FORTVILLE — Mt. Vernon’s boys track and field team was in an unfamiliar position heading into Thursday’s Mt. Vernon Sectional.
They’ve won most every event they’ve competed in this season, including the Hancock County and Hoosier Heritage Conference meets earlier this month.
They tied fifth-ranked Lawrence North in a dual meet earlier this season, but the 15th-ranked Marauders came in as underdogs Thursday.
“In the lockerroom we talked about being the underdog, and we were,” Mt. Vernon coach Nick Clarkson said. “We were supposed to, at least on paper, lose by at least nine (points). We were supposed to be down and LN is super good, super great sprinters, jumpers, a strong distance program.”
Mt. Vernon used that as motivation, overcame some adversity during the meet, and claimed its fourth straight sectional championship.
The Marauders won nine of 16 events and scored 188 points. Lawrence North won six and finished with 175. Eastern Hancock was third with 59 points.
“I don’t like to be the frontrunner,” Clarkson added. “I like to chase. I like to do better and that’s the attitude we came out here with. They are good and they are very talented, but we’re a team and we’re going to find ways to pick up points. I did also say there is going to be adversity. Something is going to happen, I don’t when, where, but something is going to happen.”
A mishandled exchange of the baton to start the 4×100-meter relay kept the Marauders from scoring points in an event they would have likely finished in a regional-qualifying position (Top 3), but the team more than made up for it in other events.
A number of Marauders finished higher than their seedings.
Seeded fifth and sixth in the event, Davon Williams (132-feet, 5-inches) and Lukas Quispe (126-feet, 8-inches) finished 1-2 in the discus.
“Those guys really stepped up. What a team win,” Clarkson added. “Historically that’s been a rough spot, the throws, and it’s been an Achilles heel of ours this season. (Thursday) they saved us.”
Seeded third in the high jump, senior standout Andres Langston won by clearing 6-feet, 4-inches.
It was the first of three big wins for the talented runner headed to Duke University after this season.
Langston won his specialty race, the 300-meter hurdles with a sectional record time of 37.78 seconds. In the final event of the night he helped seal the team’s win as the anchor leg of their victorious 4×400 relay. Sebastian Sprague, Tre Jones, Charlie Cole and Langston won with a time of 3:20.12.
“I think coming in as the underdogs pushed us more to compete our hardest,” Langston said.
“My only goal was to break 37.9 (in the 300 hurdles),” Langston added on his performance in the intermediate hurdles. “I’d run three 37.9s in a row and I was ready to break that and it also gave me the automatic qualifier for (NIKE) nationals (this summer). (Lawrence North) was on the right of me and he pushed me, too. The first three hurdles we were neck-and-neck. I hadn’t had a lot of competition so far in the hurdles, so that competition really helped me.”
The Marauders won four of five field events. Sprague added a victory in the long jump with a distance of 21-feet, 6 3/4-inches. Sawyer Ruminer won the pole vault at 13-6.
Mt. Vernon had three other victories from the distance team. Caden Cassada won the 800 in 1:58.46. He was also part of the 4×800 relay win that had a photo finish. Cassada, Isaiah Njau, Xaiden Jenson and Tyler Tharp finished in 8:12.66. They beat the Lawrence North group that finished in 8:12.68.
Ahmed Saleh won the 1600 in 4:20.94.
The top three in each event qualified for next week’s Pike Regional.
Eastern Hancock advanced Preston Markley in the 1600. He was runner-up to Saleh with a time of 4:23.59. Mt. Vernon’s Austin Baugh was third in the event at 4:29.93.
Eastern Hancock also qualified two third-place finishing relays. The 4×8 team (8:50.56) included Aaron Redmon, John Henry Gray, Brandon Metz and Markley. In the 4×4 (3:34.55) Gray, Markley, John Rodriguez-Lemasters and Redmon advanced. Hayden Jackson picked up a third-place finish in the high hurdles (15.04).
Additional Mt. Vernon qualifiers, included runner-up finishes from Sprague in the 400 (49.72) and Langston in the high hurdles (14.64). Third-place finishers for the Marauders included Njau in the 800 (2:00.84) and Chris Edmonds in the 100 (11.13).
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2024 Mt. Vernon Boys Track and Field Sectional Results
Team scores (champions): Mt. Vernon (9) 188, Lawrence North (6) 175, Eastern Hancock 59, Pendleton Heights 47, Blue River Valley 39, Lapel (1) 35, Anderson 27, Anderson Prep 23, Shenandoah 13, New Castle 10, Daleville 6.
Event: Winner, School (Time/Distance)
100-meter dash: Damario Moore, Lawrence North (10.97 seconds)
200-meter dash: Jerome Smith, Lawrence North (22.04 seconds)
400-meter dash: Tristan Powell, Lawrence North (49.12 seconds)
800-meter run: Caden Cassada, Mt. Vernon (1:58.46)
1,600-meter run: Ahmed Saleh, Mt. Vernon (4:20.94)
3,200-meter run: Rimmon Semere, Lawrence North (9:37.99)
110-meter hurdles: Davion Chandler, Lawrence North (14.48 seconds)
300-meter hurdles: Andres Langston, Mt. Vernon (37.78 seconds)*
4×100-meter relay: Lawrence North – I. Jackson, J. Smith, M. Sales, D. Moore (42.14 seconds)*
4×400-meter relay: Mt. Vernon – Sebastian Sprague, Tre Jones, Charlie Cole, Andres Langston (3:20.12)
4×800-meter relay: Mt. Vernon – Caden Cassada, Isaiah Njau, Xaiden Jenson, Tyler Tharp (8:12.66)
Discus: Davon Williams, Mt. Vernon (132-feet, 5-inches)
Long jump: Sebastian Sprague, Mt. Vernon (21-feet, 6 3/4-inches)
High jump: Andres Langston, Mt. Vernon (6-feet, 4-inches)
Pole vault: Sawyer Ruminer, Mt. Vernon (13-feet, 6-inches)
Shot put: J.J. Baxter, Lapel (50-feet, 2 1/2-inches)
* Meet record
