FORTVILLE — Jordan Reid called it going hard. Brady Walden described it as making a point.
The share assessment by all late Wednesday night was dominant as the New Palestine boys and girls track teams collected their combined 21 first-place medals and both Hancock County team trophies under the Mt. Vernon bleachers.
“We came in here strong, knowing we were going to win,” said Reid, who won four events at the 2017 Hancock County Track and Field Meet. “If you couldn’t walk after a race, then you were doing your job.
“That’s what we all wanted and that’s what the coaches wanted. We wanted to get this trophy tonight and get this hardware.”
The Dragons won nine events in the girls meet to dethrone the Greenfield-Central Cougars, which had ran their title streak to four straight prior to New Palestine’s decisive victory. The Dragons’ championship was their first since 2011.
The New Palestine girls scored 99 points compared to Greenfield-Central’s 79. Mt. Vernon was third with 44 points, and Eastern Hancock was fourth at 19 points.
The Dragons’ boys made the night a clean sweep, defending their team championship and seizing the program’s 13th overall with 12 first-place finishes and 103 team points.
Mt. Vernon was second at 84, while Greenfield-Central was third at 33. Eastern Hancock was fourth with 24 points.
“We came in extremely focused this year. Last year, we came in and we hadn’t really been competitive. We basically popped everybody in the mouth and won,” Walden said. “This year, we were coming back with a return statement to show everyone we are still here and even better than we were last year as a team as a whole.”
Walden, a senior, was one of many catalysts for the Dragons, winning four events en route to being named Athlete of the Meet along with Reid.
“It was a really great team effort tonight by everyone on the boys side. It’s nice to defend the county like that in back-to-back years,” New Palestine boys and girls head coach Kyle Ralph said. “A lot of guys stepped up and did great things.”
New Palestine opened their title quest with a sweep in the 4×800 relay. The group of Conner Dobbins, Spencer Corey, Sam Voelz and Caleb Eagleson finished in 8 minutes, 39.73 seconds to beat Mt. Vernon for the boys’ county title.
Grace Labanauskas, Grace Voelz, Victoria Crowder and Kaylin Casner posted a time of 10:13.51 to win the championship on the girls side.
The Dragons momentum carried into the 100-meter dash with both Reid (12.47) and Walden (11.41) winning. Walden was pushed to the finish line by Mt. Vernon’s Jailin Porter, who was five seconds behind.
The 1,600-meter run girls title went to New Palestine’s Kaylin Casner in 5:35.72, and Walden grabbed another county championship in the long jump at 21 feet, 5 inches.
Walden won another event in the 200 with a run of 22.71 and teamed with Adam Brickens, DuRon Ford and Colby Jenkins to set a new meet record in the 4×100 at 43.52. The old mark was 44.26 established by New Palestine in 2009.
The Dragons flexed their muscle in the distances races as well. Eagleson won the 1,600 in 4:32.16 while teammate Chase Crowder followed for second place at 4:32.48.
Eagleson won the 3,200 in 9:55.33, while Crowder was first in the 800 at 2:06.10. Voelz ran the 400 in 50.33 to win. Jared Reed edge ahead of Mt. Vernon’s Alex Barnett in the 300 hurdles at 42.35 to take first.
Voelz, Jenkins, Brickens and Corey ran the 4×400 relay in 3:26.80 to win the final event of the meet. Laine Schonauer claimed the high jump in 6-01.
Eastern Hancock’s Reece Burkhart kept the Dragons at bay in the pits, winning both the shot put (46-10) and discus (130-02).
Greenfield-Central’s Adam Lee won the pole vault by clearing 11-00. The Marauders broke through in the 110-meter hurdles to win with a time of 16.41.
Reid added the 200 county title in a time of 25.70 and joined Olivia McKilligan, Grace Shanahan and Kylie Dhonau to take first in the 4×100 relay in 51.60.
Sophia Taylor, Reid, Victoria Crowder and McKilligan won the 4×400 in 4:12.60. Crowder captured the 400 county title in 1:00.73.
Freshman Kaylin Casner was first in the 1,600 at 5:35.72 and in the 3,200 at 12:23.50. Lillie Cain capped the Dragons’ run with a first-place throw in the shot put at 38-06.00.
From there the Cougars took control in seven events. Crystal Peterson was first in the 100-meter hurdles at 16.89. The freshman won the 300 hurdles in 49.82. She also was first in the long jump at 15-05.50 to get past Mt. Vernon’s Alexis Franklin (15-05.5) by half an inch.
Greenfield-Central’s Mackenzie Polster (4-06) out-dueled New Palestine’s Jaylin Calvert (4-04) in the girls’ high jump competition by two inches. Hannah Burkhart (110-11.5) topped her teammate Jennifer Flora (110-11) in the discus.
Sydney Cook won the 800 in 2:24.38, while Greenfield-Central’s Emily Jones set a new county mark in the pole vault at 10-06. Her personal best this season is 10-09.
The next big goal for the Dragons is the Hoosier Heritage Conference title. Both the girls and boys meets are next week.
“We’re gunning for it this year. We fell short at conference last year, and we’re coming for the championship this year,” Walden said.
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Hancock County Track & Field Meet
Boys Results
Team Scores: New Palestine 103, Mt. Vernon 84, Greenfield-Central 33, Eastern Hancock 24
4×800: 1. New Palestine 8:39.73, 2. Mt. Vernon 8:52.82, 3. Greenfield-Central 8:54.13, 4. Eastern Hancock 9:46.29
110 hurdles: 1. Brent Donaldson, MV (16.41), 2. Jared Reed, NP (16.96), 3. Damari Gatewood, MV (17.87), 4. Jayson Bowers, EH (18.02)
100: 1. Brady Walden, NP (11.41), 2. Jailin Porter, MV (11.46), 3. DuRon Ford, NP (11.59), 4. Donovan Bigelow, MV (11.61)
Long jump: 1. Brady Walden, NP (21-05.00), 2. Braden Brown, GC (20-06.00), 3. Damari Gatewood, MV (19-11.00), 4. Gunnar Large, NP (18-10.75)
1,600: 1. Caleb Eagleson, NP (4:32.16), 2. Chase Crowder, NP (4:32.48), 3. Drew Bluethmann, MV (4:39.56), 4. Marco Ramirez, MV (4:41.32)
Shot put: 1. Reece Burkhart, EH (46-10.00), 2. Nathan Seifert, MV (46-06.50), 3. Tate Helm, GC (43-11.50), 4. Garrett Mauk, MV (43-03.50)
High jump: 1. Laine Schonauer, NP (6-01.00), 2. Damari Gatewood, MV (6-00.00), 3. Nathan Casler, MV (6-00.00), 4. Braden Brown, GC (5-10.00)
4×100: 1. New Palestine 43.52, 2. Mt. Vernon 44.18, 3. Eastern Hancock 47.17, 4. Greenfield-Central 51.27
400: 1. Samuel Voelz, NP (50.33), 2. Spencer Corey, NP (50.64), 3. Alex Carver, MV (51.97), 4. Brent Donaldson, MV (54.29)
800: 1. Chase Crowder, NP (2:06.10), 2. Caleb Eagleson, NP (2:07.51), 3. Samuel Voelz, NP (2:07.54), 4. Cooper Hanson, GC (2:08.16)
200: 1. Brady Walden, NP (22.71), 2. Jailin Porter, MV (22.78), 3. Devyn Brinson, EH (23.45), 4. Adam Brickens, NP (23.82)
Discus: 1. Reece Burkhart, EH (130-02), 2. Garrett Mauk, MV (128-00), 3. Nick Anderson, MV (127-04), 4. David Lopez, NP (119-09)
300 hurdles: 1. Jared Reed, NP (42.35), 2. Alex Barnett, MV (42.64), 3. Damari Gatewood, MV (43.93), 4. Samuel Dekeyser, GC (45.70)
3,200: 1. Caleb Eagleson, NP (9:55.33), 2. Jacob Hansen, GC (10:06.90), 3. Drew Bluethmann, MV (10:17.11), 4. Zac Archibald, GC (10:24.65)
Pole vault: 1. Adam Lee, GC (11-00.00), 2. Blake Miller, MV (10-6.00), 3. Nathan McBride, GC (10-00.00), 4. Ethan Pennington, NP (9-06.00)
4×400: 1. New Palestine 3:26.80, 2. Mt. Vernon 3:37.00, 3. Greenfield-Central 3:41.70, 4. Eastern Hancock 3:47.30
Girls Results
Team Scores: New Palestine 99, Greenfield-Central 79, Mt. Vernon 44, Eastern Hancock 19
4×800: 1. New Palestine 10:13.51, 2. Greenfield-Central 10:30.41, 3. Mt. Vernon 10:36.03
100 hurdles: 1. Crystal Peterson, GG (16.89), 2. Grace Shanahan, NP (17.41), 3. Kylie Dhonau, NP (17.72), 4. Hannah Gates, EH (17.91)
100: 1. Jordan Reid, NP (12.52), 2. Alexa Christenson, MV (13.18), 3. Alexis Franklin, MV (13.40), 4. Edin Hurst, NP (13.80)
High jump: 1. Mackenzie Polster, GC (4-06), 2. Jaylin Calvert, NP (4-04), 3. Daly Pelger, EH (4-02)
1,600: 1. Kaylin Casner, NP (5:35.72), 2. Grace Voelz, NP (5:52.28), 3. Tatiana Kueffer, GC (5:54.58), 4. Grace Labanauskas, NP (5:59.80)
Pole vault: 1. Emily Jones, GC (10-06), 2. Kammie McGreal, GC (8-00), 3. Olivia Fortner, GC (7-06), 4. Grace Yeadon, MV (7-06)
4×100: 1. New Palestine 51.60, 2. Mt. Vernon 53.93, 3. Eastern Hancock 54.67, 4. Greenfield-Central 55.95
400: 1. Victoria Crowder, NP (1:00.73), 2. Alexa Christenson, MV (1:00.90), 3. Taylor Stine, EH (1:02.25), 4. Mackenzie Polster, GC (1:04.08)
Long jump: 1. Crystal Peterson, GC (15-05.50), 2. Alexis Franklin, MV (15-05.00), 3. Graceyn Thomas, MV (14-11.00), 4. Jaylin Calvert, NP (14-08.50)
200: 1. Jordan Reid, NP (25.70), 2. Alexa Christenson, MV (27.85), 3. Alexis Franklin, MV (27.89), ,4. Edin Hurst, NP (28.17)
Discus: 1. Hannah Burkhart, GC (110-11.5), 2. Jennifer Flora, GC (110-11), 3. Lillie Cain, NP (102-00), 4. Emily Jonas, NP (93-06.50)
Shot put: 1. Lillie Cain, NP (38-06.00), 2. Jennifer Flora, GC (36-05.00), 3. Emily Jonas, NP (34-03.50), 4. Addilyn Coil, GC (32-03.00)
300 hurdles: 1. Crystal Peterson, GC (49.82), 2. Lindsey Pope, GC (50.58), 3. Hannah Gates, EH (51.07), 4. Kylie Dhonau, NP (51.21)
800: 1. Sydney Cook, GC (2:24.38), 2. Kaylin Casner, NP (2:26.79), 3. Meg Schleter, MV (2:29.51), 4. Natalie Shanahan, NP (2:36.55)
3,200: 1. Kaylin Casner, NP (12:23.50), 2. Rilee Hartman, MV (12:49.80), 3. Grace Voelz, NP (12:58.60), 4. Haley Rickey, NP (12:59.80)
4×400: 1. New Palestine 4:12.60, 2. Greenfield-Central 4:26.10, 3. Mt. Vernon 4:30.60, 4. Eastern Hancock 4:53.60
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