INDIANAPOLIS — The Greenfield-Central Cougars made it two state medalists in two days on Saturday night.
A day after Greenfield-Central senior Cody Hargett finished fifth in the pole vault during the IHSAA boys track and field state finals, Cougars’ junior Kayana Maroska secured a second with a top-eight finish at Ben Davis High School.
Maroska placed eighth overall in the 400-meter dash during the IHSAA girls track and field state finals with a time of 59.49. Her seed time was 58.91, which projected her to place 10th overall and out of medal contention.
Maroska exceeded those expectations, however, by besting Evansville Reitz’s Taylor Johnson (59.61 for ninth), Brownsburg’s Jordan Griffin (59.67 for 10th) and Jay County’s Kinsey Shannon (59.69 for 11th). Griffin entered the state meet with a seed time of 58.67.
Center Grove’s Kate Henselmeier finished 16th at 1:00.17, though she carried a seed time of 58.89, which positioned her ahead of Maroska prior to the state finals.
As expected, North Central junior Ramiah Elliott won the 400-meter state title in 55.08 after posting a top-seed time of 55.72.
As a freshman in 2018-19, Maroska placed fourth in the 200-meter dash (27.32), sixth in the 400 (1:02.09) and fifth with the 4×400 relay team (4:25.68) at the sectional level.
She advanced to the 2019 Shelbyville Regional in the 200 but missed the finals’ cut and placed 11th in the 400 at 1:04.85, which wasn’t fast enough to reach state. The 4×400 relay team also finished outside the state-qualifying range.
After a lost campaign in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Maroska was limited in-season this spring but excelled in the 200, placing third at the HHC meet with a time of 27.23 and won both the 100-meter (15.96) and 300-meter hurdles titles (47.82).
At the Shelbyville Sectional on May 18, Maroska was runner-up in the 200 (27.13), a champion in the 400 (1:01.23) and won the 100 hurdles (16.02).
During the Franklin Regional on May 25, she posted a second-place run in the 400 with a time of 58.91, just behind regional champion Henselmeier (58.89).
At state, the tables turned and Maroska represented the Franklin Regional field with a spot on the winner’s podium.
The New Palestine girls’ 4×800-meter relay team finished 22nd overall at the state meet on Saturday, posting a time of 9:56.10.
The quartet of Courtney Study, Kendall Mann, Lexi Baynes and Brenna Shaw entered the state finals with at seed time of 9:44.40 as third-place finishers at the Franklin Regional.
This season, the Dragons’ 4×800 relay team of Study, Emily Adam, Emma Mann and Kendall Mann won the Hancock County Championships title in 10:33.34. The relay team also claimed the HHC title in 10:27.70.
Study, Shaw, Baynes and Kendall Mann were second in 9:55.42 during the Shelbyville Sectional.
Mt. Vernon’s Riley Nielsen, a sophomore, didn’t place at the state meet Saturday after a no height following three attempts at 10 feet on Saturday.
Nielsen had a seed height of 10-06 en route to her first state finals appearance as the lone representative for the county, Hoosier Heritage Conference and sectional champion Marauders.
Nielsen cleared a height of 9-06 to win the county title on May 5 at Mt. Vernon High School. During the HHC meet on May 11, Nielsen replicated her flight of 9-06 to win the title.
Nielsen reached 10-06 to win the Pendleton Heights Sectional this season, and at the Ben Davis Regional on May 25, she soared to 10-06, capturing her second-career postseason event title.
