Oak Hill girls’ track and field coach Paige Brunner knew that Tuesday’s girls’ sectional at Indiana Wesleyan University was going to be a battle for second place.

While the Eagles had never been beaten on the season, Brunner knew from looking at the seed sheets No. 19-ranked Huntington North would be the likely winner on Tuesday night. Knowing that, Brunner made some scratches to put in his team in the best position to advance as many athletes to next week’s regional.

The Eagles did just that, as Oak Hill had competitors advance to the regional in 12 of the 16 events. Oak Hill took second place in the sectional with 110 points, coming in behind Huntington North which won with 167 points.

“Some people might not have got it with the decisions that we made but I just wanted to get our athletes in the best position to advance to the regional,” Brunner said. “We might have been the closest team that would have had a shot at getting Huntington, but we were able to get regional qualifiers in 12 of 16 events and were able to set some school records.”

The Eagles set school records in all three relays and also capped the day by setting a sectional record in the 4 x 400-meter relay. The Eagles’ 4 x 400-meter relay team of Layne Smith, Christine Harper, Danielle Thompson and Janae Moffitt won in a time of 4:02.32. That broke the school record the Eagles had set at last year’s sectional.

Oak Hill’s 4 x 100-meter relay team of Smith, Harper, Krista Hobbs and Thompson took second place in a time of 51.08 seconds. The Eagles had set the previous school record at this year’s Central Indiana Conference Meet.

Oak Hill’s 4 x 800-meter relay team of Hunter Begley, India Ulshafer, Caroline Wickes and Shallen Lenhart broke the school record and took second place in a time of 9:45.82. The Eagles had set the previous school record at this year’s CIC Meet.

“We made some of those moves we did to make sure that we were fresh for the 4 x 400,” Brunner said. “Huntington North just has a great team this year.”

Along with being a part of the record-breaking 4 x 400-meter relay team, Moffitt won the high jump at 5 feet, 6 inches and the 400-meter dash in 1:00.04.

Hobbs from Oak Hill won the 300 hurdles in 49.10 seconds. Artis took second in the 300 hurdles.

Hobbs also advanced to the regional in the 300 hurdles, taking third in 17.07 seconds.

Lenhart also was a double-regional qualifier. She was third in the 1600-meter run in 5:28.10 and fourth in the 800-meter run in 2:27.77.

Harper was second in the long jump at 16 feet, 4 1/4 inches. Teammate Brooke Hasty was fourth in the 3200-meter run in 12:42.60. Oak Hill’s Katie Shepherd qualified for the regional in the discus, taking fourth at 100 feet, 9 inches.

The regional is Tuesday at Fort Wayne Northrop High School.

Derek has been a standout three sport athlete at Oak Hill, lettering in football, basketball, and baseball.  Durkes was an All-CIC football player and basketball player, as well as the Grant County basketball players of the year during the 2012-2013 season.  Derek has been all conference in baseball as well and has been one of the Golden Eagles’ top pitchers over the last three years.

Sophomore Keegan Scott throws the discus during the CIC meet.

By Matt Wilson mwilson@chronicle-tribune.com

The Oak Hill girls’ track and field team capped off a third straight Central Indiana Conference championship in record-setting fashion.

Oak Hill’s 4 x 400-meter relay team of Janae Moffitt, Christine Harper, Layne Smith and Danielle Thompson won the 1600-meter relay in a meet record time of 4:06.5. The previous meet record was a 4:11.13. That performance ended a dominating night for the Eagles, who won the CIC championship with 209.5 points. The closest team of Oak Hill was Eastbrook, which finished with 125.5 points.

The boys’ team completed the sweep for Oak Hill, winning their seventh straight conference title with 193 points. The closest team to the Eagles was Eastbrook, which had 140.75 points.

“In the girls’ meet, we just saw the same thing we saw in the Grant Four and just a lot of our athletes having a great meet,” Oak Hill coach Paige Brunner said. “There are still some things we need to work on like tightening up some of our No. 2’s, but for the most part it was a pretty dominating performance by us.”

The Eagles set three meet records en route to winning the girls’ meet. The 4 x 100-meter relay team of Smith, Harper, Krista Hobbs and Thompson set the meet record by one-tenth of a second, finishing in 51.29 seconds. The previous meet record was 51.3 set by former conference member Tipton. Oak Hill’s time also broke the school record.

Oak Hill’s Shallen Lenhart broke the meet record in the mile, finishing in 5:19.65. The previous meet record was 5:22.24.

Oak Hill’s 4 x 800-meter relay team of Hunter Begley, India Ulshafer, Caroline Wickes and Lenhart broke the school record en route to winning the event in a time of 10:22.59. The previous school record was 10:22.7.

The Eagles won 10 events en route to winning the meet. Sophomore Janae Moffitt won the 400-meter dash in 2:26.80 and the high jump at 5 feet, 7 inches. Lenhart won the 800-meter run in 2:26.80 along with her win in the 1600.

Thompson led the Eagles to a 1-2 finish in the 200-meter dash. She won in a time of 27.34 seconds and Smith was second in 27.67 seconds. Hobbs won the 300-meter hurdles in 48.76 seconds. She also was second in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.83 seconds.

Harper won the long jump at 16 feet, 6 3/4 inches.

Fifteen of the 16 events were won by Grant County athletes. The only non-county athlete to win an event was Blackford’s Kirsti Reed, who won the 100-meter dash in 13.10 seconds.

Eastbrook’s Brooke Saylor won the 100-meter hurdles in 16.74 seconds. Teammate Sophie Seward won the 3200-meter run in 11:53.44. Seward also was second in the 1600-meter run. Eastbrook’s Josslyn Carder won the pole vault at 7 feet, 6 inches.

Madison-Grant finished third with 67 points and Mississinewa was fourth with 60 points.

Madison-Grant’s Bethani Herniak won the shot put at 34 feet and discus at 102 feet, 5 inches. Teammate Rachel Coppess was second in the shot put at 33 feet, 5 1/2 inches. Eastbrook’s Korisa Kitts was third in the shot put and discus.

Mississinewa’s team of Lexi Althouse, Kylee Elliott, Taylor Ludlow and Hanna McClure was second in the 4 x 100-meter relay in 54.71 seconds. Kim Jones was third in the high jump at 4 feet, 10 inches. Sara Wert was fourth in the discus and fifth in the shot put.

Oak Hill was able to get off to a strong start in the boys’ meet. Kegan Anderson and Jacob Hochstetler went 1-2 in the pole vault, with Anderson winning at 12 feet, 6 inches and Hochstetler second at 12 feet. The Eagles went 2-3 in the long jump, with Kurtis Rangel taking second at 19 feet, 2 inches and Derrick Randall third at 18 feet, 11 1/2 inches.

The Eagles went 1-3 in the shot put and discus. Brodie O’Banion won the shot put at 51 feet, 3 1/4 inches and Matt Shaw was third at 42 feet, 1 inches. Dakota Thompson won the discus at 144 feet, 2 inches and Keegan Scott was third at 141 feet, 2 inches.

“I had said that I felt like the field events were going to make or break the meet for us,” Brunner said. “We had close to a 20-point lead after the field events and we just carried the momentum from there. We really showed our depth with second-, third- and fourth-place finishes.”

For the third year in a row, Eastbrook junior Josh Neideck was a three-event winner. Neideck won the 800-meter run in 1:58.52, 1600-meter run in 4:29 and the 3200-meter run in 10:17.51.

“Josh is a very talented kid and he showed some great times in both the mile and the 800,” Eastbrook coach Stu Goble said. “He is running quicker times now than he was at this time last year and he is getting down to where he needs to be for the tournament.”

Along with winning the pole vault, Anderson won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.28 seconds. He was third in the 300 hurdles. Oak Hill’s 4 x 400-meter relay team of Jon Hochstedler, Rangel, Gerritt Taylor and Matt McDivitt won in 3:33.80. Oak Hill’s 4 x 800-meter relay team of Derrick Gibson, Jacob Evans, Conner Mitchener and Hochstedler won in 8:29.4.

Eastbrook’s team of Jacob Singer, Zach Burton, Austin Simison and James Mantz won the 4 x 100-meter relay in 45.68 seconds. Singer won the 100-meter dash in 11.46 seconds. Burton was second in the 200-meter dash in 24.06 seconds.

“The boys had a good meet,” Goble said. “We would have needed an almost perfect meet to get Oak Hill tonight, but we had solid performances.”

Mississinewa was third with 79 points and Madison-Grant was fourth with 58 points. Madison-Grant’s Matt Pattison won the 200-meter dash in 23.9 seconds and was second in the 100-meter dash in 11.57 seconds. Bryan Carter was second in the high jump at 5 feet, 10 inches.

Mississinewa’s Abram Fleming won the 400-meter dash in 52.45 seconds. Dylan Bowser was second in the discus at 141 feet, 6 inches. Matt Thompson was second in the shot put at 44 feet, 4 1/2 inches. Peyton Watson was fourth in the long jump at 18 feet, 7 1/2 inches. Zach Parker was fourth in the 100-meter dash in 11.85 seconds.

FAIRMOUNT — Mississinewa’s third consecutive Grant Four baseball championship wasn’t a surprise Saturday, mainly because the Indians displayed all the elements of a champion.

Timely pitching, effective pitching and — most significantly — good defense led the Indians past Oak Hill 6-3 in the championship game at Madison-Grant.

“Our kids feel like they are the best team in the county and in their minds the favorites,” Indians coach Randy Kerns said. “Our offense disappeared at times, but defense and pitching is what we’re built on and what carries us.”

Mississinewa (4-3) struck immediately with a three-run first inning and staved off repeated Oak Hill challenges before tacking on insurance runs in the fifth and sixth. Alex Morrison had two hits and two RBIs, and Hontz McCarty added a pair of hits and two of the game’s biggest defensive plays.

“Everyone picks each other up,” said Aaron Arrendale, who came in for the second straight year and saved the victory for starting pitcher Trey Alston. “This team has played a lot of ball last summer on travel teams, and our defense has been great.”

Oak Hill (4-8) has been Grant Four runners-up to the Indians the past three years and reached the final by executing a suicide squeeze to pull out a 1-0 victory over Eastbrook. The Golden Eagles outhit the Indians 11-6 but stranded 12 base runners and left the bases loaded in the third and fourth innings.

“We didn’t see much difference between game 1 and game 2,” Oak Hill coach Shane Edwards said. “We got great pitching and defense. We just didn’t get the timely hit. We left eight guys in scoring position (on second and third bases) and if we pick up a fourth of them we’re still playing.”

Eagles starter Wes Mann’s troubles in the first inning began with two outs. McCarty singled and scored on Morrison’s double. Mann walked the next two batters and then hung a two-strike pitch that Arrendale lined to right for a two-run single.

After that, Mann retired 10 consecutive batters while his counterpart Alston was pitching in and out of trouble. Ethan Bowland greeted Alston in the second with a solo home run, and the Eagles closed to within 3-2 later in the inning on an Alston balk with a base runner on third base.

Runners were still on second and third with one out and were left stranded there after two stellar Mississinewa defensive plays. First, right fielder McCarty’s circus catch on a fly ball he initially misjudged prevented Mason Althouse from tagging up and scoring the tying run.

“The wind was strong, and when I read it I took one step back,” McCarty said. “I then came in a couple steps and the wind held it up where I was able to get under it.”

Mann, the next batter, fouled a pitch that Indians first baseman Payton Scott made a diving catch at the fence. Edwards sent Althouse, but Scott’s throw beat him to home plate and ended the inning.

“Mason misread the ball (on McCarty’s catch) and didn’t tag up and that’s part of the game,” Edwards said. “And then I got over-aggressive and sent him and Payton made a nice play.”

With the bases loaded in the fourth, Oak Hill left-handed hitter Jagen Millspaugh crushed an Alston pitch that appeared ticketed for an opposite field grand slam home run. But the wind kept the ball in the park, and McCarty made the catch right at the fence.

“Truthfully, I thought it was (a home run), too,” McCarty said. “He had tagged it. But I just kept tracking the ball and felt the fence and the ball found its way in my mitt.”

Mann ran into trouble after walking Chris Cooper to open the fifth. Cooper would come around to score on a Morrison single before Derek Durkes relieved Mann and got out of a bases-loaded situation.

Durkes then got into trouble of his own with back-to-back walks in the sixth, and both came around to score on singles by Austin Branock and McCarty.

Meanwhile, Alston lasted until two outs in the sixth and departed after surrendering a RBI triple to Millspaugh. Arrendale finished up and did have to work around two hits in the seventh before collecting the save.

“I had a lot more confidence coming in that situation as a sophomore than I did last year,” Arrendale said. “I had faced that team before. I had full faith that Trey would go seven, but if I had to come in I could do the job.”

In the semifinals, Mississinewa was no-hit through four innings before pulling out a 6-1 victory over Madison-Grant. Tyler McClellan’s pitching kept the Argylls in the game and he was named the tournament’s sportsmanship award winner.

Eastbrook scored a run in the bottom of the fifth to go up 5-3. Oak Hill’s Sierra Horner led off the top of the sixth with a home run. Kelsey Owings followed that with a single and later scored on a wild pitch, tying the game 5-5 going into the bottom of the sixth inning.

Eastbrook scored two unearned runs in the top of the seventh to take a 7-5 lead. Lawvere then retired the Eagles in order in the bottom of the seventh for the victory. Five of Eastbrook’s seven runs in the game were unearned.

Cly doubled and Lawvere and Burnam singled for Eastbrook’s only hits of the game. Owings had two singles for the Eagles.

Lawvere pitched a complete game six-hitter and allowed three earned runs while striking out eight batters and walking none.

Oak Hill sophomore Rene Spaulding allowed two earned runs on three hits with three strikeouts and two walks in five innings pitched. Aneava Trusty allowed no earned runs and had one strikeout and no walks in one inning pitched.

Freshman Cody White took medalist honors with a 70 to help the Oak Hill boys’ golf team win the Taylor Invitational on Saturday at Chippendale Golf Course in Kokomo.

The Eagles had their top four golfers all finish in the top 10 to lead them to a team score of 304. Western was second with a 330. Marion took fourth with a 335. Madison-Grant and Mississinewa tied for fifth with a 344. Eastbrook was eighth with a 335.

B.J. White shot 1-under-par to beat Marion’s Zach Seeler by two strokes for medalist honors.

White was third in the individual standings with a 74. Brayton Swan and Michael Law tied for ninth, both shooting 80s. Trey Orrell rounded out the Eagles’ scores with a 90.

Senior Danielle Thompson runs in the 2013 Grant 4 Track meet.

By Matt Wilson mwilson@chronicle-tribune.com

MIER — Oak Hill’s Kegan Anderson had never been part of a losing Grant Four team during his prep track and field career, and he wasn’t about to let the Eagles suffer their first Grant Four setback since 2005 during his senior year.

Anderson won the pole vault and 110-meter hurdles and was second in the 300-meter hurdles, as the Eagles won their ninth straight Grant Four championship on Friday at Oak Hill. The Eagles scored 103 points, beating Eastbrook by 20 tallies.

Oak Hill’s girls’ team set four meet records and won 12 of the 16 events en route to winning a fourth straight Grant Four crown with 112 points. Eastbrook was second with 64 points.

Madison-Grant was third in the girls’ meet with 39 points and fourth in the boys’ meet with 24 points. Mississinewa was third in the boys’ meet with 33 points and fourth in the girls’ meet with 23 points.

“This was my senior year and both of my brothers won the Grant Four their senior year,” Anderson said. “We had also won the meet for eight years in a row, and I wanted to help keep that tradition going and losing was not really an option.”

Just as last year, Anderson won two events at this year’s Grant Four. Anderson won the 110-meter hurdles in 15.7 seconds and the pole vault at 12 feet, 6 inches. Anderson also was second in the 300 hurdles in 43 seconds, coming in behind teammate Derrick Randall.

Eastbrook junior Jacob Singer was third in 43.8 seconds. Oak Hill coach Paige Brunner said Anderson holding off Singer for second place was key in the boys’ victory.

“In the 300 hurdles I could see that he was right next to me and I heard coach Brunner yell ‘This has got to happen,’” Anderson said. “But the end of the race I just fell to the ground because I was dead.”

Brunner said another key to the boys’ victory was a strong start.

The Eagles went 1-2 in the discus with Keegan Scott winning at 133 feet, 1 1/2 inches and Dakota Thompson taking second in 129 feet, 8 inches. Randall then won the long jump with a personal-best effort of 19 feet, 7 1/4 inches.

“That discus and long jump really got us rolling, and then we were able to hold them (Eastbrook) off,” Brunner said. “The boys competed well and had some big points in the swing events.”

Brodie O’Banion won the shot put at 50 feet, 6 inches.

Oak Hill’s 4 x 800-meter relay team of Derek Gibson, Jacob Evans, Conner Mitchener and Jon Hochstedler won in 8:55.70. Oak Hill’s 4 x 400-meter relay team of Kurtis Rangel, Matt McDivitt, Hochstedler and Gerritt Taylor won in 3:35.

Eastbrook’s 4 x 100-meter relay team of Zach Burton, Keaton Cooper, James Mantz and Austin Simison won in 45.80 seconds.

Eastbrook junior Josh Neideck was the big winner of the night. He won three events, taking the 800-meter run in 2:08, 1600-meter run in 4:49 and 3200-meter run in 10:03.

The boys’ meet also featured close races. Mississinewa’s Abram Fleming won the 400-meter dash in 52.50 seconds. Rangel was second in the same time as Fleming. Mantz won the 100-meter dash in 12 seconds. The next three finishers after Mantz — Madison-Grant’s Matt Pattison, Singer and Mississinewa’s Zach Parker — also finished in 12 seconds.

Pattison did win the 200-meter dash in 23.9 seconds. Madison-Grant’s Bryan Carter won the high jump at 6 feet.

While there were no meet records in the boys’ races, there were five on the girls’ side.

Four of those came from Oak Hill. Sophomore Janae Moffitt broke her own record in the high jump, leaping 5 feet, 7 inches. Moffitt also teamed with Danielle Thompson, Layne Smith and Christine Harper to break the meet record in the 4 x 400-meter relay in a time of 4:09.

Oak Hill sophomore Shallen Lenhart broke her own meet record in the 1600-meter run in a time of 5:20.20. She also teamed with Hunter Begley, India Ulshafer and Caroline Wickes to break the 4 x 800-meter relay record in a time of 10:34.80.

Eastbrook junior Sophie Seward broke her own meet record in the 3200-meter run in a time of 11:48.80.

Oak Hill won every event except the 3200-meter run, shot put, discus and pole vault.

“Our girls competed well today,” Brunner said. “This was the first time where we ran everyone in kind of their featured event and we were able to get a lot of first and second places. If we continue to do that, then we will be able to compete at the conference and the sectional.”

Along with winning the high jump and being a part of the 1600-meter relay team, Moffitt also won the 400-meter dash in 1:01.8. Lenhart won the 800-meter run in 2:28.30 along with winning the 1600 and being a part of the 4 x 800-meter relay team.

Thompson was the only person in the boys’ or girls’ meet to win four events.

She won the 100-meter dash in 13.5 seconds and the 200-meter dash in 27.6 seconds along with being a part of the 1600- and 400-meter relay teams. Thompson teamed with Smith, Jennifer Spencer and Krista Hobbs to win the 4 x 100-meter relay in 52.50 seconds.

Smith was second in the 100- and 200-meter dashes.

“Me and Layne just really push each other to do our best, so I have got to give her props,” Thompson said. “She helps me out so much.”

Hobbs swept the hurdle events, winning the 100 hurdles in 16.9 seconds and 300 hurdles in 49.4 seconds.

Harper won the long jump at 15 feet, 3 1/4 inches.

Senior Christine Harper helped the Oak Hill girls’ track and field team win the Eastern Relays on Saturday. Junior Devon Sheward threw a no-hitter while helping the Marion baseball team defeat Shenandoah.

For those efforts, Harper and Sheward have been named the Chronicle-Tribune’s Athletes of the Week.

Harper was named the Meet MVP of the Eastern Relays while helping the Eagles to a first-place finish. It was the second straight year Harper has been named MVP of the Eastern Relays.

“She was a little disappointed in her meet,” Oak Hill coach Paige Brunner said. “But it just speaks volumes for her to have what she called a disappointing meet and still be moved the MVP of the meet, especially a meet that included the Neely sisters from Eastern.”

Harper was second in the long jump and was part of the second-place 4 x 400-meter relay team that also included Janae Moffitt, Danielle Thompson and Layne Smith. The 4 x 400 team finished in 4:13.

Harper teamed with Thompson, Smith and Krista Hobbs to win the 400 relay. She teamed with Thompson, Smith and Jennifer Spencer to win the sprint medley relay.

“Christine is someone that flies under the radar,” Brunner said. “She is not that flashy and she goes about her business. And not only is she a great athlete, but she is a tremendous student.”

The Eagles will run at Madison-Grant with Blackford today. Oak Hill will then host the Grant Four Meet at 5 p.m. Friday.

Oak Hill has won three straight Grant Four championships.

Senior No. 3 singles player Becky Lagle helped the Madison-Grant girls’ tennis team win the Madison County Tournament. Senior Brodie O’Banion won the shot put while helping the Oak Hill boys’ track and field team win the Marion Relays for the second straight year.

For those efforts, Lagle and O’Banion have been named this week’s Chronicle-Tribune Athletes of the Week.

O’Banion won the shot put with a throw of 50 feet, 6 1/2 inches. O’Banion’s closest competitor was Kokomo’s Darrlon McAlister, who had a distance of 48 feet.

The performance at the Marion Relays just continued a strong start to O’Banion’s senior season.

O’Banion took third in the shot put at the Hoosier State Relays Indoor Track and Field state meet with a toss of 51 feet, 3 inches. O’Banion also took first in the shot put during two of the HSR state qualifying meets.

Oak Hill will participate in a meet against Elwood and Eastbrook today at Eastbrook. The Eagles will then be off until Saturday when they participate in the Eastern Relays.