M-G boys repeat; Jarrell leads PH girls back to top at county track meet

Apr. 13—FAIRMOUNT — For there to be rainy weather at the Madison County track-and-field championship meet is nothing new. It is basically an annual tradition.

But high winds combined with a nearly constant and — at times — heavy rain to make for miserable conditions for spectators and a tough field of competition for the athletes. Athletic director Ryan Plovick of host Madison-Grant remarked during the meet it was the worst weather for the event he had seen.

The weather caused numerous technical difficulties that caused delays and added to the misery for fans huddled under blankets, parkas and umbrellas that were bending in the wind.

It would be easy to miss the continued excellence of a junior distance star, the pride of a father in his son's perseverance or the budding dynasty that may be forming in the small school that hosts the event every year.

The Madison-Grant boys repeated as county champions with 154 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Pendleton Heights at 129 and Frankton with 95 while the PH girls regained control of the championship trophy after being upset by Frankton a year ago.

The Arabians girls scored 134 points to edge second-place Lapel at 101 and the Argylls with 100 in third.

It was also an Arabians sweep of the John McCord Awards for most outstanding athletes of the meet with Will Coggins taking the boys trophy and Ava Jarrell winning the girls award for the second straight year.

Jarrell led the Arabians girls with three victories as she repeated her 2023 wins in the 800- and 1,600-meter races and added a championship in the 3,200 as well. In the latter race, Jarrell broke PH's Faith Baer's eight-year old county record by 37 seconds, finishing in 10:52.32. She became the first back-to-back McCord winner since Patience Sakeuh — another former PH state finalist — did so in 2018 and 2019. She nearly added a fourth win in the meet's final event, but Lapel held the Arabians off for the 1,600 relay victory.

"It's really awesome. Coming in to the meet, I kind of had it in my mind that I wanted to (repeat)," Jarrell said. "I just knew I had to come in, do my part and get as many first places as I could. That's what I tried to do."

Her mark in the 3200-meters was the only record set on the night.

The PH girls also took the 3,200 relay to open the event as they took the team title for the 16th time in the last 20 years. Getting the trophy back was a top goal for Jarrell and her teammates.

"Coming into this meet, that was a really big goal for us to reclaim that title," she said. "We just all had to do our part and get as many points as we could. To hear we got first, we were all really excited."

In addition to the meet-closing relay win, the Bulldogs had three individual championships. Two came courtesy of Leila Wilson, winner of the 400 and the long jump while Regan Stookey — who held off Jarrell on the final leg of the 1,600 relay — captured the 200.

The M-G girls took first place in the 400 and 1,600 relay races while Brooklynn Hodupp won the shot put and Abigail Brown was a repeat champion in the pole vault.

The defending champion Eagles were fourth with 66 points followed by Anderson, led by Jamyia Foster's high-jump championship, with 59 points.

Anderson Prep followed with 51 points and was led by senior Julia Smith, who took the 300 hurdles championship in 52.18 seconds.

Alexandria followed with 43 points and Elwood — with 100 hurdles champion Savannah Garcia and discus champion Alivia Boston leading the way — was eighth with 37 points.

The title for the M-G boys had a different feel the second time around. After being led by four wins and McCord Award winner Tanner Brooks a year ago, the Argylls got it done with depth in the repeat.

The Argylls took the 3,200 and 400 relay races while Mavrick Griffin repeated as 110 hurdles champ, Blayd Harris won the 300 hurdles, Rosin White was the discus winner and William Ewer took the pole vault.

Coggins, who won the 800 and 1,600 for the Arabians, was the first PH boys winner since Andrew Harvey in 2021, and it marks the first time any school swept the awards since Sakeuh and Eli Pancol did so in 2018.

"It makes me really happy because I've been working really hard to make this senior year the best year," Coggins said. "I feel really honored. I was hoping to get this after I won the mile and the 800, so I'm really stoked."

It also brought out the emotion in his father, PH coach Bill Coggins, who knows his son had to battle back from an injury last year to get where he is.

"I'm so proud of Will because last year he broke his foot and missed most of the outdoor season," the coach said. "He's been working his tail off, and as a senior it's easy to take it off, but he's hungry and working so hard. I'm so proud of him. To see how far he's come from a freshman to be the MVP of this meet is amazing."

Benson Davis provided another Arabians win as he took the 3,200.

Frankton landed in third place with three victories, the first coming from Bubba Nunley who took the long jump at 20 feet. Dillon Pratt spearheaded the other two, taking first in the 400 and closing the meet with the come-from-behind anchor leg for Frankton's winning 1,600 relay team.

Lapel was fourth with 85 points and was led by shot-put champion J.J. Baxter, who took the title with a heave of 46-foot-4.

Anderson's fifth-place finish with 72 points was highlighted by a first and second-place finish in the 100 as Christian Townsend (11.63) edged teammate Collin Lewis (11.74) for the title. Tremayne Brown, a 2022 state finalist in the event, took the county title in the high jump with a leap of an 6 feet.

Anderson Prep followed with 54 points and was led by 200 champion Antayvion Reed, who claimed the crown in 23.93 seconds.

Alexandria with 21 points, Elwood with two and Liberty Christian with one rounded out the boys field.

Contact Rob Hunt at rob.hunt@heraldbulletin.com or 765-640-4886.