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Leading the way was a stellar performance by senior Klayton Reed and sophomore Sean Cossairt in the 800 meter run.
The duo led the race with a 1-2 finish, with Reed clocked in 1:57.71 and Cossairt in 1:58.61.
Senior Corbin Eckert, who was breaking in a new pole, earned second place in the pole vault with the bar set at 13 feet, 9 inches.
For the Lady Knights, seniors Katy Moore and Kayla Sweet were top performers.
The seniors on both teams were instrumental in showing the way, because the Knights have a lot of second and first year athletes who had not been in a big meet like this.
On the girls side, Carroll used 10 first-place finishes to stroll to the team championship with 182 points. Columbia City was second with 106, followed by New Haven with 88.5 and Homestead with 71. Norwell was fifth with 62.5 points, followed by DeKalb with 54.5, East Noble 42 and Bellmont 17.5.
Homestead raced away with the boys team championship trophy by scoring 145.5 points. Carroll was second with 112, followed by Columbia City with 78, East Noble 71 and DeKalb 67. The Knights ended up sixth with 58.5 points, followed by Bellmont with 48 and New Haven with 42.
Looking back at conference meets, Norwell girls coach Bob Dahl said Tuesday night was one of the school’s better performances. It may be the most points (or second best) that the Lady Knights have scored in an NHC meet.
“Our kids did a nice job tonight. We don’t have a lot of complaints. I was kind of hoping that we could score better, but this is a powerful meet,” noted Dahl.
“However, I was a little disappointed in our performances, because I thought we should do better,” he added.
Reed helped open Cossairt’s eyes for the future.
The duo wanted to go out fast, because they were in the inside boxed lane and Reed knew that he and Cossairt could not afford to get out slow behind the other leaders.
“I told him to just come with me and stay with me that first lap and see how things come in the second,” said Reed.
“I was surprised. I felt him all the way through the first lap — right there on my shoulder. I’m glad it was Cossairt and not somebody else. That definitely pushed me.”
Reed and Cossairt also teamed up with Alex Cushman and Ethan Roebuck to place second in the 4x800 meter relay in 8:15.83. Homestead was first in 8:13.86.
Senior Talal Maree shaved time off of his own school record in the 300 meter intermediate hurdles, placing third in 40.57 seconds. Maree also placed fifth in the 100 meter dash in 11.65 seconds.
“Our young guys really stepped up tonight,” said Josh Gerber, the Norwell boys coach. “In the 4 by 8 relay, Cushman ran the fastest leg he’s ran all season and Cossairt stepped up and ran well for us.
“The young guys are really coming along and competing well. Our times have consistently gotten better and the young guys see where they need to get,” added Gerber.
Cushman ran the 1600 meters and placed seventh in 4:54.17.
Senior Matt Becker tied for seventh in the pole vault, clearing 13 feet.
Chris Burns was eighth in the high jump, clearing 5 feet, 10 inches. Jon Dettmer was eighth in the discus throw with a toss of 119 feet, three inches.
The Knights were fifth in the 4x100 meter relay in 45.82 seconds and fifth in the 4x400 relay in 3:34.35.
Moore collected a second-place finish in the high jump and a third in the 800 meter run. She cleared the high jump bar at 5 feet, 2 inches and ran the 800 in 2:24.07. Columbia City’s Kinsey Kauffman won the high jump going 5-3 and Carroll’s Samantha Simonson won the 800 in 2:22.21. Teammate Sam Ginther was second in 2:24.03.
Sweet was fourth in the 1600 and 3200 meter runs, respectively, in 5:25.04 and 11:53.23. Chelsea Blanchard won both races in 5:08.55 and 11:23.36. Both of Sweet’s times were season bests.
“Kayla and Katy didn’t do as well as I think they had wanted to tonight, but they still did pretty well,” said Dahl.
Moore and Sweet teamed up with Mallory Bushee and Ericka Zeddis to place third in the 4x800 meter relay in 10:06.89. Carroll won the race in 9:53.12 and Columbia City was second in 10:00.53.
The Lady Knights’ relay time was a season best, placing it fifth fastest in school history (10:06.89).
Freshman Ashley Zickafoose was third in the shot put with a distance of 32 feet, 11 3/4 inches. Columbia City’s Kaleigh Porter was tops at 36-3.
Sophomore Paige Fremion also took a third in the long jump, leaging 15 feet, 2 inches. New Haven’s Kasey Haas was first at 15-4. Fremion also was seventh in the 300 meter low hurdles in 52.25 seconds. She also tied freshman teammate Emily Gresley for seventh in the pole vault. Both cleared 7 feet, 6 inches.
Freshman Rebekah Witzig was sixth in the 400 meter dash in 1:03.25. Amanda McAfee was sixth in the discus throw with a toss of 98 feet, 10 inches.
Jessica Keys was eighth in the 100 and 200 meter dashes, respectively, in 13.75 and 27.95 seconds. Laura Harness was eighth in the 100 hurdles in 18.16 seconds. Bushee was eighth in the 800 in 2:34.61.
The Lady Knights were fifth in the 4x100 relay in 53.58 and sixth in the 4x400 relay in 4:20.93.
There were other personal bests by Harness, Witzig, Moore in the 800, Bushee in the 800, Kelsey Worrel in the 3200, Fremion in the long jump and Miranda Shumate in the 100 hurdles.
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