Daily Reporter staff reports
SHELBYVILLE — Hancock County will be represented by at least a handful of athletes at next weekend’s girls state track and field meet, all of them coming from New Palestine.
The Dragons won two regional championships and advanced two relays and one individual during Tuesday’s regional round. Several Dragons and a handful of Mt. Vernon athletes await potential callbacks for the state meet.
The New Palestine 4×800 relay team of Kaylin Casner, Grace Voelz, Brenna Shaw and Sophia Taylor claimed the title at the Shelbyville regional with a time of 9:34.79, nine seconds faster than second place.
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Shaw was the lone individual winner from Hancock County, claiming the 800-meter run in a time of 2:19.03.
The Dragons placed third in that regional with 52 points, while Greenfield-Central finished 20th with eight. Warren Central won (107) and Center Grove was second (84). Mt. Vernon and Eastern Hancock competed in the Ben Davis regional Tuesday night, with the Marauders finishing 15th with 8.50 points and the Royals not scoring. North Central won with 117 points.
The Dragons’ 4×400 relay of Jordan Reid, Shaw, Maigan Williams and Taylor finished in 4:03.85, good enough to advance to state with a second-place finish. They accounted for the rest of the
automatic state qualifiers.
Jordan Reid just missed the state cut in the 100- and 400-meter dash, with her time of 12.53 good enough for fourth place in the 100 and a 58.56 also earning fourth in the 400. She awaits potential callback, as does teammate Kendall Mann, who was fourth in the 3,200-meter run (11:33.41).
Mt. Vernon awaits callbacks in the high jump, where Eliza Bidwell finished fourth (4’10”), and the 4×800 relay. The team of Rilee Hartman, Morgan Tharp, Kamryn Eason and Lydia Carrell finished fourth in 10:21.94, knocking almost 18 seconds off their seed time and putting themselves in position for a possible state berth.
Also competing for New Palestine were Victoria Crowder, who was fifth (2:25.35) in the 800; Casner, who was fifth in the 1,600-meter run, her time of 5:21.66 about five seconds shy of a top-three finish; Williams, who was 10th in the 300-meter hurdles (48.91); and Aden Lumbley, who finished eighth in the shot put with a throw of 34’7” and ninth in the discus with a 109’9”.
Competing from Greenfield-Central were Audrey Brinkruff, who was fifth in the 3,200-meter with a time of 11:46.68; Mackenzie Polster, who was seventh in the high jump by clearing 5 feet; Hannah Burkhart, who finished seventh in the discus (116’2”); Crystal Peterson, who finished 10th in the 100 hurdles (17.32); Kayana Maroska, who was 11th in the 400-meter dash (1:04.85); and Joana Flora, who was 12th (107’11”) in the discus.
Mt. Vernon had all of its relay teams compete at Ben Davis. The 4×100 relay of Vivian Hoeppner, Bidwell, Emily Keeler and Sydney Powell finished 12th (53.08). The 4×400 relay of Keeler, Eason, Bidwell and Rissa Foster was ninth (4:16.78).
Eason finished 10th in the 400 with a time of 1:03.08, and Madeline Link was 11th in the pole vault (7’6”).
Eastern Hancock’s lone competitor, Aly Spaulding, finished 13th in the long jump with a 15’1” jump.
Advancing athletes will compete in the state finals on June 1 at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex at Indiana University in Bloomington.
