By James Howell Jr. / For Daily Reporter
FRANKLIN — A year removed from not having a track state tournament, the excitement was felt throughout the facility at Franklin Community High School on Tuesday as some of central Indiana’s best athletes competed for their shot to advance to the state finals.
Locally, athletes from New Palestine and Greenfield-Central represented Hancock County at the Franklin Regional. Most of the Dragons and Cougars were looking to lock up their first trip to state, while Brenna Shaw looked to return to the state finals, again.
Shaw completed the task and she will be bringing some teammates with her this time around.
The Dragons 3,200-meter relay team of Shaw, Kendall Mann, Courtney Study and Alexis Baynes earned a state berth by edging out the Batesville team at the line by 1.29 seconds.
Top-three finishers in each event at each regional advance to the IHSAA girls track and field state finals. With a time of 9:44.39, the Dragons finished third in the event.
“Tonight started really great by getting the 4×800 team advanced to state,” Dragons head coach Chuck Myers said. “We had a few girls put it all out there and get PRs (personal records), but still fell a little short. Overall, we had a great night and it was kickstarted by a great relay run. And now we take four girls to state. That’s a special feeling.”
Shaw and her teammates will be joined by one Cougar.
Kayana Maroska clinched a berth to state with a second-place finish in the 400-meter dash. In a photo finish at the line, Maroska was edged by Center Grove’s Kate Henselmeier.
Maroska also competed in the 100 hurdles, but was unable to advance out of the preliminary round.
Head coach Reuben McCracken expressed his joy for Maroska and the overall performance of the Cougars.
“Kayana was a rock star tonight,” McCracken said. “She cut almost two second off of her time in the 400 to be able to advance. Some of it was level of competition brining it out of her, but she should up. There are the 4×400 to get us a great time there too. Just overall a great night for us all around. Capped off by a state qualifier.”
Also for the Cougars, Savannah Lake put together a strong performance in the 100. After running a 13.15 in the prelims, Lake was set up for a chance to qualify for state in the regional championship run.
In the regional finals, Lake finished sixth in 13.09.
In the 200, Lake finished 10th in the prelims and did not advance to the regional finals. She missed the cut by one-tenth of a second.
Audrey Brinkruff represented the Cougars well with a fifth-place finish in the 1,600. She finished in 5:18.12, less than six seconds short of making it to the state finals.
The Cougars 400 relay team of Lake, Ava Grass, Lauren Uptegrove and Lindsey McCord placed 11th.
The Dragons were also competitive in many other events. In the 400, Baynes placed seventh.
Shaw attempted to qualify for the 800 again, but placed ninth in 2:27.04. Mann took 10th place in the 3,200.
In the field events, Anna Ackerman earned a ninth-place finish in the pole vault and Faith Hensel finished sixth in the shot put for the Dragons. Sydney Miller placed 14th in shot put and sixth in discus.
The 2021 girls track and field state finals will be contested at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis on Saturday, June 5.
