Photo by Travis David | Sullivan's Chase Catlin gets in position to take a handoff from teammate Jackson Piatt on the last leg of the 400-meter relay on Friday. The Arrows won the event.

BY TRAVIS DAVID

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BICKNELL — The two characteristics most often associated with the North Knox Warrior Track and Field Invite are quality competition and challenging weather conditions. 

Friday night’s meet was no different. 

Regional and state qualifiers littered the field in nearly every event while athletes had to also endure strong gusts of wind for the better part of the nearly 5-hour meet.

When all was said and done, the South Knox boys and Barr-Reeve girls emerged victorious in the field of 10 teams.

Sullivan had steady efforts throughout both meets, placing fourth on both sides. North Knox and North Central placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the girls meet, while the Warriors and Thunderbirds were 9th and 10th in the boys meet.

The weather conditions did not seem to bother Sullivan senior Seb Ortiz. The Golden Arrows’ top thrower produced three personal record marks, out of his four attempts, in the shot put. Ortiz had a top throw of 45 feet, 6.5 inches which was good enough for fourth place. The mark was a personal best by nearly two feet. The Sullivan senior also placed fourth in the discus with a top heave of 119-08.

Ortiz was not the only Sullivan athlete to turn in an impressive meet. Sophomore Cooper Bock picked up the Arrows’ lone blue ribbon of the meet. In one of the closest finishes of the meet, Bock nipped Vincennes Lincoln’s Jordan Donovan at  the finish line to win the 110-meter hurdles. The sophomore’s lunge forward at the line secured a winning time of 18.31 seconds which was one-hundredth-of-a-second better than Donovan. It was the second win of the season for Bock in as many races in the event.

Bock also placed third in the 300 hurdles with a time of 45.02, fifth in the 200 (24.32) and ran the anchor leg of the 1,600 relay team which placed third with a time of 3:52.06.

Chase Catlin also placed in four events for Sullivan. The senior finished third in the 100 (12.39), fourth in the 200 (24.27), fifth in the pole vault (10-0) and anchored the Arrows’ 400 relay team with a winning time of 46.27.

John Taft also came away with a high placement for the Arrows. Taft cleared 5-10 in the high jump which was good enough for second place. South Knox’s Tucker Risley also cleared 5-10, but had less missed attempts which awarded him the blue ribbon.

Sullivan sophomore Colten McCrary tied for seventh in the event with a mark of 5-02.

Freshman Jackson Piatt also came away with a top-five finish for Sullivan, placing fifth in the long jump. Piatt, who was a part of the winning 400-relay team, posted a mark of 17-08 which was good for fifth. Teammate Nate Hayes placed sixth in the event with a leap of 17-02.

Other place winners for Sullivan included: freshman Isaac Bedwell (6th in pole vault),  Jackson Trimble (7th in 800) and Jace Camden (8th in 400). Camden and Trimble were both members of the 3,200 relay which placed seventh.

RJ Kaetzle was North Knox’s top performer as the senior placed fifth in the 100. Kaetzel posted a time of 12.56. The senior also picked up a point in the 200 with an eighth-place effort (25.24).

Austin Jones and Logan Furman both earned sixth-place finishes in the 800 and 300 hurdles, respectively, while Carlton Armes rounded out the individual scoring for the hosts by placing seventh in the pole vault. Armes’ mark of 9-06 was a personal record in the event.

Short-handed North Central did not have any place winners in the boys meet.

Eastern Greene’s James Lewis was the top-point scorer in the boys meet by winning the 100, 200 and placing second in the long jump. 

On the girls side, Ladybird senior Kathryn Ison and Sullivan sophomore Katherine Sarver picked up the lone blue ribbons for local competitors.

Ison prevented Barr-Reeve senior Elle Knepp from winning four events on the night. The Indiana State signee nipped Knepp to win the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.29, nearly three-tenths of a second better than the Lady Viking.

Knepp would exact revenge on Ison by topping her in the 300 hurdles and long jump while also winning the 200. The three blue ribbons and runners-up finish made Knepp the high-point winner of the meet. Knepp’s mark of 16-02 in the long jump also set a new invitational record by three inches. 

Ison finished second in the 300 hurdles (50.07), third in the long jump (15-07) and fourth in the 100 (14.63). 

Sarver remained perfect on the season by winning the 400. The sophomore crossed the finish line with a time of 1:04.79. She also helped the Lady Arrows’ 1,600-relay team to a fifth-place finish.

Lexis Drake and Rachel Ramirez also came away with a pair of top-five finishes in the meet for the Lady Arrows. Drake came away with a second-place effort in the discus (93-06) and fifth in the shot put (31-05). Ramirez earned a pair of fourth-place finishes in the middle-distance events. The sophomore posted a time of 2:53.40 in the 800 and 6:21.93 in the mile.

Sophomore Alayna Whitman and senior Ava Queen placed third and fourth, respectively, in the pole vault. The Lady Arrow vaulters both cleared 6-0.

Trinidi Sapp was fourth in the 300 hurdles with a time of 53.20 and the Lady Arrow sophomore was also part of a fourth-place finish in the 400 relay along with Avari Kelley, Lily Hawkins and Gaige Goodman.

Sarver, Avery Weitekamp, Olivia Griffth and Goodman placed fifth in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:52.24.

Other place winners for Sullivan included: Kelley (6th, longjumps; 7th, 100), Hawkins (6th, 100 hurdles), Aphia Cartwright (8th, 100) Izabelle Eagleson (7th, 100h; 8th, 300h), Jolee Brunson (8th, high jump) and Goodman (8th, 200).

The Lady Warriors’ top finish was turned in by Hayden Coats. The sophomore earned a second-place finish in the high jump by clearing 4-10. Coats also placed sixth in the 100 (14.98) and seventh in the 200 (30.19).

Rorri Bottom also placed in three events for the Lady Warriors. The junior was fifth in the 3,200 (14:40.94) in addition to seventh in the 800 (2:59.99) and seventh in the 1,600 (6:36.45).

Senior Briley Utt was a double-place winner for the hosts as well. Utt was third in the shot put with a heave of 32-06.5 and seventh in the discus with a toss of 75-02. Teammate Leslie Kaetzel was fifth in the discus with a top mark of 77-11.

Freshman Olivia Knabel suffered defeat in the 400 for the first time in her career. After a perfect middle school career in the event and winning the season-opening meet in the 400, Knabel placed third on Friday with a time of 1:05.64. Knabel also placed eighth in the long jump with a leap of 13-07.

Jade Ritcher, Utt, Knabel and Coats teamed up for a fifth-place finish in the 400 relay with a time of 56.84.

Madison McCory rounded out the individual scoring for the hosts by placing eighth in the shot with a heave of 28-11.5.

Rylie Wright rounded out the scoring for North Central with a sixth-place finish in the discus with a top throw of 77-10 — one inch shy of Kaetzel for fifth place.

Boys Team Scores:

1) South Knox 165; 2) Eastern Greene 104.5; 3) Vincennes Lincoln 88; 4) Sullivan 85.5; 5) White River Valley 71; 6) Barr-Reeve 44; 7) North Daviess 28; 8) Linton-Stockton 23; 9) North Knox 15;10) North Central NS

Girls Team Scores:

1) Barr-Reeve 142; 2) Linton-Stockton 122.5; 3) South Knox 120; 4) Sullivan 74; 5) North Knox 47; 6) Eastern Greene 45.5; 7) North Central 32; 8) White River Valley 23; 9) Vincennes Lincoln 15; 10) North Daviess 2