New Palestine freshman Rylee Hurst holds off Greenfield-Central senior Kayana Maroska to win the Hancock County Championship in the 400-meter dash at Mt. Vernon High School on Wednesday, May 4, 2022.
Richard Sitler | Daily Reporter
FORTVILLE — Defending champion Mt. Vernon had depth.
Greenfield-Central had titles.
New Palestine had both.
The Dragons won the 2022 Hancock County Girls Track and Field Championships at Mt. Vernon High School, Wednesday, edging rivals Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central.
New Palestine won with 81 points. Mt. Vernon had 74 and Greenfield-Central finished with 66. Eastern Hancock was fourth with 27 points.
Both New Palestine and Greenfield-Central had six champions.
Mt. Vernon was stocking up points on third and fourth place finishes. It had just three champions in 16 events. Eastern Hancock won one event.
“It was an overall team effort,” New Palestine head coach Chuck Myers said. “We scored in every event except the 4×100 relay, which goes to show that it was a total team. I think Greenfield is a little stronger than us in the sprints right now and Mt. Vernon might be a little stronger in distance (races).
“Overall we were a really strong team (Wednesday). We did have a few more first-place finishes and we were good in the field. That was really big.”
The Dragons strength came in field events and relays. New Palestine won three of the five field events, including both throwing events.
Sydney Miller set a meet and personal record of 130-feet, 2-inches to win the discus. Quin Lumbley won the shot put at 39-feet, 1-inch. Maya Hobbs took first in the long jump with a distance of 14-feet, 11 ½ inches.
“We’ve competed against Greenfield-Central and Mt. Vernon before this season and I feel we really put out our best effort today,” Miller said. “Everyone did what they needed to do in their events to get the win.”
Miller beat the old mark of 129-5, set in 2008 by Samantha Gable of Greenfield-Central.
Though they didn’t score in the 4×100-meter relay, New Palestine won both the 4×400 and 4×800 relay events. The team of Ashlyn Sanford, Lexi Baynes, Courtney Study and Tylar Whitaker set a meet-record time of 9:57.47.
It was the first sub-10 minute race in county history. The old record was 10:02.24 set by New Palestine in 2011.
The 4×400 team of Hobbs, Whitaker, Baynes and Rylee Hurst won in 4:15.15.
The Dragons other win was a record-setter, too. Hurst took the top spot in the 400 in 58.63 seconds. She edged the old mark by .05, which was set by Mt. Vernon’s Olivia Coleman in 2015.
Greenfield-Central’s Kayana Maroska was named, by a coaches vote, the Athlete of the Meet.
She won the 200 (26.18) and 100 hurdles (16.32). She was also part of G-C’s victorious 4×100 relay team, joining Savannah Lake, Lindsey McCord and Natthara Boosamund. They won in 52.41 seconds.
Lake added a win in the 100 (12.65), Reagan Crouch won the 300 hurdles (48.23) and Madelyn Mies took top honors in the pole vault (8-feet) for the other Cougar victories.
Along with picking up a lot of points with second, third and fourth places, Mt. Vernon had wins from senior distance runners Morgan Tharp and Lydia Carrell.
Tharp, for the second straight year, won both the 800 (2:27.16) and 1,600 (5:19.62). Carrell was first in the 3,200 (11:57.88).
Eastern Hancock picked up a win from freshman Ellie Meyer, who cleared 5-feet in the high jump.
2022 Hancock County Girls Track and Field Championships
Team scores (champions): New Palestine 81 (6), Mt. Vernon 74 (3), Greenfield-Central 62 (6), Eastern Hancock 27 (1).
Event: Winner, School;Time/Distance
100-meter dash: Savannah Lake, Greenfield-Central;12.65 seconds
200-meter dash: Kayana Maroska, Greenfield-Central;26.18 seconds
400-meter dash: Rylee Hurst, New Palestine;58.63 seconds
800-meter run: Morgan Tharp, Mt. Vernon;2:27.16
1600-meter run: Morgan Tharp, Mt. Vernon;5:19.62
3200-meter run: Lydia Carrell, Mt. Vernon;11:57.88
100-meter hurdles: Kayana Maroska, Greenfield-Central;16.32 seconds
300-meter hurdles: Reagan Crouch, Greenfield-Central;48.23 seconds
400-meter relay: Savannah Lake, Lindsey McCord, Natthara Boosamund, Kayana Maroska, Greenfield-Central;52.41 seconds
1600-meter relay: Maya Hobbs, Tylar Whitaker, Lexi Baynes, Rylee Hurst;New Palestine;4:15.15
3200-meter relay: Ashlyn Sanford, Lexi Baynes, Courtney Study, Tylar Whitaker, New Palestine;9:57.47
Shot put: Quin Lumbley, New Palestine;39-feet, 1-inch
Discus: Sydney Miller, New Palestine;130-feet, 2-inches
High jump: Ellie Meyer, Eastern Hancock;5-feet
Long jump: Maya Hobbs, New Palestine;14-feet, 11 ½ inches
Pole vault: Madelyn Mies, Greenfield-Central;8-feet
