3 takeaways from the boys track and field sectional at Central Stadium

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — North's Angelo St. Louis defended his conference championships in the 110-meter high hurdles, as well as the 300-meter hurdles, to lead the Huskies to another overall team victory during Thursday's sectional.

St. Louis' sweep was one of the many things that went right for North.

"I just basically have a good coach," St. Louis said of his wins. "That's basically all it is. We just work on (my) form all the time."

St. Louis put in a lot of work to be in the spot he is today. At the beginning of the season, he said he "was really bad." But his hard work is paying to pay off.

In the City meet last month, St. Louis had top-five finishes in the hurdle events, including placing second in the 300.

"He just keeps competing and keeps pushing," North coach Lonnie Wilson said. "He's starting to believe in himself. And it's paying off. He's getting faster and faster each week."

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In addition to St. Louis' wins, many Huskies also set personal records, from Seth Allen in discus throw to Timothy Dixon in shot put to Isaac Elliott in high jump to even the 4x400 meter relay team.

Allen, Dixon and Elliott all finished within the top five in their respective events.

"They did a great job," Wilson said. "They stepped up and did what they had to do."

Memorial's Ray Brodie, Reitz's Xavier Thomas, Castle's Parker Speth break sectional records

Despite the bad weather in the area, it was still a night full of record-breaking.

Castle's Parker Speth cleared a 15-foot-8 pole vault and nearly one-upped himself by attempting to go five inches higher.

Last week at the Southern Indiana Athletic Conference meet, Speth was met with loud cheers following a record-breaking performance and still thinks he could do better.

"I still have a few things to work on," Speth said. "I have this whole week until regionals again. I'm going to try and get a little more comfortable with my stiffer, bigger poles. Hopefully, I can get over 16-foot-1 at regionals."

Speth is just as excited to advance to regionals as a senior as he was as a freshman. He credits the support of his family and coaches for all the success he's achieved.

"I wouldn't be here without them," Speth said. "They've really helped me progress and get to where I am now over the course of my whole career."

"I'm just happy for Parker," Castle coach Jake Bennett added. "He works really hard and takes his training very seriously. He's just a product of his hard work and his ability."

Memorial's Ray Brodie and Reitz's Xavier Thomas were also sectional record breakers, winning the 100-meter and 200-meter dashes, respectively.

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With Thomas on his heels and his legs starting to give out toward the end of the 100, Brodie pushed through and broke a 38-year-old event record.

"I felt good, but I can do better at the same time," Brodie said. "I'm looking for regionals and state."

Thomas did not walk away empty-handed, though. He defended his title from last year in the 200 and was just over a second faster this year to break a five-year event record.

"That's the best feeling I had in my life for sure," Thomas said of his win.

There's been a back-and-forth battle between Brodie and Thomas, particularly in the 100. For Memorial coach Gabriel Golba, seeing them compete is great for the community.

Golba calls Thomas one of the fastest 200 runners in the state while believing Brodie is one of the fastest in the 100.

"It's awesome for them but awesome for Evansville that, 'Hey, we exist down here,'" Golba said.

Harrison places within the top three 

The Warriors didn't win the team title, but they had a good showing, taking third place.

Zaven Sebree won again in shot put, Jahni Summers swept the jump events and the Warriors' 4x400 meter relay team set a personal record with a time of 3:28.78.

The relay win was extra special for senior Sawyer Stuckey.

"We've been running together since we were in eighth grade," he said. "It's pretty exciting having to run with these guys. Completing a task like that was just awesome."

"They've done a great job all year," Harrison coach Tyrone Browning added. "They've worked their tail off to get themselves to this position to be able to continue to keep moving."

There are a couple of others who are banged up for Harrison, but Browning said their goal is to continue moving throughout the rest of the postseason.

"It'll be interesting to see how they bounce back and prepare for the regional," Browning said.

Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on Twitter @Twashington490.

CENTRAL BOYS TRACK SECTIONAL

Team: North 116, Castle 107, Harrison 99.5, Boonville 63.5, Memorial 54, Reitz 47, Central 46, Mater Dei 40, Mt. Vernon 27, Bosse 10, North Posey 7, Day School 1

Individual winners

100: Ray Brodie (Memorial) 10.58*

200: Xavier Thomas (Reitz) 21.58*

400: Eli McDurmon (Mater Dei) 49.34

800: Alex Hooten (Central) 1:59.10

1,600: Alex Hooten (Central) 4:20.36

3,200: Trevor Monroe (Castle) 9:47.33

110 high hurdles: Angelo St. Louis (North) 15.48

300 hurdles: Angelo St. Louis (North) 41.20

4x100 relay: Harrison 42.40

4x400 relay: Mater Dei 3:26.98

4x800 relay: Castle 8:30.06

High jump: Jahni Summers (Harrison) 6-04

Pole vault: Parker Speth (Castle) 15-08*

Long jump: Jahni Summers (Harrison) 22-10.50

Shot put: Zaven Sebree (Harrison) 52-08.50

Discus: Will Bracher (Castle) 150-04

   *-new meet record

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: High school track and field: Takeaways from Evansville boys sectional