M-G boys, Frankton girls shock competition for first county track titles

Apr. 15—FAIRMOUNT — The 2023 Madison County track and field championships will prove to be one of the most memorable in the history of the event.

There was none of the inclement weather which so often plagues this county championship, and there were records smashed, some only a year old while others had lasted since the last century.

But more than anything, it will be a night memorialized as one when a pair of small schools had large nights and made their own history.

Madison-Grant senior Tanner Brooks electrified the hometown crowd with his speed, and his teammates overwhelmed the competition with their depth of effort as the Argylls defeated four-time defending champion Pendleton Heights 163.5-139.33 for the program's first Madison County championship.

It was an even bigger upset on the girls' side as Sydney Duncan broke the one-year-old shot put record to lead Frankton to a 145-142 win over the Arabians, ending a 14-year run of championships for Pendleton Heights.

Both winning coaches had much to say despite claiming to be speechless at their team's accomplishments.

"I'm a guy that wears his emotions on his sleeve, and I'm about to get emotional standing her talking about these kids," M-G coach T.J. Herniak said. "When I took this program over, we couldn't win anything. To find a group of kids — I spend more time with these kids than I do with my own, I count these kids as family — a group of kids who could come out here and do this, I'm so proud of them because I have very little to do with this as a coach."

"I'm just really proud of the girls, especially because we had kind of a bad start to the meet," Frankton coach Andre Lo said. "Some of the girls were even in tears, thinking they had let the team down. Just seeing the way the kids responded — and it was a full team effort. Even the kids who weren't in the meet were running back and forth, and I thought that was huge."

The historical accomplishment of the two teams cannot be understated.

The Argylls became the first small school to win a boys county team title since Frankton in 1999, while the Eagles girls were only the second small school girls team to win, joining Alexandria in 2002. It was also the first time since 2007 Pendleton Heights was shut out of the team titles when Highland swept the track championships.

The Eagles title comes in a season which Lo has announced will be his last after 18 years leading the program.

"Pendleton has been the top, and we have a ton of respect for them," he said. "When we beat them, we know it's an accomplishment, and they really made us work for it tonight."

The M-G boys won eight of the 16 events, and Brooks accounted for half of his team's wins.

He broke two records along the way, first taking the 100 meters in 10.86 seconds to better a 26-year-old mark held by Adrian Englis of Madison Heights at 10.99. He later became the first athlete to break 22 seconds in the 200 meters when his time of 21.94 broke the 2018 time of Eli Pancol from Pendleton Heights by .31 seconds. It was the third county championship in both events for Brooks.

If that wasn't enough, he also ran the anchor leg for M-G's winning 400-meter relay and saved his most electric lap for last when he took the baton in the 1,600-meter relay in third place and roared past the frontrunners to win going away.

For his efforts, Brooks was awarded the boys' John McCord Award for the meet's most outstanding athlete.

"Honestly, I had no idea," he said. "I've worked really hard for it, and everyone is pushing me, especially Herniak. I definitely feel like I've earned it."

"Tanner is Tanner man. He's unbelievable," Herniak said. "I wish people could see the amount of effort he puts in. A lot of people think it's just God-given talent, but Tanner is the hardest working kid on the team."

He was hardly alone in M-G's success.

Will Ewer, Zander Gillespie, Dylan Hofherr and Gage Harris opened the meet by taking first place in the 3,200-meter relay with Ewer also clearing 9-foot-6 to win the boys' pole vault. Mavrick Griffin took the 110-meter hurdles in 16.10, and Andrew Stanley added a win in the high jump at an even 6 feet.

The Argylls star was proud of himself, but even more so at what his teammates did.

"It's amazing," Brooks said. "We don't have to get on any of them practicing. We all knew, the coaches knew we could get it done."

While their depth boosted their team scores, the Arabians' boys had just one victory as Benson Davis took first in the 3,200 meters.

Anderson — without injured state-finalist high jumper Tremayne Brown — placed third with 95.5 points. Amari Carter won the 300-meter hurdles (42.72), and Blake Williams won the long jump at 19-6.25.

Frankton was fourth at 84.66 points with Jack Melvin's 53.70 time in the 400 meters supplying its lone blue ribbon.

Lapel placed fifth with 74 points and boasted a pair of two-time winners. Cameron Smith took the 1,600 meters (4:30.13) and 800 meters (2:02.1) while Nate Belvo swept the throws, taking the discus (132-11) and shot put (46-10.5).

Anderson Prep was sixth with 29 points, followed by Alexandria (23), Elwood (4) and Liberty Christian (3).

While the PH girls won seven of the 16 events and Frankton took just three blue ribbons, the depth of the Eagles won the day.

Duncan took the shot put title at 42-9, surpassing the 41-foot throw of Higgins just one year earlier. While it wasn't a school record or personal best for the state finals hopeful, breaking the county record was a goal for the Eagles' senior.

"I was joking with her that, for the first meet in a while, she didn't get the school record. She just got the county record," Lo said. "That's not a bad performance."

Fellow senior Bella Dean repeated as the 300-meter hurdles champ, running the course in 49.63, and Evelyn Croy added a victory with her 1:03.63 time in the 400 meters. With just a five-point lead going into the final event, the Eagles needed a third-place finish in the 1,600-meter relay to clinch victory.

The foursome of Croy, Dean, Joslyn Karnes-Hatfield and Emma Sheward did even better, cruising to a second-place run to wrap up the team title.

Arabians sophomore Ava Jarrell was a four-time winner and smashed two records in her own right to claim the girls' McCord Award.

She joined Hadley Walker, Jaycee Thurman and Lily Hessler to open the meet with a win in the 3,200-meter relay and closed the meet with a win in that 1,600-meter relay, along with Addison Stanley, Kaydence Mirante and Abby Fisher.

But she was as electric in the distance runs as Brooks was in the sprints.

She ran a personal-best 5:08.19 in the 1,600 meters, defeating runner-up Sophie Goodwin from Lapel by 40 seconds and bettering former Arabian Faith Baer's 2016 record by 14 seconds. Her second county record came in the 800 meters with a time of 2:22.60 to top the previous mark, which had stood since 1997, by just over three seconds.

"I didn't expect to run a 5:08 in the mile. My best time was 5:12 in February, and I haven't run that since," she said. "To PR here is really something."

Stanley became a three-time winner as a freshman when she swept the sprints, winning both the 100 meters (13.10) and the 200 meters (27.23) while Whitney Warfel upset top-seeded Duncan in the discus with a throw of 113.01 feet.

The Argylls success was solid on the girls' side as their senior-less team came in third with 92.5 points. Aida Sites won the long jump (15-2.5) and Abigail Brown took the pole vault (6-6), and both were joined by Lacie Southerland and Ariah Stanger to win the 400-meter relay in 52.21, edging defending champion Frankton (Duncan, Skyler Drake, Eva Bott and Dean) by a half-second.

"I told the girls when the boys were getting their trophy, 'Ladies, you should be very, very happy with a third-place finish,'" Herniak said. "We didn't run anyone in the 400. We didn't run anyone in the 3,200. Our best distance runner only ran the (3,200 relay) and the 800 because she has a leg that is bothering her, and we still pull a third-place finish in a meet like this where we're going up against great competition.

"That future is bright. They're all freshmen and sophomores. We have two juniors and no seniors."

Lapel followed with 76.5 points for a strong fourth-place finish. The Bulldogs were led by Hannah Combs, who took first in the 3,200-meter run at 13:06.46 to upset defending champion Thurman.

Two-time winner Zoe Allen paced Anderson to 42 points for fifth place. She repeated in the 100-meter hurdles (16.07) and cleared 4-8 to win the high jump.

APA was sixth with 37 points, followed by Alexandria (36), Elwood (35) and Liberty Christian (1).

Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.