Jumping high

MUNCIE — After finishing as the runner-up in the conference meet, Gavin Randall vowed it wouldn’t happen at sectional.

He was one of four still competing Thursday as the high jump bar was raised to 6 feet, 1 inch.

None of the others had cleared that height all season.

Randall got it on his second attempt.

No one else matched him.

Randall, a Jay County High School senior, won the high jump championship for the Patriot boys track team as it had a total of seven athletes advance in five events from the IHSAA Boys Track and Field Sectional on Thursday at Muncie Central.

Through two delays because of an isolated storm cell that passed through Central Indiana, Muncie Central reigned supreme by winning the team championship with 130 points. Defending champion Delta was the runner-up by one point, with Yorktown (115) in third and Jay County scoring 63 points for fourth.

“Really proud of their effort,” said first-year JCHS coach Joe Imel, whose team improved five spots from last season. “They came to compete and I think it showed.

“I am just really excited for the boys with the five events that are going on to regionals. Really good culmination for some of the seniors and a really good start for some of the freshmen who are up-and-coming as well.”

The top three in each event advance to the May 23 regional meet at North Central in Indianapolis.

Randall, who was third as a junior, came in as the top seed at 6 feet, 4 inches.

Four athletes — Yorktown’s Caleb Hiatt, Delta’s Zachary Stanley, Wes-Del’s Rodney Reid and Randall — had successful jumps at 6 feet, meaning one of them would not move on another week.

All four missed their first try at 6 feet, 1 inch. Randall cleared his second, but the others failed to do so.

On their third and final attempt, Hiatt fouled. So too did Reid. Stanley did as well, clinching the championship for Randall.

“Feels pretty good,” he said. “Got third last year, coming in I knew some guys were graduating so I had a chance to actually get the win.

“As soon as I was second place (in the Allen County Athletic Conference meet May 7) I was just hungry for the sectional because I knew I could get it done here.”

And despite the meet getting delayed twice, the first time for nearly 90 minutes, Randall tried his best to stay loose. When the meet picked up for the second and final time, the Patriot senior said he just stayed in the zone.

Randall was also the third leg of the 4x100-meter relay team that advanced to regional. Trey Castillo, Nathanael Day, Caleb Webster and Randall took second behind Muncie Central thanks to a late surge from Webster as the anchor.

Jay County had a pair advance in the 110-hurdles as Noah Harris and Isaac Robbins were second and third, respectively.

Winchester’s Cole Campbell, the top seed, and Yorktown’s Austin Hill, who was seeded second, were well on their way to a 1-2 finish. But Hill got tripped up on the second-to-last hurdle, fell to the ground and settled for eighth. His slip-up opened the door for Harris and Robbins to each climb one spot from their seed to earn regional berths.

“They have been competing with each other forever,” Imel said. After Hill fell, both Harris and Robbins, who ran next to each other, celebrated their regional berth immediately after crossing the finish line. “That’s why both of them are so close in times and close as friends.”

But Imel also said he felt for Hill, who was seeded a half second behind Campbell.

“I feel really bad for the Yorktown boy who did take the spill,” he said. “That’s track, and that opened the door and we have two going on.”

The fifth and final regional berth for Jay County came on an extremely late push in the 400 dash by freshman Aaron Funkhouser.

As the youngster made the turn to the front stretch he was in fourth place. But he churned his legs faster, made up two positions and finished second to Cole Whitehead of Yorktown.

“Aaron Funkhouser is 120 pound of guts,” Imel said. “He is an amazing runner, a great teammate. He is extremely positive. He encourages everybody on the team.”

Randall was the lone regional qualifier from last year’s squad and is grateful to have some company for one more week.

“Oh I am so proud of them,” he said. “So much different than the way it used to be. Everybody wants to win. Everybody wants to come here and do their best.”