Pioneer’s Lewellen brothers qualify for state in 3 events each

Valley’s Perkins wins the regional high jump title, advances to state

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Pioneer seniors Ezra Lewellen and Addai Lewellen qualified for the IHSAA state finals in three events each at the Kokomo boys track regional Thursday.

Ezra Lewellen finished second in the 100 meters, second in the 110 hurdles and first in the 400 meters.

Addai Lewellen finished third in the 100 meters, third in the 300 hurdles and second in the long jump.

Meanwhile, Tippecanoe Valley junior Dawson Perkins won the regional high jump title after clearing 6-3 and will advance to the state finals for the first time.

Pioneer scored 47 points and finished fourth out of 32 scoring teams. Ezra Lewellen accounted for 26 points, and Addai Lewellen accounted for 21.

Among other area teams, Tippecanoe Valley was 14th with 15 points, and Rochester was 30th with 2.25 points.

Penn won the team title with 85.5 points.

The top three finishers and those meeting a difficult state qualifying standard in each event qualified for state.

There was a lightning delay during the meet.

Pioneer

Elkhart senior Derrick Woods won the 100 meters in 10.94 seconds. Ezra Lewellen was second in 11.01, and Addai was third in 11.26.

In the 110 hurdles, Penn’s Vincent Nierzwicki-Trifilett won the regional in 14.79 seconds while Ezra Lewellen was second in 14.94.

Ezra Lewellen also won the 400 title in 49.83 seconds. He was the No. 1 seed going into the race and beat out Mishawaka’s Troy Crooks and Maconaquah’s Nolan Kelly to the tape.

Meanwhile, Addai Lewellen’s time of 40.46 seconds in the 300 hurdles was an improvement of 0.56 seconds on his sectional time and good enough to advance. Nierzwicki won the race in 39.48 seconds, and Culver Academy’s Jaxon Mull was second in 40.38.

Addai Lewellen also flew 22-2 ¼ in the long jump. Mishawaka’s Davonn Parker won the regional with a leap of 22-10 ½. Only two other jumpers were within a foot of Parker and Addai Lewellen.

Addai Lewellen also took eighth in the 200 in 23.57 seconds. That time was 0.93 seconds slower than his time in his qualifying heat that got him into the final.

Tippecanoe Valley

In addition to Perkins, the other Valley individual to score by a point by finishing in the top eight in his event was junior Braden Shepherd, who took eighth in the long jump with a leap of 19-8 ¾. Shepherd’s Valley teammate Alek Mikel also jumped 19-8 ¾ and took ninth behind Shepherd on the second-best-jump tiebreaker.

Valley’s 4 x 100 relay claimed fifth place and scored four team points. The team consisted of Shepherd, Jamasyn Virgil, Wade Jones and Rex Kirchenstien. Their time of 44.11 seconds missed qualifying for state by 0.25 seconds. Jones is a freshman, and the other three are juniors.

In addition to his ninth-place showing in the long jump, Mikel also took ninth in the 400 meters in 52.80 seconds in his final prep meet.

Kirchenstien was 14th in the 100 meters in 11.62 seconds and 12th in the 200 meters in 23.52 seconds.

Wade Melanson, the sectional champion in the shot put, was 14th with a throw of 44-5 ½. Western’s Daniel Marley won with a throw of 52-9 ¼.

Senior Matthew Howes was 16th in the 1,600 in 5:00.20 in his final prep meet.

Rochester

Junior Zach Pickens, who was second in the sectional in the 400 meters, improved upon his sectional time by 0.42 seconds and finished eighth in the regional in 51.68 seconds. Pickens’ sectional run was marked by a sprawling finish in which he fell over the finish line in a one-on-one duel with Plymouth’s Joe Cartwright.

Junior Marshall Fishback also recorded a point by taking eighth in the shot put. Fishback, who also qualified for regionals in the discus but scratched to focus on the shot put, had a throw of 47-0 ½. Fishback was also the Three Rivers Conference champion in the event.

Senior Zak Daake also scored 0.25 points by finishing in a four-way tie for eighth in the pole vault. Daake cleared 11-6, which was one foot shorter than his sectional height.

Culver Academy’s George Bourdier won the title by clearing 14-0.

R.J. Keranko and Peyton Hiatt, the two Zebras who qualified for regionals in the 800 meters after a tight finish with a runner from Culver Academy at the sectional, finished ninth and 10th, respectively.

Keranko, a sophomore, ran a 2:02.41 and Hiatt, a junior, ran a 2:04.05. Hiatt also qualified for the regional in the 1,600 but scratched to focus on the 800.

Keranko and Hiatt also formed half of the Rochester 4 x 800 relay team that finished 15th. Chris Rohr and Dylan Steininger were the other two runners. Rochester’s regional time of 9:06.90 was 33 seconds slower than their sectional time. Penn won the race in 8:01.59.

Rohr also competed as an individual in the 3,200 meters and took 16th in 10:40.94. Penn’s Mariano Retzloff won the race in 9:21.55.

Caston

Competing in his first regional, Caston sophomore Brady Evans finished 15th in the 110 hurdles and 10th in the 300 hurdles.

Evans ran a 17.84 in the 110 hurdles and a 43.01 in the 300 hurdles. His 300 hurdles time was 0.18 seconds faster than his sectional time and 2.48 seconds faster than Manchester’s Casen Vawter.

Vawter had beaten Evans at the sectional.

Kokomo boys track regional results: 1. Penn 85.5, 2. Northridge 61, 3. Elkhart 53, 4. Pioneer 47, 5. Culver Academy 43, 14. Tippecanoe Valley 15, 30. Rochester 2.25

Scoring on 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis

State qualifiers (top three) plus all Rochester, Tippecanoe Valley, Caston and Pioneer athletes

100 m

1. Woods (Elkhart) – 10.94 seconds, 2. Ezra Lewellen (PIO) – 11.01, 3. Addai Lewellen (PIO) – 11.26, 14. Rex Kirchenstien (TV) – 11.62

200 m

1. Bourdier (CMA) – 22.27 seconds, 2. Woods (Elkhart) – 22.30, 3. Lawrence (Kokomo) – 22.55, 8. Addai Lewellen (PIO) – 23.57, 12. Rex Kirchenstien (TV) – 23.52

400 m

1. Ezra Lewellen (PIO) – 49.83 seconds, 2. Crooks (Mishawaka) – (no time listed), 3. Kelly (Maconaquah) – (no time listed), 8. Zach Pickens (RHS) – 51.68, 9. Alek Mikel (TV) – 52.80

800 m

1. Neubauer (South Bend Adams) – 1:55.94, 2. Stiver (Warsaw) – 1:56.71, 3. Jankowski (Penn) – 1:58.09, 9. R.J. Keranko (RHS) – 2:02.41, 10. Peyton Hiatt (RHS) – 2:04.05

1,600 m

1. Hogan (Goshen) – 4:25.62, 2. Curnutt (Western) – 4:26.85, 3. Hunsberger (NorthWood) – 4:27.37, 15. Matthew Howes (TV) – 5:00.20

3,200 m

1. Retzloff (Penn) – 9:21.55, 2. Moore (Northridge) – 9:22.45, 3. Hall (Columbia City) – 9:38.46, 16. Chris Rohr (RHS) – 10:40.94

110 m hurdles

1. Nierzwicki-Trifilett (Penn) – 14.79 seconds, 2. Ezra Lewellen (PIO) – 14.94, 3. Mull (CMA) – 15.33, 15. Brady Evans (CAS) – 17.84

300 m hurdles

1. Nierzwicki-Trifilett (Penn) – 39.48 seconds, 2. Mull (CMA) – 40.38, 3. Addai Lewellen (PIO) – 40.46, 10. Brady Evans (CAS) – 43.01

4 x 100 m relay

1. Elkhart (Sharp, Woods, Gates, Mason) – 43.13 seconds, 2. Mishawaka – 43.51, 3. Northridge – 43.86, 5. Valley (Braden Shepherd, Jamasyn Virgil, Wade Jones, Rex Kirchenstien) – 44.11

4 x 400 m relay

1. Elkhart (Moran, Bean, Gates, Holt) – 3:27.03, 2. Penn – 3:27.70, 3. Warsaw – 3:27.76

4 x 800 m relay

1. Penn (Pottschmidt, Kaser, Jankowski, Retzloff) – 8:01.59, 2. South Bend Adams – 8:03.39, 3. Western – 8:05.71, 15. Rochester (Peyton Hiatt, Chris Rohr, Dylan Steininger, R.J. Keranko) – 9:06.90

Long jump

1. Parker (Mishawaka) – 22-10 ½, 2. Addai Lewellen (PIO) – 22-2 ¼, 3. Anglin (South Bend St. Joe) – 21-10 ½, 8. Braden Shepherd (TV) – 19-8 ¾, 9. Alek Mikel (TV) – 19-8 ¾

High jump

1. Dawson Perkins (TV) – 6-3, 2. Nierzwicki-Trifilett (Penn) – 6-2, 3. Boyd (South Bend Riley) – 6-0

Discus

1. Bach (Northridge) – 168-0, 2. Kretz (Western) – 162-5, 3. Paquette (Penn) – 161-11

Shot put

1. Marley (Western) – 52-9 ¼, 2. Walter (Mishawaka Marian) – 51-9, 3. Bach (Northridge) – 51-4 ¾, 8. Marshall Fishback (RHS) – 47-0 ½, 14. Wade Melanson (TV) – 44-5 ½

Pole vault

1. Bourdier (CMA) – 14-0, 2. Cousins (South Bend St. Joe) – 13-8, 3. Litherland (Columbia City) – 13-0, t-8. Zak Daake (RHS) – 11-6