THE REPORTER
It was a field day for the Millers at Indiana University last Saturday.
The Noblesville girls track and field team had been delivering strong performances in the field all season, and the Millers did it again at the IHSAA state meet. Noblesville also had some good runs on the track, and it all added up to a first-ever state championship.
The Millers scored 45 points to claim the state title, besting by one position their runner-up finish from last year. Noblesville collected seven medals at state, including two from Hannah Alexander.
The junior star had been dominating the throwing events all season, and she put together another good set of performances at state. First, Alexander won the discus event with a best throw of 158 feet, 8 inches, then placed third in the shot put with a top effort of 45 feet, 8.5 inches. Alexander had her best shot put result in her sixth and final throw of the meet, improving by nearly three and a half feet over her fifth throw.
Malina Miller cleared 5 feet, 9 inches to take runner-up honors in the high jump, while Delaney Teachnor soared over 11 feet, 9 inches to place fourth in the pole vault. That gave the Millers a total of 31 points in the field events.
On the track, Noblesville started the meet with a fourth-place result in the 4×800 relay. Brinkley Cooper, Ansley Applegate, Riley Flynn and Summer Rempe raced on that team. Two sixth-place finishes clinched the team victory for the Millers; those came from Paige Hazelrigg in the 1600 run and Summer Rempe in the 800 run.
Warren Central was the team runner-up, scoring 44 points. Carmel placed third as a team with 33 points, but finished the meet off with a tremendous performance in the 4×400 relay.
The Greyhounds team of Gabriela Grande Rosas, Olivia Cebalo, Cambell Wamsley and Emily Norris finished the race in 3 minutes, 47.86 seconds, over six seconds ahead of second place in a new Carmel school record time. It was the last of five medals for the ‘Hounds, all coming on the track.
Carmel finished second in the 4×800 relay, with Cebalo, Jasmine Klopstad, Kara Wenzler and Audrey Ricketts clocking in at 9:12.74. Another Greyhounds relay, the 4×100, took fourth place. Rebecca Belanger, Norris, D’ahni Branch and Grande Rosas ran on that team. Norris would later take fourth in the 200 dash, and Sadie Foley placed seventh in the 1600 run.
Fishers was part of a five-way tie for 10th place, totaling 20 points. The Tigers had two runner-up finishes, starting with their 4×100 relay team of Mireya Benjamin, Zinnia Pineda, Kya Hoskins and Maya Taylor, which finished that event in 47.01 seconds. Taylor later took second in the 200 dash, with a time of 24.78 seconds, and also placed sixth in the 100 dash.
Hamilton Southeastern and Westfield both scored 19 points, tying for 15th place. The Royals had seven medal-winners at the meet, including two in the 200 dash. Jocelyn Davis was fifth and Chloe Senefeld finished eighth.
Two Southeastern relays took seventh. Addison Smith, Julianne McLean, Elise Herman and Ciara Kepner earned that place in the 4×800 relay, while Kepner, Smith, Camryn McKinney and Senefeld were also seventh in the 4×400 relay. Riley Williams placed seventh in the pole vault. Maggie Powers finished eighth in the 3200 run, and Kepner placed ninth in the open 800.
Westfield collected three medals, including a pair of third-place results. Lucy Hauser got the bronze in the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.23 seconds. Princess Campbell then ran in the 100 dash, and placed third in 11.88 seconds. Both Hauser and Campbell joined Tobi Fapetu and Abbi Van Bibber to finish fifth in the 4×100 relay.
Hamilton Heights had two athletes at state. Waverly Woolever finished 12th in the high jump and Ella Ewing took 18th in the 100 hurdles.
Team scores (top 10 and all county): 1. Noblesville 45, 2. Warren Central 44, 3. Carmel 33, 4. Bloomington North 30, 5. Center Grove 28, 6. Heritage Christian 27, 7. Brownsburg 26, 8. Evansville Bosse 23, 9. Columbus North 22, T10. Fishers 20; Forest Park 20; Park Tudor 20; Cathedral 20; Bloomington South 20, T15. Hamilton Southeastern 19; Westfield 19.
4×800 relay: 1. Columbus North 9:11.22, 2. Carmel (Olivia Cebalo, Jasmine Klopstad, Kara Wenzler, Audrey Ricketts) 9:12.74, 4. Noblesville (Brinkley Cooper, Ansley Applegate, Riley Flynn, Summer Rempe, 7. Southeastern (Addison Smith, Julianne McLean, Elise Herman, Ciara Kepner) 9:21.38.
100 hurdles – Finals: 1. Rachel Mehringer (Forest Park) 13.38, new state record, 3. Lucy Hauser (W) 14.23. Prelims: 17. Makenzie Loftin (HSE) 15.26, 18. Ella Ewing (Hamilton Heights) 15.29.
100 dash – Finals: 1. Angel Thomas (South Bend Adams) 11.65, 3. Princess Campbell (W) 11.88, 6. Maya Taylor (F) 12.02. Prelims: 10. Emily Norris (C) 12.15.
1600 run: 1. Nicole Southerland (Delta) 4:43.73, 6. Paige Hazelrigg (N) 4:57.86, 7. Sadie Foley (C) 4:58.34, 10. Elizabeth Butler (HSE) 5:03.26.
4×100 relay: 1. Brownsburg 46.71, 2. Fishers (Mireya Benjamin, Zinnia Pineda, Kya Hoskins, Taylor) 47.01, 4. Carmel (Rebecca Belanger, Norris, D’ahni Branch, Gabriela Grande Rosas) 47.76, 5. Westfield (Tobi Fapetu, Hauser, Abbi Van Bibber, Campbell) 47.97, 16. Southeastern (Loftin, Jocelyn Davis, Sanai Smith, Chloe Senefeld) 48.85.
400 dash: 1. Alexia Smith (Evansville Bosse) 54.12, 10. Cambell Wamsley (C) 57.12, 12. Cebalo (C) 57.34.
300 hurdles: 1. Mehringer (Forest Park) 42.72, 12. Elia Blackmore (HSE) 46.08.
800 run: 1. Gretchen Farley (Park Tudor) 2:04.95, new state record, 6. Rempe (N) 2:13.16, 9. Kepner (HSE) 2:14.61, T15. Ricketts (C) 2:18.65, 26. Cooper (N) 2:29.81.
200 dash – Finals: 1. Ahniyah Bennett (Connersville) 24.50, 2. Taylor (F) 24.78, 4. Norris (C) 25.02, 5. Davis (HSE) 25.16, 8. Senefeld (HSE) 25.84.
3200 run: 1. Sophia Kennedy (Park Tudor) 10:07.86, 8. Maggie Powers (HSE) 10:56.79, 12. Brooke Lahee (N) 11:00.96, 23. Liz Smith (W) 11:23.03.
4×400 relay: 1. Carmel (Grande Rosas, Cebalo, Wamsley, Norris) 3:47.86, 7. Southeastern (Kepner, Smith, Camryn McKinney, Senefeld) 3:57.67, 13. Noblesville (Cooper, Flynn, Kate Rollins, Finley Volk) 4:00.51.
Discus: 1. Hannah Alexander (N) 158-8.
Shot put: 1. Hadley Lucas (Bloomington North) 49-5, 3. Alexander (N) 45-8.5.
Long jump: 1. Kya Crooke (Heritage Christian) 19-10.75, 24. Grande Rosas (C) 16-6.
High jump: 1. Josie Page (Wood Memorial) 5-10, 2. Malina Miller (N) 5-9, 11. Rylee Hassan (N) 5-5, 12. Waverly Woolever (HH) 5-5.
Pole vault: 1. Kailee Swart (Cathedral) 13-6.5, new state record, 4. Delaney Teachnor (N) 12-0, 7. Riley Williams (HSE) 11-9.
Reporter photos by Kent Graham