HANCOCK COUNTY — With back-to-back county and Hoosier Heritage Conference championships to go with an area-high five athletes with state meet experience, New Palestine’s girls track and field team appears to have the components needed to do it all again in 2019.
“We’re excited to see what they can do,” New Palestine girls’ track coach Chuck Myers said.
Seniors Victoria Crowder and Sophia Taylor, juniors Kaylin Casner and Jordan Reid and sophomore Kendall Mann have all been to Indiana’s final track meet of the season.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Casner, Mann and Crowder are three-fourths of last year’s state qualifying 4×800 relay team, which set meet records at both county (9:58.7) and conference (9:43.26) championships.
Crowder and Taylor were also part of the 4×400 state meet squad. Individually, Mann went to state in the 3,200, while Casner added a berth in the 800. Mann won both county and conference titles in the 3,200, while Casner was a county champion in both the 800 and 1,600.
“Our distance group will be pretty strong,” added Myers. “We bring most of the team back from last year.”
To add to the distance strength, sophomore Brenna Shaw was a state qualifier in cross-country.
Reid was a state qualifier in 2017. She qualified for the meet in the 100 and 200, but a soccer injury kept her from being full strength as a sophomore, though, by the end of the season, she was able to earn a conference title in the 200.
New Palestine will have strength in their throwers, too. Junior Aden Lumbley and sophomore Faith Hensel were 1-2 in both the county and conference meets in 2018.
Eastern Hancock
The Dragons aren’t the only team returning as a conference champion.
Eastern Hancock won the Mid-Eastern Conference last year, edging out Wapahani, Monroe Central and Daleville.
Coach Michael Galyan returns most of last year’s squad, but mentioned that there were only a handful of seniors throughout the MEC last year.
“There are a lot of teams reloading like us,” Galyan said. “We have high expectations, but there’s still a long way to go.”
The season has already got off to a good start. The Royals own dual meet wins over large schools Richmond and Franklin Central.
Junior Aly Spaulding (sprints, long jump), sophomore Chloe O’Neal (sprints, long jump) and junior Lainey Effing (distance) have been the leading scorers so far this season. Freshman Sydney Janes (high jump, sprints) and sophomore Mikala Linstrum (hurdles) are also off to a good start.
The Royals return their share of conference champions, too. Senior Taylor Stine is the defending MEC champ in the 100, 200 and 400 and senior Hannah Gates won titles in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. Spaulding was also the MEC long jump champion in 2018.
Seniors Kayla Fancher and Jenna Smith were also part of conference relay titles along with Spaulding, Gates and Stine.
Mt. Vernon
No newcomer made a bigger splash on the area track and field scene in 2018 than Mt. Vernon’s Arianna Mack.
As a 2018 freshman, Mack won county titles in the 100, 200 and 400. She added HHC titles in the 100 and 400. She is also one of only two area returning sectional champions. She took top honors at the Pendleton Heights Sectional in the 400 (59.25).
The other returning sectional champion is Mack’s teammate, junior Gracesyn Thomas, who won the sectional long jump (15-7).
Mack and Thomas are part of a very youthful Marauders team. Second year head coach Kean Coy has just two seniors, sprinter/thrower Emily Keeler and hurdler/pole vaulter Vivian Hoeppner.
“We’ll show our youth early, but by the big meets we should be coming into form,” Coy said.
Coy’s youthful group is versatile. He said talented junior Kamryn Eason could likely be in his team’s top two in any event. She’ll be a key contributor in the 400, 800 and relays.
Sophomores Rylie Pearson and junior Rilee Hartman head the distance crew, while junior Mariah Arnold will join the talented Mack in sprints.
Coy also expects some help from newcomers in 5-11 freshman Eliza Bidwell (high jump/sprints), freshman Illinois transfer Rissa Foster (relays) and sophomore basketball player Faith Hayes (sprints/throws).
Greenfield-Central
Youth seems to be a popular description when it comes to Hancock County girls track and field. That’s the case at Greenfield-Central, too.
Coach Reuben McCracken has only three seniors in his group of 34 and only lost 10 percent of his team’s scoring from 2018.
“Based on the talent we have back and the talent coming in, I hope to be better than we were last year and more competitive in the conference meet,” McCracken said.
Leading the way for the Cougars is junior long jumper/hurdler Crystal Peterson, a state qualifier as a freshman.
She was named the Hancock County Athlete of the Meet in 2018. She set a new meet record in winning the long jump (17-2) and added wins in the 100 hurdles (17.09) and 300 hurdles (47.80).
Two of the Cougars seniors are defending county champions. Hannah Burkhart took top honors in the discus (115-00 feet), while Mackenzie Polster won the high jump (5-00). Burkhart won a conference title, too, besting her county mark with a toss of 119-6.5. She had a season-best mark of 121-9.
Burkhart should get some help in the throws with junior Addilyn Coil.
McCracken also praised the start of sophomore distance runner Audrey Brinkruff.
Looking ahead
The county meet is scheduled for May 1 at Mt. Vernon. The HHC meet is slated for May 7, also at Mt. Vernon. The MEC championships are May 10 at Monroe Central.
Post season action gets underway with sectional championships scheduled across the state May 14.
