BROOKVILLE — Doing things on a whim seems to be working out for Evan Stitt.

He had never competed on the Karns City boys’ track and field team before, focusing instead on football and baseball.

But he got an itch this spring to try it out.

His reasoning?

“This is my senior year,” he replied. “Why not?”

Stitt’s curiosity led to a District 9 Class AA title in the 200-meter dash when he finished the event in 23.21 seconds Friday at Brookville High School.

Even after joining the track team, it took a while for Stitt to embrace the 200.

“This was only the fifth or sixth time I’ve run it,” he said. “The first time, I think I ran a 23.8.”

Stitt’s victory came a couple of hours after he came within two-hundredths of a second from capturing the 100 crown. His teammate, senior Collin Dunmyre, won with a time of 11.46. Stitt ran an 11.48.

“My goal in the 100 was to stick with Collin,” Stitt said. “I’ve been a step behind him all year, but I almost caught him today.”

In the 200, it was Dunmyre who settled for second place with a 23.3 while KC’s Seth Silverio was third (23.82). Dunmyre and Stitt will head to states in both sprint events.

This was the first season that Dunmyre competed in the 100.

“The last few years, we had Logan Moroney and a handful of other guys who were really good in the 100,” he said. “I wasn’t needed there, so I ran the 400 and the 4x400 relay.”

Picking up a new event paid off for Dunmyre and he realized it long before Friday’s meet.

“I came in as the No. 1 seed (11.24),” he said. “I hadn’t lost in the 100 all year, so I was looking to win today. It would have been disappointing if I didn’t win.”

Stitt and Dunmyre were two key cogs in Karns City’s district team championship. The Gremlins edged Kane in total points 84-83.

A school-record effort in the last event, the 4x400 relay, sealed the championship.

Chandler Turner, Dunmyre, Jimmy Thompson and Conrad Snyder teamed up to run a 3:28.58, which was good for third place and also met the state qualifying standard.

“The last team title at Karns City was in 1985,” said Turner. “It’s pretty exciting to be part of this.”

“All of our (top) seeds stepped up,” said veteran Karns City coach Don Black. “Our 4x4 team broke the school record by three seconds. We expected our sprinters to clean up and they did.”

Turner also did his part in the triple jump, winning the event with a mark of 42-7½. His personal best is a 43-5¼, which had him ranked best in the district entering the meet.

“I thought I was going to have to jump my personal best to win,” Turner said. “I started triple jumping three years ago and wasn’t good. I was fast enough for it, but I needed to stretch out my jumps.”

Earlier in the meet, the Gremlins claimed the 4x100 relay title when Spenser Myers, Turner, Stitt and Dunmyre topped the field by running a 44.24.

“Our goal was to get the state qualifying time (44.3), so we’re happy with it,” said Turner.

The other Butler County athlete to win a boys title was Moniteau’s Dalton Anderson, who used a 5-10 effort in the high jump to claim first place.

“I have jumped 6-1 in practice, but my best in a meet is 5-11,” said Anderson, a junior who placed sixth in the district last year. “I just try to be smooth on the runway. I have a tendency to stutter with my steps.”

Grabbing berths to the state meet by placing second were Karns City’s Myers in the 800 run and Moniteau’s Roman Davidson in the shot put.