Boys Track: Central captures fourth straight BNC title
BURLINGTON -- Burlington Central made history Thursday at the Big Northern Conference Track Meet by finishing in first place for the fourth consecutive year.
The Rockets finished with 130 points, followed by Winnebago's 114, while Hampshire finished in sixth place with 35 points and Genoa-Kingston placed 11th with 10 points.
Central placed in 15 of the 18 events and had five first-place performances.
"This one was pretty sweet because we had no idea. We were seeded second and knew it was a three-horse race between us, Winnebago and Oregon," said Central coach Mike Schmidt. "Last year we kind of knew we were going to win it, but this year was definitely in doubt. Being at home on our new track makes it a little more special too."
Central's Ryan Phebus won the 1600- and 800-meter runs, Joe Manzie won the pole vault (13 feet, 3 inches) and Dan Hagberg won the 110 hurdles, while the Rockets won the 800 relay in 1:33.9. Tommy Gast, Chris Leffler, Nick Smith and T.J. Tassio teamed for that championship performance.
Hagberg's time of 13.88 seconds in the 110 hurdles tied the BNC record set by the Rockets' own Dan Roby in 2001.
"That's been my goal the whole year -- the school record with Roby," Hagberg said. "I was real happy about that."
Phebus won the 800 in 1:59.37 and posted a time of 4:38.98 in the 1600.
Despite the records Central broke on Thursday, Schmidt knows a big part of the conference meet win was because of the success in the field events.
"I want to give a shout out to our field events," Schmidt said. "That made the difference for us. Our field events haven't always been the strongest. (High jump and pole vault) really did it for us."
Central's Danny Conran won the high jump with an effort of 5-11.
Hampshire's sixth-place finish was due in large part to the team's second-place showing in the 1600 relay. The foursome of Kevin Becker, Trace Teboda, Ryan Smialek and Quinn Walker finished in 3:31.46.
The Whip-Purs' Walker avenged a close loss in the 110 hurdles to Hagberg by beating him out for first place in the 300 hurdles. Quinn's time of 38.34 was good enough for the BNC record in the event, once again, previously set by Roby.
"Hagberg, oh man, he is like my best pal," Quinn said after finishing the last leg of the 1600 relay. "He brings my time down. I love running with him."
Added Hampshire coach Steve Bruhn, "We knew Quinn would have a nice strong day here on the track. It was just a matter of where he'd finish going up against tough competitors in Hagberg and (Harvard's James) Matteson."
G-K's Seth Ellett finished fourth in the discus (135-11) and TC Holterhaus took fourth in the 200 (23.00).