Farrell's record vault highlights Saint Joseph's team titles at South Bend city track meet

SOUTH BEND — There was no doubt in Brady Farrell’s mind he would be setting a school record on Thursday.

On an ideal night for pole vaulting, the Saint Joseph senior made history, successfully reaching 14-03 feet to break a 49-year school record. The previous best was 14-02 by Bruce Umbaugh in 1975.

Farrell’s historical vault was one of several highlights for Saint Joe, who won both the boys' and girls' team titles at the South Bend city track and field meet. It was the first city titles since 2021 for both programs.

“It feels great,” Farrell said. “I’ve had a lot of people talking about this forever, so it feels good to finally get it over with.”

After not reaching 14-03 on his first attempt, Farrell cleared the bar on his second chance. He tried to go for 14-06 next but was unsuccessful.

Thursday was the three-year anniversary of Farrell’s first time pole vaulting, making his debut in the event at the 2021 city meet as a freshman. Now, the senior hopes to make a first-time trip to the IHSAA state finals in June.

“I’m looking forward to the NIC meet first, hopefully winning that for the first time,” Farrell said. “And then, I’m looking forward to sectionals and hopefully placing at state this year.”

Saint Joseph seniors bookend careers with city titles

The Saint Joseph boys cruised to the team title, clearing second-place Riley by 51 points. Joining Farrell in the winner’s circle for the Huskies was junior Jack Moran (400-meter dash), senior Luke Kaufhold (110- and- 300-meter hurdles), both the 4x100 and 4x400 relay teams, junior TJ McBride in the high jump (5-08 feet) and junior Ji’Lahni Kearse in the discus throw (135-07 feet).

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Meanwhile, the girls team title race was close once again with Saint Joe edging Adams by three points. The Eagles narrowly beat the Huskies the last two years, which were preceded by a close Saint Joseph win over Adams in 2021.

A balanced effort keyed the girls win. While the Huskies only won three events (Lauren Frick in the 800-meter run, the 4x800 relay and Maddi Crowley in the discus throw), they placed in the top three in 13 of the 16 competitions.

“If you win one or the other (team title), you always have a kind of difficult post-meet conversation because how do you massage the emotions on one side and deal with the excitement on the other?” Saint Joseph coach Mike McCarthy said. “So, I’m happy that we have it. I think we felt if we had a terrific night on both sides, it’d be possible. We frame this as our most important regular season meet. This is a special night that also kickstarts everything for the championship season.”

Being able to win city championships both as freshmen and seniors means a lot to the departing Huskie athletes.

“Coming into this meet, we really wanted to have a repeat experience (of freshman year),” Saint Joseph senior Brennan Moser said. “The last few years, we’ve kind of been snuffed. We really wanted to be strong this year, be a team and be successful.”

Clay goes out with a champion

In the final city meet for Clay High School before closing, the Colonials picked up a champion courtesy of senior Jamari Jones, who won the boys' long jump with a leap of 20-04 feet. Jones was also fifth in the boys' 100-meter dash and anchored a 4X100-meter relay that finished fourth.

Sophomore Kayanna Ellis also had a strong showing, finishing runner-up in both the girls' 100- and- 200-meter dashes. Other notable Clay finishers were senior JJ Smith taking fourth in boys' shot put and senior Kira Miller placing fourth in girls' discus throw.

Trinity at Greenlawn showcases distance talent again

Much like they did at the city cross country meet in the fall, Trinity showed off its long-distance running athletes at the city track meet.

Of the four longest individual races of the night, Trinity won three of them. Freshman Annika Lute won the girls' 1,600-meter run and freshman Audrey Lee the girls' 3,200, while senior Dominic Vesprini was champion in the boys' 3,200. The school also took second place in the boys' 1,600, with senior Liam Lee taking runner-up honors behind Adams senior Isaac Howk.

The Titans were also champions in the boys' 4x800-meter relay and second in the girls' 4x800. Trinity triumphed in the longer of the girls hurdle races as well, with senior Ava Tormey running a winning time of 49.32 seconds in the 300-meter low hurdles.

Best finish: boys 100-meter dash

The shorter races tend to provide dramatics at a track meet, and that was the case Thursday.

The boys 100-meter dash was as close as you can get, with Riley senior Robert Nabieu winning in 11.11 seconds, Washington senior Jaquan Patton second at 11.12 and Saint Joseph freshman Richard Halliburton third at 11.13. All seven finalists finished within 0.45 seconds of each other in the championship race.

Halliburton exacted some revenge in the 4x100-meter relay, running the final leg to win for the Huskies by 0.06 seconds over Nabieu and Riley. Patton anchored the third-place relay for Washington, which was only 0.55 behind Saint Joseph.

More: Full 2024 South Bend city track and field meet results

2024 South Bend city track and field meet – results

Top three finishers, plus final team standings

BOYS

Final team standings: Saint Joseph 165, Riley 114, Adams 99, Washington 53, Trinity at Greenlawn 41, Clay 20

100-meter dash: Robert Nabieu (Riley), 11.11; Jaquan Patton (Washington), 11.12; Richard Halliburton (Saint Joseph), 11.13

200-meter dash: Joshua Harmon (Riley), 22.96; Quincy Tootoo (Adams), 23.28; Samuel Harshman (Saint Joseph), 23.32

400-meter dash: Jack Moran (Saint Joseph), 52.30; Timon Johnson (Adams), 52.97; Eustacio Williams (Riley), 52.99

800-meter run: Isaac Howk (Adams), 2:00; Bol Agwick (Adams), 2:01; Liam Lee (Trinity), 2:03

1,600-meter run: Isaac Howk (Adams), 4:26; Liam Lee (Trinity), 4:29; Bol Agwick (Adams), 4:30

3,200-meter run: Dominic Vesprini (Trinity), 9:53; Bol Agwick (Adams), 10:10; Gabe Polaniecki (Saint Joseph), 10:15

110-meter hurdles: Luke Kaufhold (Saint Joseph), 14.87; Tray’von Fleming (Riley), 15.52; Austin Pflugner (Riley), 16.14

300-meter hurdles: Luke Kaufhold (Saint Joseph), 40.95; Tray’von Fleming (Riley), 42.03; Austin Pflugner (Riley), 43.54

4X100-meter relay: Saint Joseph (Harshman, Imanene, Kimbrough and Haliburton), 43.27; Riley, 43.33; Washington, 43.82

4X400-meter relay: Saint Joseph (Risk, Miller, Booker and Moran), 3:33; Adams, 3:34; Washington, 3:39

4X800-meter relay: Trinity (Vesprini, Seachris, Philpott and Lee), 8:25; Saint Joseph, 8:48; Adams, 8:55

Long jump: Jamari Jones (Clay), 20-04.50; Bill Imanene (Saint Joseph), 20-03.75; Tray’von Fleming (Riley), 19-10.25

High jump: TJ McBride (Saint Joseph), 5-08; Braylen White (Saint Joseph), 5-06; Austin Pflugner (Riley), 5-06 feet

Pole vault: Brady Farrell (Saint Joseph), 14-03; Cle Kimbrough (Saint Joseph), 12-00; Ethan Zmudzinski (Saint Joseph), 10-06

Discus: Ji’Lahni Kearse (Saint Joseph), 135-07; Derron Lee (Washington), 134-10; Evan Adams (Adams), 133-04

Shot put: Evan Adams (Adams), 48-04; Derron Lee (Washington), 44-06.50; A’Drion Griffin (Riley), 42-09.50

GIRLS

Final team standings: Saint Joseph 141.5, Adams 138.5, Riley 72, Washington 60, Trinity at Greenlawn 57, Clay 20

100-meter dash: Terryah Leonard (Washington), 12.59; Kayanna Ellis (Clay), 12.84; Samara Ford (Riley), 12.86

200-meter dash: Samara Ford (Riley), 26.70; Kayanna Ellis (Clay), 27.16; Isabella Soens (Adams), 27.25

400-meter dash: Terryah Leonard (Washington), 1:01; Isabella Soens (Adams), 1:02; Michelle Carter (Saint Joseph), 1:03

800-meter run: Lauren Frick (Saint Joseph), 2:28; Audrey Lee (Trinity), 2:29; Emily Shepherd (Adams), 2:32

1,600-meter run: Annika Lute (Trinity), 5:30; Agnes Hasler (Adams), 5:32; Izzy Frabutt (Saint Joseph), 5:39

3,200-meter run: Audrey Lee (Trinity), 12:24; Izzy Frabutt (Saint Joseph), 12:26; Cam Ritschard (Saint Joseph), 12:32

100-meter hurdles: Adriana Swanson (Washington), 14.98; Verriyah Williams (Adams), 16.57; Brennan Moser (Saint Joseph), 16.98

300-meter hurdles: Ava Tormey (Trinity), 49.32; Verriyah Williams (Adams), 49.39; Brennan Moser (Saint Joseph), 50.86

4X100-meter relay: Riley (Ford, Burton, Wright and Johnson), 50.54; Washington, 50.90; Saint Joseph, 51.76

4X400-meter relay: Adams (Bulaoro, Cruz, Shepherd and Kinney), 4:13; Saint Joseph, 4:25; Riley, 4:41

4X800-meter relay: Saint Joseph (Trenerry, Anatolios, Farmer and Frick), 10:35; Trinity, 10:51; Adams, 11:04

Long jump: Kendall Ivory (Washington), 15-09.25; Paige Goben (Saint Joseph), 15-08.50; Janiya Wilson (Washington), 15-06.50

High jump: Jaiya Bolden (Adams), 4-08; Paige Goben (Saint Joseph), 4-06; Kennadi Ivory (Washington), 4-06

Pole vault: Kamryn Dubie (Adams), 8-00; Keira Kinney (Adams), 7-06; Grace Mellor (Adams), 7-00

Discus: Maddi Crowley (Saint Joseph), 97-06; Samara Rouser (Adams), 94-06; Samara Kiwale (Riley), 81-10

Shot put: Samara Rouser (Adams), 34-01.50; Maddi Crowley (Saint Joseph), 33-07.50; Samara Kiwale (Riley), 27-06

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Saint Joseph sweeps South Bend city track and field meet team titles