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Malloy earns three championships

bob oppenheim, the elkhart truth, ind.
·7 min read

ELKHART — Elkhart junior Max Malloy wasn't satisfied last year after being a double winner at the Northern Indiana Conference boys track meet.

On Thursday at a chilly and wet Rice Field, Malloy surpassed last year's success and was a triple winner at the meet.

Winning events for Malloy were the 1,600, 3,200 and 3,200 relay.

Last year at the NIC meet, Malloy was part of best times in the 3,200 and 3,200 relay.

"Last year (at the NIC) I only ran two events because I was injured," said Malloy. "To come out here and one up it today and win three is great. The goal was to win all three of my events today and I executed the plan."

Malloy finished with a time of 4:18 in the 1,600, a time of 9:27 in the 3,200 and he, along with teammates Max Huckleberry, Jackson Ezzell, and Aaron Richter had a top clocking and season-best time of 8:05 in the 3,200 relay.

"No PR's today," Malloy said. "I had a 4:15 last year in the 1,600. I was little off in a PR, but it was a season best."

Led by Malloy, Elkhart finished second at the meet with 137 points. Penn won the event with 154.6 points. It's the third straight NIC title for the Kingsmen and their 17th overall.

Along with being a member of the winning 3,200 relay team, Huckleberry won the 800 meters with a time of 2:01.

"I have to give a lot of credit to coach (Adam) Homo," said Huckleberry. "He's pushed me at practice and that has really helped me. He teaches us how to do our best."

A change in events has also benefited Huckleberry.

"I switched from sprints to distances over the last month," Huckleberry said. "I'm normally a 400 runner.

"I had my warm-up today in the 3,200 relay and I was just going to give everything I got in the 800. In the last lap I gave everything I had."

Another champion for the Lions was Trinton Harris, who came up with a 6-4 showing in the high jump. It's the second straight NIC title in the high jump for Harris.

"My PR is 6-5," said Harris. "I was so close.

"I'm still proud of how I did today. Every practice I work hard and try to get better and improve. I didn't feel any extra pressure today. It was just harder competing in the cold."

Harris also finished second in the long jump with a leap of 21-3.50.

Elkhart also got second place finishes from Zachary Anderson in the 100 (10.91), Richter in the 1,600 (4:24) and from Trenton Bias in the discus (155-9).

Lions coach Adam Homo was pleased overall with how his team performed.

"Trinton had a season-best in the high jump, so we're getting there when it comes to a PR," said Homo. "I was impressed with Max and Aaron's times. Aaron was in the 9:30 range in the 3,200 (9:38) and Max was much faster than that in the two-mile. After doing the mile it's much harder to get good times in the 3,200.

"Will Wentzel placed tonight in the pole vault (8th, 9-0) as a freshman, so I'm excited about that. We also got a personal-best time this year in the 3,200 relay. I was also happy with Huckleberry. I talk to him one day and told him he would be pretty good at the 800. I also wanted to give him a shot in the 3,200 relay and he was willing to do it. They've run well together in that relay.

"We had a lot of good performances. This is probably the best team that Penn has had in years."

In the 400, Jimtown's Bishop Williams finished as the lead of the pack for the second straight year. Williams posted a time of 50.61.

"They really pushed me on the back," said Williams about the race. "I've been focusing on not saving it all until the end.

"Winning this again means everything. I feel that everyone on the team leans on me to do something big. I feel good that I came through for the team."

Penn's Elijah Coker had the most impressive night, as he was a quadruple winner. Those events were the 100 (10.81), 200 (21.96), long jump (22-5) and 400 relay (42.29).

"My expectation coming into today was to win every single event and come home with some hardware," said Coker.

"I have some amazing teammates that push me every single day. I'm just really glad to have them."

Coker is going to compete in football and track next year at Indiana State University.

Joining Coker on the winning 400-meter relay were Kohen Turner, Camden Anderson and Jaedon Parker.

The Kingsmen also placed first in the 1,600-meter relay, with the runners on that relay being Braden White, Phillip Harris, Dylan DeDario and Taylor Bauer.

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NIC MEET

Boys

Team scores: Penn 154.6, Elkhart 137, SB St. Joseph 84.2, SB Riley 50.6, SB Adams 48, Bremen 42, Jimtown 28, New Prairie 25, SB Washington 22, Marian 21.6, John Glenn 11.

100: Elijah Coker (Penn) 10.81, Zachary Anderson (Elk) 10.91, Nathan Munson (Elk) 10.97, Camden Anderson (Penn) 11.12, Robert Nabieu (SBR) 11.18, Bishop Williams (Jim) 11.32.

200: Elijah Coker (Penn) 21.96, Kohen Turner (Penn) 22.39, Zachary Anderson (Elk) 22.43, Nathan Munson (Elk) 22.88, Joshua Harmon (SBR) 22.95, Samuel Harshman (SJ) 23.11.

400: Bishop Williams (Jim) 50.61, Hudson Fox (Bre) 51.22, Dylan DeDario (Penn) 51.78, Phillip Harris (Penn) 51.95, Jack Moran (SJ) 52.15, Timon Johnson (SBA) 53.38.

800: Max Huckleberry (Elk) 2:01, Bol Agwick (SBA) 2:02, Jackson Ezzell (Elk) 2:03.01, Lucas Miller (SJ) 2:03.16, Shahmeer Turk (Penn) 2:03.77, Isaac Howk (SBA) 2:04.

1600: Max Malloy (Elk) 4:18, Aaron Richter (Elk) 4:24, Isaac Howk (SBA) 4:25, Tanner Mammolenti (Penn) 4:29, Bol Agwick (SBA) 4:30, Aiden Cararell (SBR) 4:33.17.

3200: Max Malloy (Elk) 9:27, Luke Kincaid (Bre) 9:31, Brandon Mueller (Penn) 9:37, Aaron Richter (Elk) 9:38, Kush Grewal (Penn) 9:48, Gabe Polaniecki (SJ) 9:58.

110 hurdles: Luke Kaufhold (SJ) 15.01, Austin Pflugner (SBR) 15.97, Thomas Galiher (Penn) 16.05, Keaton Nash (Penn) 16.53, Tray'von Fleming (SBR) 16.79, Vernahn Johnson (SBW) 17.08.

300 hurdles: Luke Kaufhold (SJ) 40.28, Tray'von Fleming (SBR) 41.23, Jaedon Parker (Penn) 41.38, Keaton Nash (Penn) 41.81, Austin Mason (Mar) 42.36, Cade Tyrakowski (Elk) 43.45.

400 relay: Penn (Kohen Turner, Elijah Coker, Camden Anderson, Jaedon Parker) 42.29; Washington 43.46; St. Joseph 43.87; Elkhart 43.91; Riley 44.53; Jimtown 44.91.

1600 relay: Penn (Braden White, Phillip Harris, Dylan DeDario, Taylor Bauer) 3:27; Adams 3:31; St. Joseph 3:34.63; Bremen 3:34.75; Elkhart 3:35; Glenn 3:41.

3200 relay: Elkhart (Max Huckleberry, Jackson Ezzell, Max Malloy, Aaron Richter) 8:05; Bremen 8:09; Riley 8:11; St. Joseph 8:21.48; Penn 8:21.82; Adams 8:43.

High jump: Trinton Harris (Elk) 6-4, Tayshon Bardo (Penn) 6-3, Torrey Wilson (SBW) 6-1, Anthony McGuigan (Glenn) 6-1, Javen Jackson (Jim) 6-0, Xander Hummel (Jim) 5-8.

Pole vault: Brady Farrell (SJ) 13-0, Owen Black (Penn) 12-6, Caleb McClaid (Bre) 11-6, Alvernon Mitchell (Elk) 11-0, Gavin Jozwiak (Penn) 11-0, Henry Klein (NP) 10-6.

Long jump: Elijah Coker (Penn) 22-5, Trinton Harris (Elk) 21-3.50, Bill Imanene (SJ) 20-7.75, Jackson Clopton (Jim) 20-7.25, Bryan Forbest (Penn) 20-4.75, Robert Nabieu (SBR) 20-4.

Shot put: Isaac Fronk (NP) 52-4.50, Kaleb Johnson (Mar) 50-8, Evan Adams (SBA) 48-7.50, Gage Goralski (Penn) 47-4, Sawyer Burks (Bre) 46-6, Trenton Bias (Elk) 46-3.

Discus: Isaac Fronk (NP) 162-1, Trenton Bias (Elk) 155-9, Evan Adams (SBA) 148-9, Korey Smiley (SJ) 137-7, Connor Thomas (Elk) 133-9, Gage Goralski (Penn) 131-4.