EVANSVILLE — The boys track and field sectional at Central went down to the wire.
It’s cliché but every point mattered on Thursday, May 21. In the end, North reclaimed their crown from Castle as sectional champions.
The difference between the Huskies and Knights? 1.5 points. North finished with 103.5, Castle with 102.
North ended the night with a sectional record time of 3:20.09 in the 4×400-meter relay. Darian Walker, Cole McBride, De’Amontey Layne and Dade Waters ran each lap with aggression. They wanted it, something that was easily observed.
As team scores were getting down to the field from the press box, the North athletes could not contain their excitement. When they were announced winners of the sectional, the team erupted into celebration with the trophy held high. It’s the Huskies’ fourth sectional championship in five years.
An unexpected response
Naturally, Huskies coach Lonnie Wilson was proud of his group. But given how they performed at conference one week ago, he did not exactly expect things to play out the way they did at sectionals.
“We just had a lot of kids step up that weren’t supposed to score,” Wilson said. “It was a legit team effort. They’re the ones that do it; I sit here and watch.”
Wilson was right. The team earned points not only on the track, but with its competitiveness in field events. He was complimentary of how his group was present in their support for one another when they were not competing in events.
Thursday’s performance signifies what’s ahead for North. Now the focus is turned to regionals, back at Central, in hopes of another championship after coming up three points short of the title last season.
As Wilson put it, North is not done.
Five sectional records set
There were a few other sectional records set. Castle’s 4×800 relay team of Ethan Morris, Nathan Whitacre, Austin Carlile and Dane Kramer started that off with their time of 8:02.67 that was beyond convincing. The previous record time of 8:04.89 was set by the Knights in 2024, a team that included Kramer and Whitacre.
In the 4×100, Harrison’s Kendrick Hart, Deandre Sanders, Daerail Jamerson and Richard Hilaire finished with a record time of 42.03, breaking North’s record of 42.15 set last season. After a conference record time of 41.84 last week, look for the Warriors’ 4×100 unit to make it to Indianapolis once again.
Benjamin Quach of Castle set another record in the 200-meter, this time at sectionals, finishing the race in 21.46 seconds. The previous record of 21.58 was set in 2022 by Reitz’s Xavier Thomas.
Also making some noise was Jack Wilboure of Signature School with his record time of 1:54.56 in the 800-meter. The previous record of 1:55:04 was set in 2014 by Harrison’s Natnale Billa. Wilbourne has a great chance to make it to state once again next week in either the 800-meter or 1600-meter.
Here is the complete list of winners from Sectional 32, including the top three in each competition that has advanced to regionals at Central on May 28.
Sectional 32 at Central
Team standings: North 103.50, Castle 102, Harrison 87, Reitz 74, Memorial 64.50, Mater Dei 47.50, Central 38.50, Bosse 29, Mt. Vernon 28, Signature School 24, North Posey 12, Evansville Christian 12, Evansville Day 1
100: Richard Hilaire, Harrison, 10.73; Benjamin Quach, Castle, 10.76; Amyr Wilford, Reitz, 11.04
200: Benjamin Quach, Castle, 21.46; Frederick Helm, Central, 21.70; Daerail Jamerson, Harrison, 22.31
400: Micah Robling, Harrison, 49.12; Aiden Fehrenbacher, Mater Dei, 49.54; Dade Waters, North, 49.65
800: Jack Wilbourne, Signature School, 1:54.56; Andrew Foster, Memorial, 1:55.92; Landon Hartman, Memorial, 1:56.19
1,600: Carter Zieren, Reitz, 4:12.82; Jack Wilbourne, Signature School, 4:21.55; Austin Carlile, Castle, 4:22.68
3,200: Carter Zieren, Reitz, 9:19.12; Will Dierlam, Reitz, 9:24.73; Jack Minor, Evansville Christian, 9:44.41
110 hurdles: Darian Walker, North, 14.46; Jayden Jones, Bosse, 14.87; Jacobi Cooper, North, 16.14
300 hurdles: Jayden Jones, Bosse, 38.79; Darian Walker, North, 42.54; Dedrick Hardin, Bosse, 43.07
4×100: Harrison (Kendrick Hart, Deandre Sanders, Daerail Jamerson and Richard Hilaire), 42.03; North (Cole McBride, TJ Michel, De’Amontey Layne and Dez Lewis), 42.24; Castle (Aaden Smith, Rafa Iglesias, Ky’Rique McCleary and Benjamin Quach), 42.25
4×400: North (Darian Walker, Cole McBride, De’Amontey Layne and Dade Waters), 3:20.09; Castle (Anthony Zaccardelli, Matthew Dillman, Dane Kramer and Benjamin Quach), 3:25.62; Mater Dei (Aiden Fehrenbacher, Matthew Schroeder, Rudy Zenthoefer and Jacon Spicuzza), 3:28.79
4×800: Castle (Ethan Morris, Nathan Whitacre, Austin Carlile and Dane Kramer), 8:02.67; Harrison (Micah Robling, Sterling Roenfanz, Cameron Kirk and James Cohorst), 8:25.73; North (Cameron Adcock, Colin Baker, Asher Kealoha and Elliott Murphy), 8:36.18
High Jump: Donovan Moore, Reitz, 6-2; Ethan Clegg, North, 6-0; Kreig Ingler, North, 5-10
Long Jump: Donovan Moore, Reitz, 22-1.5; Devin Stewart, Central, 21-4; Kasen Cunningham, Evansville Christian, 20-7.75
Pole Vault: Dominic McKenzie, Mater Dei, 13-0; Parker Jourdan, Reitz, 12-6; Colin Pillsbury, Castle, 11-6
Discus: Tayten Wilson, Harrison, 150-6; Kelton Wilson, North, 141-3; Andrew Jones, Memorial, 137-8
Shot Put: Tayten Wilson, Harrison, 50-9; Andrew Jones, Memorial, 49-7; Karson Stewart, Harrison, 48-7
Markos Tsegaye is a sports reporter for the Courier & Press. He can be reached at mtsegaye@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X @10_Markos_
This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: Takeaways from record night at IHSAA boys track Central sectional
Reporting by Markos Tsegaye, Evansville Courier & Press / Evansville Courier & Press
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