Bulldogs are sectional champions!

Mother Nature forced last week’s IHSAA Boys Track and Field Sectional at East Central to be a two-day event but regardless of whether it was Thursday or Friday, the elements in the sky could not hamper Batesville who dominated the field en route to back-to-back sectional titles.

The Batesville boys team has now won the county championship, a conference championship and a sectional championship this season. Last week’s sectional saw the Bulldogs qualify for the regional in nine separate events and put together a team score of 102.5 points for a decisive victory.

Lawrenceburg scored 91 points and was runner-up while East Central was third with 89 points. Franklin County and Greensburg rounded out the top five with 66 points and 61.5 points respectively. Among coverage area teams participating, Milan earned a seventh place finish with 45 points while Jac-Cen-Del was ninth with 17 points. South Ripley tied the Eagles for the ninth place finishing, scoring 17 points of its own and Oldenburg Academy was 13th with five points.

First, second and third place finishers in each sectional event automatically qualify for the regional with potential for finishers outside the top three to qualify if a certain time or distance meets a certain qualification.

Four events crowned champions from Batesville which included Benjamin Moster in three of those events. Moster won the 1600 run in a time of 4:36.07 and was then sectional champion in the 800 run at 2:01.88. He was a member of the championship 3200 relay team that also featured Ean Loichinger, Jake Chapman and Daren Smith. The group won the relay in a time of 8:22.01.

Chapman was the other individual champion for the Bulldogs after the freshman won the 3200 run in 10:30.60 Deacon Hamilton goes to the regional after placing second in the 110 hurdles in 16.10 seconds while Loichinger was second in the 1600 run at 4:44.56. Eli Pierson was third in the 400 at 52.27 seconds and Chase Hamilton placed third in the discus at 134 feet and four inches.

Loichinger qualified for yet another regional event with a third place in the 800 run at 2:05.48. Alex Murphy was third in the pole vault at 11 feet and six inches. Pierson, Vonley Hund, Moster and Smith finished fourth in the 1600 relay but earned a regional bid based off time as the group ran the event in 46.56 seconds.

Milan claimed three sectional titles. Sophomore Ben Riehle won the sectional in the 200 dash at 22.93 seconds before a big 400 dash win at 50.37 seconds. Mason Green won the crown in the 300 hurdles at 41.94 seconds. Also going to the regional for the Indians will be Ayden Potts who ran third in the 1600 run at 4:47.27.

Jac-Cen-Del and South Ripley both send a lone representative to the regional after this past week. Josh Pohle will represent the Eagles after finishing runner-up in the 3200 run at 10:32.66. William Tunny represents the Raiders after his leap of six feet hit the qualifying time in the high jump. He finished fourth overall at the sectional.

The IHSAA Boys Track and Field Regional will be held on Thursday at Greenfield-Central High School. The meet is set to begin at 6 p.m.