Published: May 14, 2008 11:13 pm            

Dominant performances turned in at middle school track meet

TERRE HAUTE — Tyeson Mundy of Otter Creek and Emily Cotterman of Woodrow Wilson kicked off the opening night of the Vigo County middle school track and field championships with dominant victories Wednesday in the 3,200-meter run.

Mundy fell short of Milton Brinza’s 2007 meet record by 20 seconds, but the eighth graders closest competitor was more than 38 seconds behind his time of 11:02.70. Mundy looks forward to joining a strong Terre Haute North team next year.

Two meet records fell Wednesday as Jacob Johnson of Woodrow Wilson shattered Brock Lough’s sixth-grade long jump mark of 15-feet-6 with a leap of 15-11. Jazmine Allen also topped Teoria Keller’s meet record in the sixth-grade long jump with a leap of 14-6.

Cotterman ran to her second straight county title in a time of 12:19.55, which came up short of her meet record time of 12:03.59 set as a seventh grader in 2007. Cotterman will also run for the Patriots in the fall.

“I just ran my pace,” Cotterman said when asked if she was trying to break her own record.

Her Woodrow Wilson Warriors teammate Andie Clark was second in a time of 13:53.06 to help give Wilson’s seventh and eighth graders a 53-33 lead in team points after the opening night.

Jerad Fuson won the 1,600 for sixth grade boys to help his Honey Creek team take the lead, and Nicole Theide of Honey Creek won the 1,600 girls. Sixth graders do not compete in the two-mile run.

Field events were also contested Wednesday.

Otter Creek eighth grader Jordan Allen won the long jump with an impressive leap of 17-feet, 10 inches. Leon Hill of Sarah Scott was second at 16-10 3/4.

Allen, the son of Terre Haute North girls basketball coach Mike Allen, also won his preliminary races in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

“I think i have a good chance, as long as I do my best, to do well in the 100 and 200,” said Allen, who plans to complete in track and basketball next year at North. “I hope with these qualifying times, I just get faster.”

Other Wednesday seventh- and eighth-grade winners were Warren Bryant and Katie Lakstins in the high jump, Trey Decker and Haley Corghum in shot put, and Teoria Keller in long jump (with Wilson teammate Tayler White right behind in second).

In sixth-grade finals, Layne Curley and Ricky Brookins won high jump, and Kylie Fendrick and Junior Berry won shot put.

        

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