HANCOCK COUNTY – Attentions will soon be set for the outdoor season, but today, on a new facility at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, Hancock County track and field standouts will participate in the unofficial Indiana Indoor Track and Field championships, the Nike Hoosier State Relays.
All four county schools will be represented with Eastern Hancock in the Small School meet and Greenfield-Central, Mt. Vernon and New Palestine in the Large School meet.
Eastern Hancock and Greenfield-Central both have top-seeded competitors.
A middle school state champion a year ago, Eastern Hancock freshman Bella Sotelo comes in with the top time in the 60-meter hurdles at 9.11 seconds.
Leading the way for the Cougars is senior high jumper Elliot Ryba. The state runner-up in last year’s IHSAA outdoor finals, Ryba, who has committed to Purdue University, is the top seed, clearing a school-record 7-feet at Anderson University last weekend.
Eastern Hancock junior Ellie Meyer, an outdoor state qualifier last spring, joins Sotelo for the Royals along with the boys’ distance relay team.
Meyer is the No. 5 seed in the high jump at 5-feet, 3-inches.
John Henry Gray, Brandon Metz, Aaron Redmon and Preston Markley will run the 4,000-meter distance medley relay. They’re ranked No. 7 with a time of 11:13.44.
Greenfield-Central and Mt. Vernon will have multiple participants in the boys meet.
Joining Ryba for the Cougars are seniors Chris Ross and Reese Hill.
Ross was part of G-C’s distance medley team in last year’s indoor finals. He was an individual qualifier in the 3200 in last season’s outdoor state meet. He’ll race as the No. 10 seed in the 3200 with a time of 9:29.29.
Hill is a returnee in the shot put, and another Cougar that has qualified for both indoor and outdoor finals. He is seeded No. 20 with a distance of 49-feet, 7.5-inches.
Mt. Vernon’s Andres Langston will be the county’s busiest competitor.
An outdoor all-stater in both the 400 and 4×400 relay, the Duke-bound Marauder will compete in the high jump and 60-meter hurdles, and is part of the 4×400 relay team with Tre Jones — another outdoor all-stater from the 4×400 relay team — Caden Cassada and Nate Hauser.
Langston is ranked No. 12 in the high jump (6-3) and No. 16 in the hurdles (8.33 seconds). The relay group is seeded No. 24 (3:33.68).
Colin Strachman, Xaiden Jenson, Cooper Hunziker and Cassada are on the Marauder 4×800 team. Strachman is a veteran state qualifier of both the outdoor track and field state meet and this past fall’s cross country state finals.
The 3200-relay group is the No. 18 seed with a time of 8:20.42.
Greenfield-Central and New Palestine will each have one competitor in the girls meet.
A returnee from last year’s indoor finals and a two-time outdoor state qualifier, Greenfield-Central senior Savannah Lake is the No. 7 seed in the 60-meter dash with a time of 7.71 seconds.
Sophomore Abby Journay is representing the Dragons in the high jump. She is No. 11 on the seeding chart with a clearance of 5-feet, 2-inches.
Separated by divisions according to football classifications, Class 1A, 2A and 3A football schools will compete in the small school meet, which begins at 8:30 a.m., opening with the girls pole vault competition. Running and other field events are scheduled to start at 9 a.m.
The large school meet, football classifications 4A, 5A and 6A, will begin with the girls pole vault at 3 p.m. with running and additional field events getting underway at 3:30 p.m.
Different than outdoor, running events include, 60-meter hurdles, 60-meter dash, 3200-meter run, 4×800 relay, 4×200 relay, distance medley relay, and 4×400 relay. Field events include pole vault, long jump, shot put and high jump.
In January the Indiana State Fairgrounds & Event Center had a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of a new indoor track inside the Indiana Farm Bureau Fall Creek Pavilion.
Labeled a state-of-the-art track, the competition oval features six lanes, 12-degree banking in the turns, 21-meter radius, and is elevated 18-inches off the ground in the straightaways and nearly six-feet in the turns.
The infield has an 8-lane flat track for the sprinters and hurdlers, two high jump areas, two long jump/triple jump runways and a pole vault runway.
The 200-meter, fixed bank, portable track was designed and built by Beynon Sports and Weems Engineering.
