroline Melevage, Katherine Novak and Skylah Strawser took home the title in the 4x800 while Guinevere Schmitzer-Torbert won both the 100 and 300 hurdles. Sophia was also a winner in the 1600 and 3200 while Schmitzer-Torbert, Maesa Horton, Ally Strickland, and Caroline Melevage were winners in the 4x400. Strawser rounded out the running events by winning the 800 for CHS.
CHS added wins in the field events by having Campbell White win the county title in the discus, and Riley Gardner and Sydney Elizondo going 1-2 in the high jump.
“The girls just bring a great intensity and energy into every meet and this one was no different,” Cville coach Amanda Elizondo said. “We are blessed to be so deep across the board and we stepped up in every event and were right there. Our girls have a certain confidence about them too. It’s not cocky but they just come ready every single time. It’s such a great group of girls and I couldn’t be happier for them.”
Southmont’s boys had plenty of standout performances as well. Marlin Williams and Tyler Petroski went 1-2 in the pole vault, Hayden Hess took second in the high jump while Waylon Gomez was the county champ in the shot put. The Mounties 4x800 team of Mason Cass, Hunter Gray, Sam Crum, and Vince Reimondo took first while both Cass and Reimondo went 1-2 in the 1600. The Mounties 4x100 team of Nolan Boyer, Caden Allen, Petroski, and Avery Stadler took home the title in the 4x100, while Crum was the county champion in the 800. The 4x400 team of Brett Keller, Boyer, Petroski, and Kyler McCandless rounded out the wins for the Mounties.
“The boys always come out and run well but tonight they took it to another level with some amazing races,” Mountie coach Shelley Allen said. “Vince Reimondo, Sam Crum and Mason Cass were all strong in their events and we even had to make some last minute changes. Those boys that were switching into those events did fantastic too. County is something we’ve been talking about since the beginning of the year and for them to come out three-peat was pretty special to watch.”
North Montgomery had some great performances an showings of their own. Arguably the biggest didn’t come in a victory. Senior Owen Utterback took second in the 400 with a time of 50.28 but that time was good enough for Utterback to set the school record in the event. Utterback took home the county title in the long jump with Gabe Shirar finishing in second as the Chargers went 1-2. Kelby Harwood earned the county title in the high jump while Hailey Kunz was the county champion for the Charger girls in the pole vault.
“We suffered some losses that we weren’t quite expecting, but still had plenty of bright spots,” Charger coach Josh Thompson said. “I was really pleased with Owen Utterback and the way he ran in setting our school record in the 400. Gabe Shirar hasn’t ran the hurdles for us all year and comes out and finishes second in both the 110 and 300. Both Gabe and Owen went 1-2 in the long jump and then Kelby Harwood won the high jump. I’m really proud of all of those guys for coming out and competing the way we like to see in big meets like this. All-around even with our girls team too I was proud of plenty of athletes who stepped up and performed well.”
Some other standout performances from other athletes included Crawfordsville’s Tyson Fuller who took home three county titles in the 100, 200 and 400 for the Athenians. Alec Saidian was the county champion in the 110 and 300 hurdles as well as the discus. Southmont’s Layla Gomez was the county champ in the girls shot put and DeLorean Mason earned a county title in the 400 for the Mountie girls.
“I was real proud of the way our boys hung in there the entire night and made it close with South,” Elizondo said of her boys team. “We’re still battling some injuries and they’re still pushing through with everything they have.”
With the county meet now in the rear view mirror, all three county schools will now shift their focus to the Sagamore Conference meet which will take place on Friday at Tri-West.
