BEDFORD

Each tick of the clock, and inch of the measuring tape, determines which athletes kept their seasons alive from here on out.

Brownstown Central, Crothersville, Seymour and Trinity Lutheran all aimed to start the postseason off right at Stars Stadium Friday, with Jackson County’s boys track and field programs traveling to Bedford North Lawrence for sectional action.

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Due to poor weather conditions, the meet was moved from Thursday to Friday.

BNL scored 157 points to win its first sectional title since 2012, Jennings County was second with 85 points, Seymour placed third (62.5), Springs Valley took fourth (58) and Mitchell finished fifth (48). Eastern (48), Paoli (47), Brownstown Central (42.5), West Washington (26), Salem (21), Trinity Lutheran (11), Crothersville (9) and Orleans (5) followed.

The top three finishers in each event qualified for Thursday’s Bloomington North Regional. Placers in the top eight earned points towards the team scoring.

Brownstown Central senior Caleb Bollinger repeated as the sectional champion in the pole vault, clearing a season-best 13 feet. Seymour foreign exchange student Jakub Marek also punched his ticket to the regional in the event, finishing runner-up at 12-0.

Braves junior Derek Thompson claimed his first sectional title in the 200, hitting the finish line in 23.52 seconds.

Thompson and Bollinger teamed up with Braeden Walker and Brandon Wilson to place third in the 4×100 relay for the Braves, timing 45.67. Seymour’s relay team was jockeying for second and third place going into the final leg of the race, but a failed hand-off disqualified the group.

Seymour senior Haden Mettert was the champion in the shot put, tossing 51-1, and teammate Caleb Madden placed third in the discus at 136-9. The Owls’ Josh Pennington was second in the 110 hurdles (15.67), keeping his season alive.

Trinity Lutheran senior A.J. Goecker ran one race on the evening, placing second in the 3,200 in 9:52. Eastern’s Uriah Guthrie was the winner in 9:44.

Crothersville’s David Rose was sixth in the 1,600 (4:58.29) and seventh in the 3,200 in 10:58. Dillon Mashcino finished eighth in the 200 (25.41) and Lane Wienhorst had the same placing in the 400 (54.05)

Those placing in the top three at Bloomington North move on to the 2019 IHSAA State Finals, which will be hosted at Indiana University May 31.