More Lozano the better for sectional champ Bloomington North, area teams advance athletes
The longer the offense is on field the better, right?
If it works in football, it works in track and field for Bloomington North senior Reece Lozano.
The Indiana University football recruit used to be more of a 400 runner, but Cougar coach Justin Helmer saw a 200-100, then 400, guy who could be just a bit busier in big meets like Thursday's weather delayed Bloomington North boys' track sectional.
"We wanted to be conservative early and just keep running the 400 and four-by-four," Helmer said. "Then the Edgewood meet, he complained about his hamstring again. Then we ran the 200 again and said let's put you on the four-by-one and see.
"And soon as we watched that four-by-one run and saw what they ran, I said, 'That's a school record relay, let's go all in on this.' With a 400, you sit around half the meet, then run another 400. Now, it gets him more active."
Lozano got to work right away, qualifying second in the 200 prelims. He then buzzed to the finish line to anchor a 43.25 for the 400 relay, a winning time that's No. 2 all-time at North. Then he won the 200 (22.88, just .01 off his PR) and wound things up with the winning 1,600 relay team (3:28.70).
"Taking Reece out of the 400 and I think he enjoyed that a little bit more," Helmer said. "He's a little bit more active in the meet and it's making us better. He had a great 200, that four-by-one is faster and he'll have a little bit left on that four-by-four.
"We've got the depth to be able to allow that to happen."
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Call it a three touchdown night for the former North quarterback as the Cougars swept the relays and scored 185½ points to win the team title over Bloomington South (137) and Edgewood (73).
"A little less hurt at the end," Lozano said. "I've always been a 400 guy mainly because my freshman year and this part year, I'd gotten hurt. So I'd always been a little limited during track season.
"But this year, everything felt great coming into the postseason and coach felt confident in me and I feel confident in myself, so it's a good deal."
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The Cougars have 12 individuals in 13 events moving on, partly because of the quality of depth its getting from the likes of Jallah Barbu, Connor Shin, Joseph Powell and Aidan Ball.
Barbu made it out in the 110 hurdles (third, 15.98) and long jump (second, 20-1¾) and could get called back in the 300s (fourth, 42.75). Shin was third in the 100, Powell third in the 200 and Ball third in the 400 to all qualify for regional.
It would have been hard to find a bigger smile than the one sophomore Amare Draughn wore after going over 6-0 for the first time to win high jump.
"I'm so proud of him for that," Helmer said.
Kyle Clark was stunned at the end of both the 800 and 1,600 by Martinsville sophomore Martin Barco IV, who had the finishing kick to win by .13 in the 800 (2:00.83) and .87 in the 1,600 (4:19.60).
"It made me kind of mad," Clark said. "So I'm going to really try not to let it happen again."
Raake IV
Edgewood senior Zack Raake had another busy sectional night with six sprints in four events totaling 1,100 meters.
He won the 100 in 11.30 (just a week removed from his school record 10.78), settled for second in the 200 (23.25) and anchored the 400 relay to second (44.65), and on what was left of tiring legs, lifted his 1,600 relay from fourth to third by .24 in the last half of his lap (3:38.22).
"This meet, I don't think I did as well of a job preparing for it as I did for conference," Raake said. "So I can't complain. I won. I think it's just the difference between competing to win and competing to PR."
Raake decided the 200 is the one he's giving up next week, scratching out of for regional, giving South's Sam Cosner a call-up.
"It's a shame," Raake said. "I've got the most low-hanging fruit in the 200. I've got that speed and I can run a fast 4, so I've got that stamina. I just can't put it together.
"I think I lock up and run tight. The 100, I'm getting really good at running loose. Same the 400. And my calf was cramping the whole time, too. The 4-by-4 was exciting too. I was debating. I almost didn't run it."
Finally 14
South's Sawyer Bailey had been spinning his wheels for several weeks in the pole vault, so on a damp, chilly night, he finally gained some traction, clearing 14-0 for the first time.
"Five meets now," Bailey said. "I got 13-6 very early in the season and 14 has just been that number hanging over me."
Bigger poles helped him burst through the clouds. The 6-foot-2 junior, a receiver in the fall, has been as high as 14-6 in practice after reaching just 11-6 last season.
"I was able to get my arm out," Bailey said. "Which is a hard skill to get. So once I get that, I get to go onto bigger poles and the bigger poles project me up a lot more.
"The hardest part is I can't jump every day. My legs get too tired because I do football weights every day. But the days I do get to jump, I jump until I physically can't."
Strong South showing
Call-ups will be one of the Panthers' best friend this week, but they'll have to wait another day to find out if another regional race awaits for many of them with Bedford North Lawrence's sectional weathered out until Friday.
All three Panther relays earned their way out with top three finishes.
The sprinters hung tough with Sam Cosner second in the 100 (11.56) and fourth in the 200 (23.90). Jack Hallett was fourth (11.72) in the 100 and Joshua Tait fourth in the 400 race, which was won as expected by Panther Marian University commit Murry Ross-Harman (51.47).
Ryan Rheam (9:41.78) and Jack Gildea (9:54.11) went 2-3 in the 3,200, as North's Nolan Bailey (9:36.67), dealing with a leg issue, needed a fast final 200 to get away from Rheam. Zander West went fifth in the 800 and fourth in the 1,600.
Ivan Lynch (140-2) was fourth in discus and 15th seeded sophomore Nicholas England PRd at 18-5¾ to place a surprising fifth.
"I thought they competed very well," South coach Larry Williams. "I think we've really gotten so much better from last year. I think some of the kids were down, times and all. Heavy air, sitting in a gym, but the one thing they did very well was, they competed.
"As we told them, today was about giving yourself the opportunity to move on to next week."
Less to do, more to gain
North's Cody Mikulich is a heck of an athlete, but tried to take on too much in last year's postseason, high jumping, throwing discus, running the 100s and the 400 relay.
He's cut that workload in half, throwing discus and running on the 400 relay. And that's it.
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"Being able to focus on two things, it's allowed me to perform better," Mikulich said.
Working on his discus after an early season of mainly sprinting, he's hit the 160-mark in back-to-back meets with a PR of 162-5 to win his sectional title.
"Once I got a couple days over there, I started throwing a little farther, so coach decided to give me a little more time over there," Mikulich said. "Practice has paid off.
"I knew I had it in there, I didn't have the technique down. I had slow down a little bit to work on power positions. From there, we can build the speed back up. It's a work in progress."
North's Marcus Wynalda was second in discus (155-8) and shot (PR of 56-6½).
Hurdlepalooza
North's Broc Murphy and South's D'Andre Black once again split their duels in the hurdles.
Black was first to cross in the 110s final (14.86), with Murphy second (15.03). They switched places in the 300s, Murphy first in 40.22 and Black next at 41.57 with teammate Ivin Tait third (42.56).
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
BLOOMINGTON NORTH BOYS' TRACK SECTIONAL
Team scores: 1. Bloomington North 185½; 2. Bloomington South 137; 3. Edgewood 73; 4. Martinsville 56; 5. Linton 51; 6. Brown County 29½; 7. Owen Valley 26; 8. Eastern Greene 20; 9. White River Valley 19; 10. Bloomfield 12; 11. Shakamak 11; 12. Lighthouse Christian 2
Individual results
Top 3 advance to regional
100: 1. Zack Raake, Edg, 11.30; 2. Sam Cosner, BS, 11.56; 3. Connor Shin, BN, 11.65; 4. Jack Hallett, BS, 11.72; 5. Dylan Rhoden, M, 11.72; 6. James Lewis IV, EG, 11.77.
200: 1. Reece Lozano, BN, 22.88; 2. Raake, Edg, 23.25; 3. Joseph Powell, BN, 23.56; 4. Cosner, BS, 23.90; 5. Adrian Rheam, BS, 24.03; 6. Gabe Eslinger, L, 24.16.
400: 1. Murry Ross-Harman, BS, 51.47; 2. Christopher Royal, Blmfld, 52.33; 3. Aidan Ball, BN, 52.90; 4. Joshua Tait, BS, 53.36; 5. Max Hostetter, WRV, 53.70; 6. Rett Sparks, BN, 53.92.
800: 1. Martin Barco IV, M, 2:00.83; 2. Kyle Clark, BN, 2:00.96; 3. Quincy Slaper, BN, 2:03.06; 4. Rafe Silbaugh, BC, 2:05.64; 5. Zander West, BS, 2:06.98; 6. Rhett Silbaugh, BC, 2:08.96.
1,600: 1. Barco IV, M, 4:19.60; 2. Clark, BN, 4:20.47; 3. Chase Austin, BC, 4:33.83; 4. West, BS, 4:39.84; 5. Jack Holden, BN, 4:46.12; 6. Joe Zinkan, BS, 4:47.63.
3,200: 1. Nolan Bailey, BN, 9:36.67; 2. Ryan Rheam, BS, 9:41.78; 3. Jack Gildea, BS, 9:54.11; 4. Jack Nelson, BN, 9:56.17; 5. Caleb Webb, Edg, 10:01.13; 6. Jackson Klinger, Edg, 10:13.42.
110 hurdles: 1. D'Andre Black, BS, 14.86; 2. Broc Murphy, BN, 15.03; 3. Jallah Barbu, BN, 15.98; 4. Mason Law, Edg, 16.24; 5. Michael Miller, Shk, 16.30; 6. Ivin Tait, BS, 16.44.
300 hurdles: 1. Murphy, BN, 40.22; 2. Black, BS, 41.57; 3. Tait, BS, 42.56; 4. Barbu, BN, 42.75; 5. Miller, Shk, 43.18; 6. William Ham III, M, 45.19.
Shot put: 1. Drew Smith, L, 56-8¼; 2. Marcus Wynalda, BN, 56-6½; 3. Bryson Pardue-Mills, OV, 53-6½; 4. Max Wynalda, BN, 51-4; 5. Chris Davis, Edg, 50-0¾; 6. Eslinger, L, 48-0.
Discus: 1. Cody Mikulich, BN, 162-5; 2. Mar.Wynalda, BN, 155-8; 3. Smith, L, 148-5; 4. Ivan Lynch, BS, 140-2; 5. Wrigley Franklin, L, 134-10; 6. David Nussbaum, BS, 131-6.
High jump: 1. Amare Draughn, BN, 6-0; 2. Riley Brock, OV, 5-10; 3. Carl Norris, Edg, 5-10; 4. Braden Walters, L, 5-8; 5. Garrett Skaggs, M, 5-8; 6. Josh Hanna, BN, 5-6.
Long jump: 1. Isaiah Moore, WRV, 20-6½; 2. Barbu, BN, 20-1¾; 3. Brock, OV, 19-9½; 4. Silas McFarland, M, 19-2¼; 5. Nicholas England, BS, 18-5¾; 6. Ronan Hancock, Edg, 18-4½.
Pole vault: 1. Sawyer Bailey, BS, 14-0; 2. Matthew Hayden, L, 10-6; 3. Trevor Buckwalter, M, 10-6; 4. Will Valentine, EG, 10-0; 5. Carson Bennett, M, 10-0; 6. Jesse Voigtschild, L, 10-0.
400 relay: 1. Bloomington North (Mikulich, Jarno Ksander Hicks, Shin, Lozano), 43.25; 2. Edgewood (Trenton Todd, Stone, Hancock, Raake), 44.65; 3. Bloomington South (A.Rheam, Hallett, Cosner, Elijah Berry), 44.88; 4. Martinsville, 45.24; 5. Linton, 45.99; 6. Shakamak, 46.73.
1,600 relay: 1. Bloomington North (Oscar de Santiago, Murphy, Clark, Lozano), 3:28.70; 2. Bloomington South (A.Rheam, Tait, Black, Ross-Harman), 3:32.26; 3. Edgewood (Todd, Stone, Landen Beauchamp, Raake), 3:38.22; 4. Brown County, 3:38.46; 5. Eastern Greene (Stephens, Schwanke, W.Valentine, Lewis), 3:45.97; 6. Owen Valley, 3:47.28.
3,200 relay: 1. Bloomington North (Liam Arthur, Eli Norrick, Dominic D'Onofrio, Slaper), 8:04.63; 2. Bloomington South (Gildea, Hunter Tabor, Teagan Bullock, Dante Valentino), 8:25.53; 3. Brown County, 8:29.73; 4. Edgewood (Beauchamp, Anthony Gough, Zane Meyer, Josh Kohne), 9:10.88; 5. Eastern Greene (Lyttle, West, R.Valentine, Ault), 9:16.65; 6. Linton, 9:48.45.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: More Lozano the better for sectional champ Bloomington North
