Amazing Performances…As Expected

By: Brice Cleland

Well, as expected the Hoosier State Relays produced some great performances all around.  There were some amazing sprint performances, some classic distance races, and some superb relays throughout the course of the day.

            In girls 1A-3A action, Kate Muskat (Bishop Chatard) won the 55 meter dash as expected in a time of 7.36.  She was followed by Elizabeth Heuss (Covenant Christian) and LaVoya Williams (Ft. Wayne).  Both Greencastle and Bishop Chatard put two runners in the top 8.

            In the 55 meter hurdles, the runners finished just as expected:  Megan Bussabarger (Corydon Central) won followed by Ashten Smith (New Palestine), Amber Rutan (Leo), and Shayna Hesson (Rensselear Central).

            In the 3200m race, Alexandra Banfich (Culver) was a mere two seconds off her record from last year with an excellent time of 10:53.  She distanced herself from the field, but Sarah Neubacher (FW Concordia), Renee Masterson (Beech Grove), and Carly Sobolewski (Bishop Chatard) all finished well to round out the top 4.

            The 4x200 turned out exactly as suspected with Bishop Chatard leading the way followed closely by Gary Wirt and Greencastle.  In this race, Kate Muskat was the difference maker for Chatard, closing strong to finish in first.

            In the 4x400, Bishop Chatard won with a time of 4:10.68.  Next was a little bit of a surprise with Greencastle putting forth great effort to finish a close second.  Fort Wayne Concordia, and Culver were third and fourth with Brebeuf finishing fifth.

            The 4x800 went well with FW Concordia running a 9:59.30, a time that would have placed them well in the big school race.  Bishop Chatard finished second in a closely followed by Hamilton Heights.

            In the DMR, pre-race favorite Bishop Chatard finished a disappointing 3^rd, missing second by about .3 seconds to FW Canterbury.  FW Concordia gave a dominating performance, winning in 12:48.53, about 25 seconds in front of second place and less than one second from their own record set last year.

            In the shot put, Jenny Savickas (Hanover Central) and Melanie Huhn (FW Bishop Dwenger) finished first and second, just as expected from the top two returners from last year.  Cici Budde (Culver) finished third with a good throw of 35-00.50.

            In the long jump, Ellie Tidman (Batesville) was a surprising winner beating Dara Oni (Culver) by almost 9”.  Culver had a good day though, with Oni followed closely by teammate Kelly Norton.

            In the high jump, Ellie Tidman (Bateville) showed her early season form again in a winning jump of 5-06.00 and beating last year state qualifiers Megan Schubert (Northwestern) and Evie Lehman (Adams Central) who finished second and third respectively.

            In pole vault, Alex Metzger (Bishop Chatard) won with a vault of 9-03.00.  Monica Harvey (New Palestine), Jade Bobeck (Fairfield), and Laura Grabowski (West Lafayette) rounded out the top 4.

            Girls 4A-5A was also very exciting and eventful.  In the 55m dash, Candyce McGrone (Warren Central) continued her dominance at the meet, winning in a time of 7.20, missing the meet record by a mere 0.02 seconds.  Katie Popp (North Central) and Shaniece Gholson (Jeffersonville) also put forth good performances

            In the 55m hurdles, Meredith Hayes (Lawrence Central), the 4^th place finisher at state last year, won in a time of 8.33.  State placer Silvia Massey (Ben Davis) was barely edged by Hayes, running a 8.36.  Portia Bailey (Hamilton Southeastern) finished a close third.

            In the 3200, Chelsea Blanchard won in a time of 11:05.92, putting distance on the field at the end.  Sara Terashema (Richmond) finished second, Erika Utter (Lawrence North) was third, and Katie Conrad (Zionsville) closed hard to narrowly take 4^th.

            The 4x200, Lawrence North, the favorite failed to finish the race, leaving the door open for Warren Central to win in a time of 1:41.77, just 0.05 off the record.  Ben Davis, North Central, and Gary West Side rounded out the top 4.

            The 4x400, Lawrence North’s bad day continued as they finished well out of contention.  Instead, Gary West Side won, followed by Warsaw and Munster in the next two positions.

            The 4x800 was an outstanding race.  Westfield won as expected in a time of 9:39.90.  Carmel was about 6 seconds back, with Noblesville and Munster also finishing in the top 4.

            The DMR was also an amazing race.  Westfield destroyed the old record of 12:24 by 13 seconds.  This amazing performance was followed by FW Carroll, Northridge, and Penn, all running great times as well.

            In shot put, Felicia Johnson (Lawrence North) won by a good 2” over Rachel Deloney (Bloomington North).  D’Ana McCarty (Pike) finished third as expected and Kyla Buckley (North Central) placed ahead of state qualifier Jasmin Foster (Warren Central)

            In the long jump, state qualifiers Leah Eber (Columbia City), Kim Leinhoop (LaPorte), Shawnee Mason (Ben Davis), and Chelsy Kimes (Munster) formed the top 4 in a close meet.  Eber and Leinhoop jumped the same distance, but Eber won the event. 

            The high jump, Ali Beaudway (Penn), last year’s 4^th place finisher at state finished a disappointing 7^th.  Emily Breslin (Cathedral) continued her dominance from last year (HSR and state champion) with another win.  Kathleen Branson (Franklin Central) and Chenelle Martin-Miller, third at state last year finished second and third on misses to Breslin at the same height of 5-04.00.

            In the pole vault, Katie Veith (Homestead) continued her winning ways, vaulting 13-00.00 and winning by about 1.5’ over Ashley Fozkos (Chesterton) and Miracle Thompson (Terre Haute North) who tied for second.

And it’s onto outdoor from here…good luck in the weeks to come.