Two weeks ago, before the Porter County Conference Meet, Boone Grove senior Cameron Jones had a reminder for his teammates.

“That wasn’t our championship,” Jones said. “Winning the PCC is nice. It’s a good patch, but we need to look past that. The sectional is what we want to win.”

It was a bold statement, considering Boone Grove hadn’t won a sectional in program history and had just snapped a 33-year PCC Meet drought in 2017.

Jones’ words, however, proved prophetic Thursday when Boone Grove dominated the Rensselaer Central Sectional, scoring 134 points to run away with the team title.

The two teams trailing Boone Grove in the standings weren’t even close as North Newton totaled 85.5 points and North Judson had 63.

“We knew it before we even got on the bus,” Jones said. “I woke up that day knowing it was going to be awesome.”

Just two years prior, Boone Grove finished with seven points at the same meet, its first sectional under coach Kyle Isch, who was in his rookie season.

“I didn’t know what I was doing — it was my first year after college,” Isch said with a laugh. “I ran in high school, and I knew I had some good examples from the coaches I had.”

Isch quickly learned he had a talented group of middle school athletes on its way to the program, the product of coach Brian Sherwin, whom Isch credited for much of Boone Grove’s recent success.

That influx of young talent included sophomore Brae’ton Vann, who won the 100 meters in 11.19 seconds and the 200 in 22.62 at the sectional.

Vann said the team was buoyed by its unexpected runner-up finish at the 2017 sectional.

“That boosted everyone’s confidence even more,” he said. “Then everyone worked hard over the summer and got better.”

Not that those youngsters needed more confidence. They entered high school riding high off the conference titles they’d won during middle school.

The combination of that young talent, along with veterans like Jones had Isch believing the team’s first sectional title was obtainable.

In the sectional, Jones was the runner-up in both the 800 in 2:04.11 and the 1,600 in 4:38.26 while helping the 1,600 relay place first in 3:36.21.

“We knew from the beginning of the year that we had a real good shot,” Isch said. “All year, we were look forward to that date and just trying to not mess it up.”

The track season isn’t over for Boone Grove, either.

Jones, who plans on attending Muskegon Community College, is running the 1,600 at Thursday’s regional, while Vann will be in the 200, the 400 relay and teaming with Jones as part of the 1,600 relay.

And if Thursday’s meet is the end of Jones’ high school career, he thinks Boone Grove won’t struggle to replicate its 2018 success in the upcoming seasons.

“It starts with them,” Jones said while pointing at Vann. “The freshmen and sophomores now, they’ve really set up our team for the future.”

Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.