4 takeaways from Thursday's IHSAA boys track and field regional at Central

EVANSVILLE, Ind. — Sloan Cox one-upped himself during Thursday's IHSAA boys track and field regional on a wet evening at Central Stadium.

He already was the defending regional champion in shot put and a state qualifier in discus last spring for Castle High School. Now a senior at Gibson Southern, he can add "record-breaker" to his list of accomplishments.

Cox broke a 10-year-old regional record with a 58-foot, 9-inch shot put heave to secure another trip to next week's state meet.

"I knew my last couple of throws were pretty far out there," Cox said. "I really wanted a 60 (footer), but in these (wet) conditions, I will take what I can get for sure."

Gisbon Southern coach Ron Kahle worked with him all winter but Cox wasn't happy with his throws at the start of the season. It took until the last few weeks to see notable progress. Cox also will compete at state for discus alongside teammate Hank Kissel.

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"His throws started clicking, and he's been in the upper 150s-lower 160s consistently," Kahle said. "And Hank, he was a 135 thrower last year, and he's been in the upper 140s this season. And that's something we work on is to be as consistent as we possibly can."

Cox and Kissel were two of the nine Titans who punched their ticket to Bloomington. Michael Herren advanced for the 200-meter dash, Lucian Wicker advanced for the 300-meter hurdles and Ethan Spindler advanced for high jump. The Titans' 4x800 meter relay team also qualified.

"It's been a great night," Kahle said. "(We've had) some of the best performances that we've had for a long time."

Castle's Andrew Mangum, Trevor Monroe, Parker Speth advance to state as seniors

Despite placing second in the 800- and 1,600-meter runs last week, Andrew Mangum said he had a bad sectional. That made his bounce-back Thursday all the more significant as he ran dropped eight seconds in the 1,600 to win the event.

With an Indiana University hat on post-race, Mangum was more than excited to be running at state at his future school.

"They've got a great group of guys up there and I'm hoping to get a lot faster with them," Mangum said.

Trevor Monroe also is a state qualifier after finishing third in the 3,200. Jasper's Abe Eckman won the race and set another regional record in the event, but Monroe's goal was to finish in 9:18 and he was within one second.

"I did the job," Monroe said. "I'm stoked. I'm just going to put myself in it next week and see what happens."

"We're just really happy for Andrew and for Trevor," Castle coach Jake Bennett added. "Both of them worked really hard for four years. It's a great way for them to finish their careers at the state finals, and now they're hoping to PR and to place in both of their events."

Parker Speth is still hoping to clear 16 feet on the pole vault, but he won the regional title with a 15-foot, 6-inch vault and is headed to state, too.

Mater Dei's Eli McDurmon also headed to state as a senior

All Eli McDurmon does is win the 400-meter dash, whether he's competing solo or in a relay.

He's now the City, Southern Indiana Athletic Conference, sectional and regional champion. Mater Dei has swept the 4x400 relay in the same meets, too.

"All the 400 guys show up every day," McDurmon said. "We work hard at practice. We put a ton of time in. We get faster every week. We PR almost every time, and we're hoping to do that next week too."

The Wildcats' 4x400 meter relay consisted of his cousin, Luke McDurmon, as well as Blaine Herr and Reagan Shavers.

"When it comes down to the end of the race, we got to be in first place," McDurmon said.

Castle's Will Bracher out but definitely not down

Will Bracher threw the best he could in shot put and discus at regionals. But despite his best efforts, he placed fourth in both events and did not advance to state.

"I gave it my all," Bracher said. "Sometimes fourth may not mean state, but that's what it is. It's sports."

Bracher had a special junior season for Castle, winning the discus at both the SIAC and sectional meets. Castle fans had his back all spring after his father Fred Bracher, the Knights' former track and field coach, died in March at age 53.

"Right now, he would be smiling down," Bracher said. "I know he's proud that I gave everything I got. And I've come a long way since everything happened."

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

CENTRAL BOYS TRACK REGIONAL

Team: Floyd Central 97, Gibson Southern 59, Harrison 49, Castle 46, New Albany 43, North 35, Reitz 29, Providence 23, Jasper 22, Princeton 21

Advancing to state

100: Ray Brodie (Memorial) 10.75, Xavier Thomas (Reitz) 10.84, Luke Collins (Floyd Central) 11.08

200: Xavier Thomas (Reitz) 21.81, Zac Hutslar (Floyd Central) 22.65, Michael Herren (Gibson Southern) 22.70

400: Eli McDurmon (Mater Dei) 49.66, Garrett Huber (Providence) 50.41, Isaac Ahl (Tell City) 50.45

800: Maddox Baker (South Central) 1:58.84, Weston Naville (Floyd Central) 1:59.17, Jacob Wenning (North Harrison) 1:59.87

1,600: Andrew Mangum (Castle) 4:19.21, Alex Hooten (Central) 4:20.08, Jaryn Weinel (Jasper) 4:22.49

3,200: Abe Eckman (Jasper) 9:02.68*, Spenser Wolf (Forest Park) 9:11.42, Trevor Monroe (Castle) 9:18.43

110 high hurdles: Kaden Kruer (Floyd Central) 14.91, Myles Carey (Princeton) 15.24, Domonic Brown Jr. (Harrison) 15.68

300 hurdles: Max Grangier (Floyd Central) 39.70, Kaden Kruer (Floyd Central) 40.71, Lucian Wicker (Gibson Southern) 41.71

4x100 relay: Harrison 42.45, New Albany 42.58, Floyd Central 42.61

4x400 relay: Mater Dei 3:26.09, Providence 3:26.47, Harrison 3:26.80

4x800 relay: Floyd Central 8:00.84, New Albany 8:03.61, Gibson Southern 8:18.07

High jump: Kaden Stewart (Floyd Central) 6-08, Isaac Maynard (Reitz) 6-06, Ethan Spindler (Gibson Southern) 6-04

Pole vault: Parker Speth (Castle) 15-06, Kyler Kidd (Princeton) 14-03, Sawyer Guillaume (Perry Central) 14-0

Long jump: Ja'raylan Johnson (New Albany) 22-05.25, Kerry Tyus (Mt. Vernon) 21-04.25, Jahni Summers (Harrison) 21-03.75

Shot put: Sloan Cox (Gibson Southern) 58-09*, Gavin Connelly (Tecumseh) 54-11.50, Zaven Sebree (Harrison) 52-06.50

Discus: Gavin Connelly (Tecumseh) 162-06, Sloan Cox (Gibson Southern) 159-04.50, Hank Kissel (Gibson Southern) 147-03.50

*-new meet record

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: IHSAA track and field: 4 takeaways from Thurdsay's regional at Central