Western Boone Jr. - Sr. High School

DANVILLE - There was plenty of adversity for the Boone County teams to deal with at the Sagamore Conference Track Meet on Friday night. From computer errors, to false starts and dropped batons, there were ample opportunities for runners to say it just 'wasn't their day' and pack it in. But instead, the opposite happened. Both Lebanon and WeBo fell a little short of their ultimate goals - Lebanon boys placed second to Danville 136-135 and the WeBo girls placed second to the Warriors 124-121 with Lebanon third (117.50) - but their coaches came away proud of what they saw on Friday night. "We battled through a lot of hard situations tonight," Lebanon head coach Shelley West said. "We can't blame it on any of that, all of our kids stepped up tonight. They will be mad and upset about it tonight, but come next week we have to put it behind us and get ready for the sectional." Western Boone head coach Nate Birk echoed West's sentiments. WeBo had some adversity early, getting 0 points in events they were expected to do well in due to a false start and a dropped baton, but battled back to give themselves a chance at the end. Birk said the character his team showed was more important than anything else. "To be within three points at the end with the adversity we dealt with, I take a lot of pride in that," Birk said. "We were scoring points left and right and battled through the end picking up valuable points. There were just some gutsy performances. Everyone was fatigued and tired, but gave it everything they had." Birk said that the athletes can take a lot away from the way they handled everything on Friday night. "It's only going to make us better," Birk said of the way they dealt with the adversity. "Especially if it happens to an underclassmen, it's only going to make them better because it gets engraved in their brain and they can train a little bit harder, take an extra practice rep, and just keep working their butts off to get better, because every spot counts." Boys On the boys side, Lebanon claimed four conference titles on the night. After winning the long jump on Thursday, Trey Ries swept the sprints on Friday night, winning the 100 in 11.42 and the 200 in 22.88. "He has really stepped up for us," West said. "He came out here with great leadership and is pushing everybody to be the best. He isn't just worried about himself and he's been a great leader for us this year." Ries also anchored the 4x100 relay team to victory. He teammed with Jashaun Russell, Mahki Howard and Kaden Lark to win in 44.07. "They have been clicking," West said. "They work hard in practice every day and they really want that school record, so that pushes them even more." Lebanon also had a champion in the 110-meter hurdles, with Davohn Ziesmer winning in a time of 15.88. Also for the Tigers: In the 4x800, Lebanon’s team of Tyler Meyer, Abram Hale, Curtis Hicks and Isaac Harvey was third in 8:26.25. In the 1,600, Lebanon’s Curtis Hicks placed seventh in 4:49.11. Meyer was fifth in the 400 in a time of 53.56. Ziesmer was third (44.18) and Daniel Richards fourth (44.21) in the 300-meter hurdles. Meyer was third (2:05.77) and Harvey fifth (2:06.51) in the 800. The Lebanon 4x400 team of Meyer, Ziesmer, Hicks and Harvey placed fourth in 3:39.22. The Western Boone boys placed eighth, scoring 38 points. The 4x800 team of Isaac Threlkeld, Emiliano Davila Dominguez, Graham Cavins and Carter Hanna placed seventh in 9:20.90. Mason Tomes was fifth in the 100 in 11.70 and Kylde McKeighan was sixth in 11.99. The 4x100 team of Tomes, McKeighan, Marcus Fortner and Chase Richwine placed third in 44.74. Nate Moore was seventh (45.02) and Richwine eighth (45.74) in the 300-hurdles. Tomes was fourth in the 200 in 23.58 and the 4x400 team of Isaac Threlkeld, Tomes, Richwine and Nate Moore was sixth in 3:47.68. "There was a lot of great competition out there," Birk said. "Lebanon and Danville were battling out there and facing that tough competition is only going to make us better come sectional time when we see those really good teams. We had great performances from Mason Tomes in the 100 and 200 and Nate Moore came on really strong in the 300-hurdles. The 4x400 had a great finish too." Girls The Western Boone girls didn't have any first-place finishes in running events, but had several standout performances. Western Boone’s team of Kaleigh Steimel, Samantha Jones, Bailey Keyes and Katheryn Rutherford were second in 10:24.59 in the 4x800 relay. Lily Shirley was second in the 100 in a time of 13.08, with Ki'erra Koch placing sixth in 13.82. They placed second and seventh respectively in the 200 in times of 27.39 and 28.69. Hannah Haag was sixth in the 1,600 in a time of 5:49.57. She was fourth in the 3,200 in 12:38.10, with Charlotte Stucky sixth in 13:03.57. Jones was fourth in the 400 in 1:03.67, with Kate Higer eighth in 1:04.76. Steimel was second and Raegan Durbin third in the 300-hurdles in times of 50.26 and 50.30. Rutherford was fourth and Jones sixth in the 800 in times of 2:35.27 and 2:39.60. The 4x400 team of Steimel, Durbin, Jones and Rutherford placed second in 4:17.64. "I want to give a shout out to Hannah Haag," Birk said. "She has been training hard all winter, even in the snow and sleet. She had some great performances today. The 4x400 getting second was awesome too. Reagan Durbin, KaLeigh, Sam Jones and Katheryn Rutherford - just a bunch of gutsy performances. That was great to see." Lebanon claimed four conference titles on the day. Lebanon claimed the conference title in the 4x800 relay, with the team of Jaleigha Howard, Kloe Coyle, Penny Lamerson and Nadia Jones winning in a time of 10:04.12. "Those four girls have worked hard all year," West said. "They stepped up when they needed to today." Lamerson won the 1,600 in 5:23.23, with Howard placing fifth in 5:41.99. Lamerson later placed second in the 3,200 in a time of 12:19.15, with Coyle placing fifth in 12:49.30. "She listened really well to our game plan in the mile, knowing where she needed to be to make a move," West said. "She raced great in both her races. We put a lot on her tonight and she did well." The Tigers won the 4x100 in a time of 51.91, with the team of Leila Richards, Jocelyn Butler, Claire Boling and Ciarra Hiatt winning the title. "Everything has to go perfectly in that race to come out on top," West said. "They nailed their handoffs to come out on top and did a great job." Nadia Jones won the Tigers last title on the day, taking the 800 in 2:25.87 with Howard placing second in 2:27.03. "This has been a goal of hers all year," West said. "She has been focused on that race since last year, and it was great to see her get it done." Boling was fifth in the 400 in 1:04.28, Leila Richards was sixth in the 300 hurdles in 54.07, Nadia Keene was eighth in the 300 hurdles in 54.53 and the 4x400 team of Island Fasel, Howard, Coyle and Jones placed third in 4:21.00. Next up Both Lebanon and Western Boone will head into sectional competition next week. The girls will compete Tuesday at Hamilton Southeastern, while the boys will compete Thursday at Westfield. West said the message to her team is to not to worry about who else is in the sectional, just focus on what they can control. "We just tell our kids that they put on their uniforms the same way those other schools do," West said. "It's time to put everything that we've worked on all year to good use." Birk said that he wants to make sure his athletes get good recovery in due to the quick turnaround of meets, and then make sure they are ready to go. "We want them to practice the mental reps, and visualize having success against the best competition in the state," Birk said. "It's a great sectional, and we have to visualize ourselves hammering down in one or two events and hopefully moving on from the sectional." Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems. Boys Team Scores: Danville - 136 Lebanon - 135 Southmont - 88 Tri-West - 81 North Montgomery - 54 Frankfort - 50 Crawfordsville - 42 Western Boone - 38 Girls Team Scores: Danville - 124 Western Boone - 121 Lebanon - 117.5 Crawfordsville - 83 Tri-West - 66 Southmont - 45 North Montgomery - 35.5 Frankfort - 29 Boys Point Earners: 100m – 5th Mason Tomes (4 points), 6th Klyde McKeighan (3 points) 200m – 4th Mason Tomes (5 points), 110m Hurdles – 7th Nate Moore (2 points) 300m Hurdles – 7th Nate Moore (2 points), 8th Chase Richwine (1 point) 4x100m Relay – 3rd Klyde McKeighan, Marcus Fortner, Chase Richwine, Mason Tomes (6 points) 4x400m Relay – 6th Isaac Threlkeld, Mason Tomes, Chase Richwine, Nate Moore (3 points) 4x800m Relay – 7th Isaac Threlkeld, Emiliano Davila Dominguez, Graham Cavins, Carter Hanna (2 points) High Jump – 5th Chase Richwine (4 points) Shot Put – 6th Wyatt Dickey (3 points) Discus – 6th Jaxson Gott (3 points) Girls Point Earners: 100m – 2nd Lily Shirley (8 points), 6th Ki'erra Koch (3 points) 200m – 2nd Lily Shirley (8 points), 7th Ki'erra Koch (2 points) 400m – 4th Samantha Jones (5 points), 8th Kate Higer (1 point) 800m – 4th Katheryn Rutherford (5 points), 6th Samantha Jones (3 points) 1600m – 6th Hannah Haag (3 points) 3200m – 4th Hannah Haag (5 points), 6th Charlotte Stucky (3 points) 300m Hurdles – 2nd KaLeigh Steimel (8 points), 3rd Raegan Durbin (6 points) 4x400m Relay – 2nd KaLeigh Steimel, Raegan Durbin, Samantha Jones, Katheryn Rutherford (8 points) 4x800m Relay – 2nd KaLeigh Steimel, Samantha Jones, Bailey Keyes, Katheryn Rutherford (8 points) Long Jump – 2nd Ki’erra Koch (8 points), 8th Becca Keyes (1 point) High Jump – 7th Emmerson Gott (2 points) Pole Vault – 1st Katheryn Rutherford (10 points) Shot Put – 2nd Emmy Roys (8 points), 3rd Kennedy Kiger (6 points) Discus – 1st Emmy Roys (10 points)