Greencastle finishes fourth, North Putnam fifth at THS track sectional

TERRE HAUTE — Eight Putnam County individuals and two relays will participate in the Bloomington North Regional this Thursday after qualifying from the IHSAA Terre Haute South Boys’ Track and Field Sectional Thursday and Friday.

Greencastle would edge out North Putnam for the top county spot, finishing fourth on 58 points while the Cougars finished fifth on 55 points. Cloverdale was 10th on 19 points while South Putnam finished 12th on eight points.

Storms delayed the start of events and forced part of the meet to be contested on Friday night.

That didn’t deter several athletes from qualifying for the regional with North Putnam duo Gabe Garcia and Nolan Hackleman winning sectional titles.

Garcia won two titles, winning the 110-meter hurdles in 26.08 and the 300-meter hurdles in 40.96 while Hackleman won the 400-meter dash over Greencastle’s Lamar Moore with a winning time of 51.68, .13 better than Moore’s 51.81. Hackleman added a runner-up finish in the long jump with a leap of 20-02.50, just behind Terre Haute South’s Johnavon Rich, who won event with a distance of 20-04.

Greencastle’s 400-meter relay team of Moore, Cole Hutcheson, Abram Nichols and Stuart Nichols finished as runner-up to Sullivan by .08 seconds, finishing with a time of 44.19.

Stuart Nichols finished third in the 100-meter dash in 11.28 to become the first Tiger Cub to qualify for the regional at the time. Charlie Menzel would secure a regional place with a third-place finish in the 3,200-meter run in a time of 10:10.83 while Brendle Brennan also finished third in the 110-meter hurdles in 16.71.

In what was the closest call among the qualifiers, Cloverdale’s Tyson Bridges beat out teammate Tayt Jackson for third in the 300-meter hurdles 42.87-42.90 to earn a spot at the regional with Jackson not among the next best qualifying times and missing out.

In addition, two individuals and a relay were among the next best qualifying times and advanced to the regional.

Greencastle’s 1,600-meter relay team of Abram Nichols, Hutcheson, Moore and Tyler Adams finished fourth in 3:38.52 while Menzel finished fourth in the 1,600-meter run in 4:43.44 and North Putnam’s Matt McHargue finished seventh in the high jump but was among a sizable group that cleared 5-10 and advanced to the regional.

Other place finishers for Greencastle included a fourth-place finish for Stuart Nichols and sixth-place finish for Abram Nichols in the long jump, the former with a distance of 19-05.50 and the latter a distance of 18-04 and seventh-place finishes for Stuart Nichols in the 200-meter dash in 24.29 and Jacob Miller in the 110-meter hurdles in 17.88 and 300-meter hurdles in 44.38.

Other place finishers for the Cougars included fifth-place finishes for Corie Stancombe in the 800-meter run in 2:13.14, Jeremiah Miles in the 1,600-meter run in 4:49.81 and the 3,200-meter relay team of Thomas Nelson, Joshua Taylor, Archer Spingmeyer and Neal Bryan in 9:00.81, a seventh-place finish for Miles in the 3,200-meter run in 10:51.07 and an eighth-place finish for the 400-meter relay team of Rodrigo Perez Mendez, Brayden Mandeville, Brayden Polley and Myles Bryan in 48.53.

Other place finishers for Cloverdale included a fifth-place finishes for Bridges and an eighth-place finish for Jackson in the 110-meter hurdles, the former in 17.50 and the latter in 17.95, along with a sixth-place finish for the 1,600-meter relay team of Bridges, Jaxton Helton, Connor Ramsey and Scottie McGuire in 3:47.06.

Place finishers for South Putnam included a sixth-place finish for the 3,200-meter relay team of Keaton Chew, Evan Hinkle, Trevor Vanihel and Elijah Chandler in 9:24.25, a seventh-place finish for Chew in the 1,600-meter run in 4:55.47 and the 400-meter relay team of Fisher Jones, Logan Sillery, Cayden Willa and Brice Hill in 47.01 and an eight-place finish for Jones in the long jump with a distance of 17-10.