PENDLETON — For the third straight week, Mt. Vernon’s girls track and field team came home with the hardware.
The Marauders won the Pendleton Heights Sectional on Tuesday, edging New Castle and Lawrence North for the top spot.
A week ago, Mt. Vernon beat New Palestine by one point to claim the Hoosier Heritage Conference crown.
Two weeks ago, the Marauders reigned supreme in the Hancock County Championships.
“We won the elusive triple crown of county, conference and sectional,” Mt. Vernon head coach Kean Coy said. “We’re pretty excited about that. That was one of our goals. That’s one of our goals every year. To finally accomplish it this year is pretty special, especially in a year that has been a rough experience for so many.”
It is the school’s third sectional title and first since 2010. The other championship came in 2006.
Mt. Vernon led most of the night, but it was always close. After 10 completed events, New Castle took a slim lead over the Marauders, 75-73.
The final tally had the champs with 127 points. New Castle had 116 and Lawrence North scored 107.
Eastern Hancock, the only other county school in the sectional, scored 45 points and placed sixth.
As it did last week in the conference, the Marauders did it with their depth.
For the second straight week, they had only two champions, but they placed second in all three relays and placed both of their event competitors in nine of 13 individual competitions.
“It’s been all about depth for us this season,” Coy said. “It is fitting that is how we end the sectional this year.”
“Those second and third places rack up a lot of points,” sophomore Riley Nielsen, one of two Mt. Vernon champions, said. “Everyone puts all their effort in all the time.”
Nielsen won the pole vault with a school record height of 10-feet, 6-inches. The old record was 10-feet, 1-inch, set in 2009 by Hannah McKnight.
No one competed last year due to the pandemic, but Nielsen had never competed in track and field until this season. She had always concentrated on gymnastics. She picked up pole vault this summer.
It’s been a natural fit with her gymnastics background.
“I never thought I’d be setting a school record in my sophomore year,” Nielsen said. “It’s such a great feeling. I’ve been vaulting since the summer (in club) and it’s come easy because of gymnastics.”
She said she was only clearing 8-6 and 9-feet in the summer.
The other Mt. Vernon winner was junior Morgan Tharp, who broke the tape in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:19.52.
“I think it really shows how far our team has come this season,” Tharp said of winning a team title for the third straight week. “I’m really proud of what we’ve done overall and it shows our hard work has paid off.”
The top three in each event, including relays, advanced to next week’s Ben Davis Regional.
Both Mt. Vernon and Eastern Hancock will be well-represented at the May 25 meet in Indianapolis.
Tharp was runner-up in the 800 (2:28.72). The second-place 3,200 relay team (10:56.13) included Emma Gasiorek, Lydia Carrell, Alexandria Jenson and Alexandra Overshiner. The 1,600-meter relay qualifying team (4:17.71) had Gasiorek, Raelyn Stanfield, Tharp and Overshiner.
Nielsen joined Mya Eppert, Anaiah Garrett and Morgan Kille on the runner-up 400-meter relay group (51.10 seconds).
Mt. Vernon had four other third-place finishers.
Eppert advanced in the 100-meter dash (12.54 seconds). Garrett qualified in the 200-meter dash (26.97 seconds). Lydia Carrell finished third in the 800 (2:29.16) and Alexandria Jenson moves on in the 3200-meter run (12:48.56).
For Eastern Hancock, standout hurdler Sydney Springman qualified for both events. She was second in the 100 hurdles, just missing out on a sectional title. Blue River Valley’s Mallory Cross won in 16.25 seconds. Springman finished in 16.42.
She was also second in the 300 hurdles (49.18).
The Royals’ 3,200-meter relay team of Alexandria Knight, Ashton Willis, Madison Engleking and Ruby White placed third with a time of 11:06.26.
Eastern Hancock coach Michael Galyan said it was the first time in his five years with the program that a relay team advanced to the regional. He added that the group has knocked off 34 seconds since the county meet.
Both teams could have others end up advancing to the regional if teams decide to scratch qualifiers from an event.
