South Bend City Meet: Four takeaways as Adams sweeps boys and girls city championship
SOUTH BEND — The celebration began before the final event was over.
In the midst of the boys 4x400 relay, several of South Bend Adams' athletes sprinted, not towards the finish line, but to the middle of the football field at Saint Joseph High School.
They started cheering. Jumping. Yelling. One athlete raised his crutches in the air. It was a celebration of, not one, but two city championships as the Eagles boys and girls team swept this year's city meet titles.
"It is great to win here tonight," Adams boys coach Matthew Byers said. "It really was a total team effort tonight, both on the track and on the field. I could not be more proud of everybody stepping up when they needed to."
Adams edged out the Indians in both boys and girls. The Indians were missing state-meet qualifier Ella Frick due to other sport obligations.
Here are four takeaways from Thursday's city meet:
Angel Thomas reigns supreme in competitive sprint races
Thomas already knew she was one of the best sprinters in the South Bend area and confirmed it by dominating the 100-meter and 200-meter dash field.
Thomas, a junior, won the 100 (12.34), over Washington's Brooklynn Williams by half of a second, won the 200 (26.06) over St. Joe's Tori Brewer by almost a full second.
I've been wanting to PR (in the 100) for a long time, so that was a really good PR for me," Thomas said. "I haven’t seen Brooklynn (Williams) all season, so it was really good competition and prepared me to do what I do."
Thomas also came in second in the high jump (4-08.00) and first in the long jump (16-11.50)
"I know I am capable of 16s but all season I have been going 14," Thomas said. "My coaches just tell me to execute and lift my team. With this being a big meet I had to step up."
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Saint Joe's Tori Brewer was Thursday's breakout star
Brewer races against girls who are sometimes four or five years older than her. She is a freshman at Saint Joe, but should still be in eight grade after moving up a grade in elementary school.
Still, she is proving herself as a special talent, hanging with some of the top sprinters from the area.
In her first city meet Brewer finished third in the 100 (12.87) only behind Thomas and Williams. Then surpassed Williams, a state meet qualifier last year, in the 200 (26.82), finishing second only behind Thomas.
"I just have to think that I have more years to grow," Brewer said. 'Me being a freshman right now is good for knowing that I am close to them, and they are juniors and seniors."
Brewer also ran the final leg of Saint Joe's 4x100 team (Sara Prokop, Ellie Miller and Stella Toothaker), which finished first (51.75).
Saint Joe's Luke Kaufhold, Adams' Kayla Douglas complete hurdle dominance
Kaufhold, Saint Joe's sophomore hurdler, knows he's good. Knows he's fast. And knows he has a race won.
Halfway through his 110-meter hurdle race, he started pointing up the number one on his right hand, rightfully claiming top stake in the field after running 15.38, almost two seconds faster than second place.
His 300-meter hurdles was a little more dicey. He knew he was being pushed, something that didn't happen often. And a last-leg surge pushed him over Adams' Sam Nashel (43.36) to win his second event (43.09)
"It was a great night, honestly," Kaufhold said. "I PRed (personal record) twice in the 110, both in prelims and finals. In the 300 race, I went in thinking we were down 20 points and I just wanted to help out the team and initiate a comeback at that point in the meet."
Adams' Kayla Douglas was just as dominant. She won the 100 hurdles (15.76), legging out Trinity's Mary Curran and won the 300 hurdles (49.64) by almost two seconds.
She also won the girls high jump (5-02.00).
Adams puts in strong field performances
Adams was, by far, the best team away from the track winning seven field events.
Along with Thomas' win in the long jump, the Eagles picked up major points from Leia McCann, who won girls shot put (32-11) and discus (108-5), River Thornsberry who won boys discus (127-08), Ethan Schelstraete who won pole vault (11-00). So did Katherine Hensell in girls pole vault 8-09.00) and Douglas won high jump (4-10.00).
Last year McCann finished second and third in shot put and discus and made it a priority to finish on top of the field this year.
"My coach put a lot of confidence in me and helped me perform at my best. He really boosted my confidence," she said. "I came in seeded first and knew I had to perform well and I performed well under pressure."
Final results:
Girls 4x800 relay: 1. South Bend Saint Joseph (Tess Collins, Mary Clare Elliot, Ava Rousseve, Margaret Hopkins) 10:41.51; 2. South Bend Adams (Jillian Kaufman, Emily Shepherd, Trinity Breathitt, Cecilia Frazee) 10:57.68; 3. Trinity (Morgan Scroope, Michelle Preuss, Teresa Pingle, Bonnie Couch) 12:13.31
Boys 4x800 relay: 1. South Bend Adams (Bol Agwick, Grayson Wilson, Isaac Howk, Dylan Hockx) 8:33.74; 2. South Bend Riley (Isaiah Rivas, Austin Wittrock, Chris Ashley, Luke Hanson-Phipps) 8:43.81; 3. South Bend Saint Joseph (Alex Garcia, Carmelo Russo, Josh Frabutt, Gabriel Polaniecki) 8:48.57
Girls 4x100 relay: 1. SB Saint Joseph (Sara Prokop, Ellie Miller, Stella Toothaker, Tori Brewer) 51.75; 2. SB Washington (Terryah Leonard, Alayshia McNamee, Kendall Ivory, Brooklynn Williams) 52.65; 3. Trinity (Ella Milligan, Ava Tormey, Jeanette Skendzel, Mary Curran) 54.42
Boys 4x100 relay: 1. SB Riley (Brycen Avila, James Boyd, Antwann Simpson, Robert Nabieu) 44.78; 2. SB Saint Joseph (Bill Imanene, Ollie Kaufhold, Alex Ortiz, Hayden Miller) 44.87; 3. SB Washington (Mekhi Wilson, Torrey Wilson, Tyler Davis, Jaquan Patton) 45.93
Boys 110-meter hurdles: 1. Luke Kaufhold ( SB Saint Joseph, 15.38); 2. Zach Pflugner (SB Riley, 17.08); 3. Liam Kempf (SB Saint Joseph, 17.09)
Girls 100-meter hurdles: 1. Kayla Douglas (SB Adams, 15.76); 2. Mary Curran (Trinity, 17.55); 3. Brennan Moser (SB Saint Joseph, 17.55)
Girls 100-meter dash: 1. Angel Thomas (SB Adams, 12.34); 2. Brooklyn Williams (SB Washington, 12.84); 3. Tori Brewer (SB Saint Joseph, 12.87)
Boys 100-meter dash: 1. Ollie Kaufhold (SB Saint Joseph, 11.18); 2. Robert Nabieu (SB Riley, 11.20); 3. Jaquan Patton (SB Washington 11.48)
Girls 1600-meter run: 1. Lauren Frick (SB Saint Joe, 5:41.58); 2. Tess Collins (SB Saint Joe, 5:42.16); 3. Meg Baxter (SB Saint Joe, 5:43.58)
Boys 1600-meter run: 1. Dylan Hockx (SB Adams. 4:37.77); 2. Grayson Wilson (SB Adams, 4:38.96); 3. Bol Agwick (SB Adams, 4:40.14)
Girls 400-meter dash: 1. Isabella Soens (SB Adams, 1:02.77); 2. Terryah Leonard (SB Washington, 1:03.59); 3. Audra Meyer (SB Saint Joseph, 1:04.93)
Boys 400-meter dash: 1. Sam Taylor (SB Riley, 52.38); 2. Henry Lee (Trinity, 52.77); 3. Marko Lazarevic (SB Adams, 53.48)
Girls 300-meter hurdles: 1. Kayla Douglas (SB Adams, 49.64); 2. Mary Curran (Trinity, 51.13)
3. Brennan Moser (SB Saint Joseph, 54.98)
Boys 200-meter dash: 1. Ollie Kaufhold (SB Saint Joseph, 22.81); 2. Tommie Hunt (SB Adams, 23.12); 3. Sam Taylor (SB Riley, 23.19)
Girls 200-meter dash: 1. Angel Thomas (SB Adams, 26.06); 2. Tori Brewer (SB Saint Joseph, 26.82); 3. Brooklyn Williams (SB Washington, 27.35)
Boys 300-meter hurdle: 1. Luke Kaufhold (SB Saint Joseph, 43.09); 2. Sam Nashel (SB Adams, 43.36); 3. Derek Vondrak (SB Riley, 44.06)
Girls 4x400 relay: 1. SB Saint Joseph (Lauren Frick, Kelly Ratigan, Sara Prokop, Margaret Hopkins) 4:22.38; 2. SB Adams (Kiara Sisti, Emily Shepherd, Alexzandira Parker, Kendyl Kush) 4:29.56; 3.Trinity (Ella Milligan, Jeanette Skendzel, Ava Tormey, Mary Curran) 4:39.68
Boys 4x400 relay: 1. SB Riley (Robert Nabieu, Sam Taylor, Maleek Richardson, James Boyd) 3:37.56; 2. Trinity (Eddie Sgroi, Jack Trumble, Peter Loughran, Henry Lee) 3:40.11; 3. SB Saint Joseph (Lucas Miller, Nick Njuguna, Daniel Pries, Ollie Kaufhold) 3:41.70
Boys 3200-meter run: 1. Bol Agwick (SB Adams, 10:23.65); 2. Carmelo Russo (SB Saint Joseph, 10:25.06); 3. Brendan Pruitt (SB Saint Joseph, 10:26.11)
Girls 3200-meter run: 1. Tess Collins (SB Saint Joseph, 12:19.37); 2. Lexi Lawwill (SB Adams, 12:20.85); 3. Meg Baxter (SB Saint Joseph, 12:49.04)
Girls high jump: 1. Kayla Douglas (SB Adams, 4-10.00); 2. Angel Thomas (SB Adams, 4-08.00); 3. Grace Mazurek (SB Saint Joseph, 4-06.00)
Girls pole vault: 1. Katherine Hensell (SB Adams, 8-09.00); 2. Maddy Tubbs (SB Saint Joseph, 8-00.00); 3. Kate Fry (SB Saint Joseph, 7-06.00) ;
Boys pole vault: 1. Ethan Schelstraete (SB Adams, 11-00.00); 2. Brady Farrell (SB Saint Joseph, 10-06.00); 3. Cle Kimbrough (SB Saint Joseph, 10-00.00)
Boys discus: 1. River Thornsberry (SB Adams, 127-08); 2. Justin Smith (SB Riley, 111-11); 3. Evan Adams (SB Adams, 109-02)
Girls discus: 1. Leia McCann (SB Adams, 108-05); 2. Natalie Feldkamp (SB Saint Joseph, 80-00); 3. Maddi Crowley (SB Saint Joseph, 76-10)
Girls shot put: 1. Leia McCann (SB Adams, 32-11.00); 2. Maddi Crowley (SB Saint Joseph 30-03.00); 3. Ann Okhiria (SB Adams, 30-02.50)
Boys shot put 1. Ethan Witz (SB Riley, 41-08.25); 2. Evan Adams (SB Adams, 41-02.25); 3. River Thornsberry (SB Adams, 40-06.75)
Boys high jump: 1. James Boyd (SB Riley, 5-10.00); 2. Tommie Hunt (SB Adams, 5-08.00); 3. Ian Joyce (SB Saint Joseph, 5-08.00)
Boys long jump: 1. Robert Nabieu (SB Riley, 22-05.50); 2. Eddie Sgroi (Trinity, 21-00.50); 3. Bill Imanene (SB Saint Joseph 20-05.50)
Girls long jump: 1. Angel Thomas (SB Adams, 16-11.50); 2. Kendall Ivory (SB Washington, 15-11.00); 3. Ellie Miller (SB Saint Joe, 15-10.50)
Boys final scores: 1. South Bend Adams, 162 pts , 2. South Bend Saint Joseph, 137 , 3. SB Riley, 124 , 4. Trinity, 40 , 5. South Bend Washington, 28 , 6. South Bend Clay, 0
Girls final scores : 1. South Bend Adams, 196 points , 2. South Bend Saint Joe, 192 , 3. South Bend Washington, 43 , 4. Trinity, 40 , 5. South Bend Riley, 8 , 6. South Bend Clay, 4
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Adams track and field sweeps city championships
