East's Stevens and Harrison shine at Mason-Dixon Meet

SHEPHERDSVILLE - Both Bullitt East and North Bullitt entered strong contingents in last weekend’s Class 2-A Mason-Dixon Games at Broadbent Arena in Louisville.

The biggest indoor high school meet of the winter serves as the de-facto indoor state championships for the sport, although, the list of events is much different than an outdoor track meet in spring.

On the girls’ side, Bullitt East finished eighth out of 28 teams that scored points. The lady Chargers had 20 points. North Bullitt collected two points in the girls’ meet.

On the boys’ side, Bullitt East finished with 21 points to finish 10th out of 28 teams. North Bullitt did not score in the boys’ meet.

The top eight finishers in each of the events scored team points.

Girls’ Meet

Less than 24-hours earlier, Bullitt East junior Jackie Stevens had been playing basketball in the Sixth Region Tournament for the Lady Chargers. She reversed field quite well, finishing second in the shot put on Saturday.

Stevens, who was the state runner-up in the shot put last spring, had a throw of 34-10. The winner of the event was Nicole Cobble of Central who had a throw of 35-11.5. The top two were well ahead of the field as the third place finisher was Elizabeth Amponsah of Franklin County at 30-06.25.

The Mason-Dixon Games could be the start of a season-long rivalry between Cobble and Stevens that could stretch all the way to the state finals in late May. Central is being moved into the same region as Bullitt East this season. In fact, the top three finishers at the Mason-Dixon Games are from the same Class AA region.

Bullitt East also got a fourth place finish from sophomore Lynsey Milburn in the high jump as she cleared 4-10. Milburn also scored team points with a sixth place finish in the long jump at 14-01. The sophomore was also ninth in the triple jump.

The other team points came from Alex Snyder who was sixth in the 800-meter run in a time of 2:41. Emily Melcher also picked up a point for the team with an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter dash.

North Bullitt’s two team points came from a pair of eighth-place finishes.

In the 800-meter run, sophomore Helen Heines finished eighth in a time of 2:41.84. Heines is the defending state champion outdoors at 1,600-meters, but she opted to attack the shorter race this time. She did not enter the 1,500-meter indoor race.

Heines was also part of the Lady Eagle 3,200-meter relay team that finished eighth in a time of 11:17.30. The other team members were fellow sophomore Gentry Collins along with juniors Morgan Stuck and Sarah Parker.

Harrison is Fast

Bullitt East senior Bobby Harrison, the fastest baseball player around, dabbled in track and had a pair of top finishes in the Mason-Dixon Games.

First, in the 55-meter dash, Harrison finished with a time of 6.74. That was the second fastest time, matching that of Vinne Moore of Shawnee. Moore was given the nod on the photo, getting the second-place team points while Harrison was third. The winner was Stephon Robinson of Central with a quick time of 6.66.

In the 800-meter relay (there is no 400-meter relay indoors), Harrison anchored the Bullitt East team that finished third overall in a time of 1:38.17. Central won in a time of 1:37.01. The Bullitt East team was all seniors as Harrison was joined by Garrett Foss, Adam Herth and Kevin Rowe.

Foss also had a good day with a fourth place finish in the 400-meter dash in a time of 55:31.

Bullitt East also got two team points from the seventh place finish of the 1,600-meter relay team that included Foss, Nathan Brooks, Zac Stiles and Davide Fellini.

Charger senior Michael Bozarth, who was playing basketball the week before, was seventh in the shot put with a throw of 39-04.5. Bozarth’s speciality is the discus, but that event is not contested indoors.

Bullitt East also had two others finish just outside the points. Eddie Holcomb, a senior, was ninth in the 800-meter run in 2:15.34 while senior Shane Milburn was ninth in the triple jump at 36-04. 

North Bullitt’s best finishes came in two relays as they were 12th at both 1,600- and 3,200-meters. In the 1,600-meter relay, the team included senior Kenniniah Taft, juniors Aurelio Puga and Derrick Jones and freshman Cody Hodge. The 3,200-meter relay team was senior Tim Haysley and juniors Jeremy Kroeger, Rene Kyewski and Jones.

Bullitt Central did not enter anyone in this indoor meet.

The outdoor track season for all of the  schools can start the week of March 23.