Kaeff leads county's boys' track state finals qualifiers

Friday, May 27, 2016
Cloverdale sophomore Tyler Kaeff (top) heads toward the finish in the 110-meter high hurdles.

Clover soph advances in both hurdles; Blundell, Matthews also state-bound

BLOOMINGTON -- Timed sporting events like track and field can be predictably mundane, with the "seeded" times previously turned in by the competitors often varying by small margins and the predicted victors coming out on top.

Cloverdale's Nick Blundell would have none of that scenario on Thursday night in the boys' regional cross country meet at Bloomington North, turning in a second-place performance in the 800-meter run that chopped more than a second off his seeded time to qualify for next weekend's state finals.

Nick Blundell of Cloverdale goes around a curve on his way to a second-place finish in the 800-meter run.

"I did a lot faster on my first lap than I normally do," Blundell said. "I surprised myself by meeting my expectations. I knew this was my last shot at going to state, and I really wanted to go. I knew there was only a second or two difference between me and the guys ahead of me, and I just ran my hardest."

Blundell and hurdler Tyler Kaeff, along with the eighth-place 4x800 relay team, combined to help boost the Clovers into a fifth-place team finish in the regional meet.

Kaeff had the second-fastest seeded time in the 300 low hurdles but emerged as regional champion despite cutting just one one-hundredth of a second off his seeded time. He was seeded fourth in the 110-meter high hurdles and finished one spot better in third, breaking the school record in the process in that event.

Greencastle high jumper J.T. Matthews also qualified for the state meet by placing third in his specialty at six feet, three inches.

Blundell defeated long-time nemesis Cole Chudy of Brown County, using that rivalry to his mental advantage.

"If this was going to be my last race, it was going to be my last chance to compete with him," Blundell said. "Passion has a funny way of trumping logic. When the gun fires, all bets are off."

Clover coach Andy Tyler was proud of Blundell's effort, especially in listening to direction on how to cut his time.

"It was fun watching Nick, knowing this was going to be his last regional," he said. "I knew that Nick could go faster than he had before. He went out, gutted it out, and ran a tough race. He had a shot at winning it, but the kid pulled away too much."

Tyler noted that Blundell's time on the first lap of the two-lap event had been slower than he wanted, and he picked it up well.

"His first lap time was better than at the sectional, and that made a big difference," Tyler said. "He came across right when I wanted him to."

Kaeff credits his relationship with Blundell as being a big factor in his success.

"It wasn't so much surprising myself, but I look up to Nick so much and we push each other in practice," Kaeff said. "I tell him to go to the last corner of the 300 hurdles and scream as loud as he can. He's the only person I can hear, and I know that's a big reason why I was able to win."

Kaeff modestly and genuinely deflects praise away from himself and credits coach Tyler with being the key to the success of the Clover track squad.

"The only reason we even come close is our coach," Kaeff said. "He pushes us every day, and he doesn't cancel practice no matter how bad it storms. He gets us to do our best."

Tyler thinks Kaeff's potential has not completely been reached.

"We can still fix Tyler's second, third and fourth hurdles," Tyler said. "He can still drop a second and a half or two seconds off his time.

"I give pretty strong suggestions to him on how he should attack each race, but the most important thing is to be confident in what you're doing," he said. "He was told that whatever he decided to do to stick with it. He had a great night."

Greencastle coach Garry Anderson noted that Matthews became the seventh high jumper in Greencastle history to qualify for the state finals since 1978, the first one since Hayden Stuckwisch in 2012.

"That's what he was aiming for," Anderson said. "He was hoping for a possibility of 6-4, but a didn't pan out.

"It was good competition, and there was good jumping the entire evening," he added. "It got down to the last four, and it was whoever made the next miss was going to be out. I'm very happy for him; he was all smiles."

The boys' state meet is June 4 at the Indiana University track stadium.

Coach Tyler noted that Chad Stevens got a personal record for his leg of the 4x800 relay, and Evan Monnett overcame several injuries this season help that squad score one point with its eighth-place finish.

"It's nice to see a kid who could have given up to come out and work hard and get positive results," Tyler said. "He pushed through, worked as hard as he could, and helped us get a really good time."

South Putnam's Kieffer Vittetow scored four points for his team with a fifth-place finish in the 3,200-meter run.

Boys' track regional

Team scores -- Bloomington South 115, Bloomington North 71, Terre Haute South 47, Brownstown Central 30, Cloverdale 25, Bedford North Lawrence 24, Mitchell 24, West Vigo 24, Silver Creek 23, Jeffersonville 23, North Central (Farmersburg) 20, Brown County 19, Seymour 19, Martinsville 16, Edgewood 15, Orleans 15, Madison 14, Owen Valley 14, Northview 13.5, Eastern Greene 12, Sullivan 7.5, Terre Haute North 6, Shakamak 6, Riverton Parke 6, Greencastle 6, Linton-Stockton 5, Bloomfield 5, South Putnam 4, Springs Valley 3, Charlestown 3, Jennings County 3, Trinity Lutheran 2, Salem 1, Rock Creek Academy 1

100 -- 1. Ethan Roach (WV) 11.26

200 -- 1. Pierce Evans (BS) 23.23; 11. (prelims) Samuel Bell (NP) 24.11

400 -- 1. Dylan Price (THS) 50.22; 9. Ryan Heavener (Cl) 53.43

800 -- 1. Isaac Bentz (BN) 1:58.81; 2. Nick Blundell (Cl) 2:00.15; 14. Lorenzo Mainetti (SP) 2:05.83

1,600 -- 1. Evan Franklin (BS) 4:24.00

3,200 -- 1. Evan Franklin (BS) 9:35.65; 5. Kieffer Vittetow (SP) 9:44.90

110 high hurdles -- 1. Tremaine Gonzalez (Silver Creek) 15.01; 3. Tyler Kaeff (Cl) 15.25

300 low hurdles -- 1. Tyler Kaeff (Cl) 40.75

4x100 relay -- 1. Bedford North Lawrence 43.72

4x400 relay -- 1. Bedford North Lawrence 3:25.14; 10. Cloverdale (Tyler Kaeff, Andrew Johnson, Ryan Heavener, Nick Blundell) 3:38.02

4x800 relay -- 1. Bloomington North 8:02.10; 8. Cloverdale (Ryan Heavener, Dean Monnett, Chad Stevens, Nick Blundell) 8:35.63; 12. South Putnam (Logan Vandermark, Austin Rumley , Michael Crossman, Blake Clearwaters) 8:46.41

High jump -- 1. Neal Greene (NC) 6-5; 3. J.T. Matthews (Gc) 6-3

Long jump -- 1. Levi Melchert (NC) 21-3.25

Shot put -- 1. Joseph Barnes (Brownstown Central) 55-7.5; 13. Joe Masters (SP) 46-3.25

Discus -- 1. Will Hopkins (BS) 176-7; 15. Joe Masters (SP) 131-3

Pole vault -- 1. Luke Hensley (BS) 14-0

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