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Jones takes 24th in 200
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Tippecanoe Valley senior Dawson Perkins finished seventh in the high jump for the second straight year, and teammate Wade Melanson broke the school shot put record while finishing ninth at the IHSAA boys track state finals at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington Saturday.
Like 2021, Perkins cleared 6-6 at state and finished seventh.
Perkins went over the bar on his first attempt at 6-0, 6-2 and 6-4. He needed three attempts to clear 6-6. He missed on all three attempts at 6-7.
Aydrian Caldwell of Carmel jumped 6-6 on his first attempt and finished fifth. Roncalli’s Eli Crouch jumped 6-6 on his second attempt and placed sixth. Tremayne Brown of Anderson also cleared 6-6 on his third attempt and bowed out at 6-7, but he had more overall misses than Perkins and placed eighth.
Plainfield junior Bode Gilkerson won the title with a clearance of 6-9.
Gilkerson was fifth at state last year.
Perkins broke the Valley school and Three Rivers Conference records with a jump of 6-8 ¼ at Wabash on May 6. He jumped 6-3 to win the Plymouth sectional and 6-6 to win the Goshen regional and earn a spot at state.
Melanson finished ninth in the shot put with a throw of 57-4 ½, which broke 1995 grad James Hall’s school record.
Melanson was third at the Goshen regional with a throw of 54-0 ½, but he had four consecutive throws that went farther at state. His second throw went 56-6 ½, his third throw was the record-setting 57-4 ½, then 55-1 ½ and then 55-5 ½.
Melanson outperformed Elkhart’s Ty’Shaun Williams (52-6 ½, 19th place) and NorthWood’s Brevin Miller (46-3 3/4, 26th place), both of whom beat him at the regional.
Columbus North’s Tucker Smith won the title with a heave of 66-6 ¾.
Melanson was the TRC champion at Wabash with a throw of 53-9 1/2 and the sectional champion at Plymouth with a throw of 52-5.
The third Valley athlete at state, sophomore Wade Jones, took 24th place in the 200 meters in 22.70 seconds. He did not advance past the heats.
Jones had run 22.52 seconds in the 200 at the regional and placed fifth and then advanced to state when two of the four runners who finished ahead of him scratched.
Jones was second at the TRC meet in 22.89 seconds and second at the Plymouth sectional in 23.35 seconds.
Valley scored four points as a team – three points from Perkins, one point from Melanson – and finished in a tie for 50th place.
Plainfield won the team title with 61 points.
Tippecanoe Valley state track finalists, from left, Wade Jones, Wade Melanson and Dawson Perkins. Jones was 24th in the 200 meters, Melanson was ninth in the shot put, and Perkins was seventh in the high jump at the state meet at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington Saturday.
