6/1/2009
Tipton County Tribune
By MICHELLE GARMON
A year ago, Tipton’s Taylor Maxey left the Lafayette Jeff track hoping that his fourth-place time in the 110-meter high hurdles was good enough to get him to the state track meet.
He found out the next day that it was.
Thursday night, he left no room for doubt.
The Blue Devil senior went out and won the high hurdles at the Lafayette Jeff Track Regional. And then for good measure, he went on to place second in the 300-meter hurdles.
So not only did he earn a return trip the Bloomington and the state meet, but he qualified in two events.
“I’m pretty excited,” Maxey said.
As well he should.
Maxey easily posted the fastest time in the 110 trials, clocking a 14.7 seconds which is better than the state standard of 14.75.
He then came back to run even faster in the finals, though his race was not quite as clean.
Maxey edged Zionsville’s Shane Mikesky at the finish by .05 seconds. Maxey’s winning time was 14.52, while Mikesky clocked a 14.57. Crawfordsville’s Trace Cotten placed third with a 14.66. All three times were better than the state standard.
“I had a little slower start than usual and I saw some guys right next to me which caused me to lose focus for a little while and I hit the first couple of hurdles,” Maxey said. “But then I refocused, ran clean the rest of the way and caught up to them.”
The top three finishers and any other individuals meeting the state standard automatically qualify for the state meet on Friday, June 5.
“He’s been waiting a long time for this moment,” Tipton Coach Steve Powell said. “For him, he’s participated in some team sports where he’s experienced some disappointing losses. Yes track is a team sport but its also an individual sport.
“This is a nice reward for doing what he’s been doing. He’s worked towards this and it’s nice to see him reap all the benefits of all the hard work.”
After winning the high hurdles, the pressure was off Maxey. So what did he do?
He just went out and ran one of his best 300-meter hurdle races ever. Unlike the high hurdles, Maxey sprang out from the blocks and actually led the race through the turn. Mikesky was able to just catch and edge past Maxey in the final 50 meters.
Mikesky’s winning time was 39.89 seconds, while Maxey crossed the line in 40.05 seconds. Plainfield’s Riley Greene, who was seeded ahead of Maxey entering the regional, was third in 40.79 seconds.
The times might have been faster but they had to run into a rather stiff breeze at the start.
“There’s a lot of pressure with all this stuff,” Maxey said. “Once I won the 110’s, it took all the pressure off. As I was standing over there waiting to run the 300’s, I was like let’s just do it, let’s just go out and give it everything I have and see what happens.”
His coach liked what he saw as well.
“I don’t know that it was his best time but it was a maximum effort,” Powell said. “He can walk away from that meet saying I gave it everything I have. He can be proud of that and because of that effort he gets to go and compete at the state meet.”
Harrison’s Phil Sojka was fourth (41.31). Rounding out the eight-placing finishers were McCutcheon’s Zach Roberts (42.38), Westfield’s Josh Barcus (42.66), West Lafayette’s Andrew Huber (42.78) and North Newton’s 43.32.
Placing fifth through eighth in the high hurdles were Southmont’s Patrick Posthauer (15.04), Barcus (15.47), North Vermillion’s Quentin Bemis (15.55), Lafayette Jeff’s Ryan Campbell (16.02) and Greene (16.06).
Maxey also competed in the high jump. He cleared the opening height of 5-feet, 11.25-inches on his first attempt. He then cleared 6-1.25 on his second attempt but missed on all three attempts at 6-3.25. He had trouble getting his steps down and his tape that he’d used to measure his approach blew away. McCutcheon’s Evan Baumis won the high jump with a leap of 6-5.25.
Still, the Blue Devil senior was more than happy with how his evening went.
“It’s alright,” Maxey said. “It’s worth hit. Overall, it’s been worth it.”
And though he really doesn’t like the distance involved with running the 300 hurdles, he is excited to get the chance to run them at the state meet.
Maxey’s 18 points placed Tipton 12th in the team standings. The regional champ was Carmel with 84 points. Avon edged Zionsville 63.5-62 for second place.
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