SHELBYVILLE — The day couldn’t have started or ended any better for New Palestine.
In between, it was a pretty solid day for both the Dragons and Greenfield-Central at the Shelbyville Girls Track and Field Sectional on Tuesday.
With the top three in each event, and possibly more, moving on, both teams will have multiple runners and field event participants in next week’s Shelbyville Regional.
With 15 schools participating, New Palestine finished second with 108.5 points. Greenfield-Central was fourth with 65. Warren Central won the event with 165 points.
In the evening’s first event, New Palestine won the 4×800-meter relay, winning with a school-record time of 9:33.89. It was 21 seconds ahead of second-place Franklin Central. All four legs, which included Emma Mann, Brenna Shaw, Sophia Taylor and Kaylin Casner, had personal-best times for their 800 portions.
“I think it put our team in a good place, mentally, knowing that we can go out there and compete with the top schools in the state,” Taylor said.
“That was a great way to start the meet,” New Palestine girls track coach Chuck Myers added. “They went out and ran a fantastic race. It sort of carries through and everybody else came out and did a great job.
“Everybody fed off each other. Overall, it’s probably one of the better performances this school has had in the sectional. To score 108 points and be second only to Warren Central, that’s not a bad day.”
As the relay opened the night with a win, Dragons junior thrower Aden Lumbley wrapped up the evening with a victory, too.
In the final event, she won the shot put with a distance of 38’7”.
The Dragons had another sectional champion in Kendall Mann, who won the 3,200-meter run in 11:37.13.
It was a strong day for the Cougars, also. They had four runner-up finishes. Crystal Peterson, Mackenzie Polster, Hannah Burkhart and Audrey Brinkruff all advanced to next week’s regional.
Peterson was second in the 100-meter hurdles with a time of 16.59 seconds. Polster picked up a second in the high jump by clearing 5’2”. Burkhart was runner-up in the discus with a distance of 121’1”. Brinkruff followed Mann in the 3,200 with a time of 11:44.76.
“I was pleased,” Greenfield-Central coach Reuben McCracken said. “Landing in fourth place, that’s a solid spot for us in the sectional. We finished better than Roncalli and they beat us at our invitational (earlier this season).”
Both McCracken and Myers said they expect to have more qualifiers announced once results are in from all of the other sectionals that feed into next week’s regional. To fill each regional event with 16 participants, more Dragons and Cougars will likely be making the trip back to Shelbyville.
After Tuesday’s meet, New Palestine had qualifiers in eight of 16 events.
Emma Mann, Shaw, Taylor and Jordan Reid were second in the 4×400-meter relay with a time of 4:06.39.
Shaw added another second in the 800-meter run (2:22.72). Casner added a runner-up spot in the 1,600-meter run (5:16.42). Lumbley had a personal best in the discus of 113’5” to finish third. Reid was third in the 100 (12.60 seconds).
Lumbley was a pleasant surprise in the discus, coming in seeded seventh.
“The shot’s my bread and butter,” Lumbley said. “I didn’t expect to do well in the discus and coach (Kyle) Ralph said to finesse and have fun.
“It’s fun to watch us win (in other events). It’s a motivator to say, ‘My team has set a standard here and I want to be a part of that.’”
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Team Results
Warren Central – 165
New Palestine – 108.5
Franklin Central – 83
Greenfield-Central – 65
Roncalli – 62
Shelbyville – 60.5
Beech Grove – 35
Morristown – 15
Scecina – 14
Lutheran – 10
Triton Central – 5
Area sectional champions and regional qualifiers (Top 3 in each event advances to next week’s Shelbyville Regional)
4 x 800 Meter Relay – New Palestine, 1st, 9:33.89 (Emma Mann, Brenna Shaw, Sophia Taylor, Kaylin Casner)
100 Meter Hurdles – Crystal Peterson, Greenfield-Central, 2nd (16.59 seconds)
100 Meter Dash – Jordan Reid, New Palestine, 3rd (12.60 seconds)
1,600 Meter Run – Kaylin Casner, New Palestine, 2nd (5:16.42)
High Jump – Mackenzie Polster, Greenfield-Central, 2nd (5’2”)
Discus – Hannah Burkhart, Greenfield-Central, 2nd (121’1”)
Discus – Aden Lumbley, New Palestine, 3rd (113’5”)
800 Meter Run – Brenna Shaw, New Palestine, 2nd (2:22.72)
3,200 Meter Run – Kendall Mann, New Palestine, 1st (11:37.13)
3,200 Meter Run – Audrey Brinkruff, Greenfield-Central, 2nd (11:44.76)
4 x 400 Meter Relay – New Palestine, 2nd, 4:06.39 (Jordan Reid, Emma Mann, Brenna Shaw, Sophia Taylor)
Shot Put – Aden Lumbley, New Palestine, 1st (38’7”)
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