By RICHIE HALL
LAFAYETTE – Hamilton Southeastern went into the final event of Tuesday’s Lafayette Jefferson girls track and field regional with the slimmest of leads: One-half of a point over West Lafayette.
All the Royals had to do was finish ahead of the Red Devils, and the regional plaque was theirs again. No problem: Southeastern won the 4×400 relay, which clinched another championship for HSE. The Royals finished with 104.5 points to West Lafayette’s 101, thus winning their 15th regional title.
Just as important, if not more so, Southeastern had 10 qualifiers for the IHSAA state finals, which will take place Saturday, June 1 at Indiana University. The Royals will head to Bloomington as defending state champions.
The seniors led the way for the Royals. Kennedy Drish claimed her third straight pole vault title. Drish, in fact, broke the regional record with her vault of 12 feet, 6 inches.
It was a remarkable result for Drish, the two-time defending state champion in that event, as she had been injured for most of the season. Drish herself said her goal was just to get the state standard of 11-2, thus automatically qualifying for state.
“That was my goal, was just to clear 11-2, and then see how high I could get,” said Drish.
Senior Lulu Black won the 3200 run, and was part of the state-qualifying 4×800 relay, which finished second. Senior Maddie Mirro, sophomore Annice McFarland and junior Ellie Pedersen were also on the 4×800.
Senior Tierra Sydnor was part of the Royals’ two relay wins. Sydnor joined senior Mya Hammons, junior Olivia Burgess and sophomore Alyssa Barker in winning the 4×100 event. Burgess, Hammons, Sydnor and freshman Regan Wans were on HSE’s victorious 4×400 relay.
Sydnor also finished second in the 300 hurdles, sending her to state in three events. The top three in each event head to state, along with anyone who equals or betters the state standard in an event.
“Tierra and Lulu did really well,” said HSE coach Julie Alano. “Kennedy coming back and winning the pole vault, that’s huge.”
Other state qualifiers for Southeastern included Barker and Burgess, who were second and third respectively in the 200 dash; Wans, who placed second in the 400 dash, and Ella Wilhelm in the pole vault, who tied for fourth but matched the state standard of 11-2.
Fishers placed third as a team with 56.5 points and had five regional qualifiers. Freshman Ella Scally had a part in four of those efforts.
Scally won the 200 dash, placed second in the long jump and took third in the 100 dash. Scally also ran on the Tigers’ runner-up 4×100 team, along with senior Myah Donaldson, junior Gabby Lewis and senior Grace May.
“It’s been a pretty cool year,” said Scally. “I worked really hard to get here and it’s just been really fun with all my teammates helping me get here.”
Sophomore Alison Casey tied for fourth in the pole vault, but qualified for state as she was one of six vaulters to make the 11-2 state standard.
“It was a good meet tonight,” said Fishers coach Andrew Belloli. He called Scally’s performance “outstanding again,” and had praise for other athletes as well, including the Tigers’ 4×800 relay. Fishers finished fourth in that event, but could get a callback to state, depending on the results from other regionals around the state.
“The 4×1 was excellent again tonight and Alison Casey in the pole vault was one of six to hit the state standard, which is incredible,” said Belloli.
Noblesville had a solid meet, placing fifth and getting five state qualifiers. Shelby Tyler made it to state in two events, winning the high jump (where she is the two-time defending state champion) and the pole vault, where she placed sixth but made the state standard of 11-2.
Freshman Kiana Siefert had an outstanding day in the long jump, placing second. Her best jump of 17-6 was a personal best by more than a foot.
“It’s insane,” said Siefert. “I’m a freshman. I’ve been doing track since I was like, 5 or 6 since my mom did it all throughout high school and college. And it’s just such a cool experience. I love all my teammates. It’s just a really fun sport.”
Senior Maria Anderson qualified for state in two events, placing third in the 400 dash and joining sophomore Bella Sharples-Gordon, senior Aubrie Deal and junior Anna Hazelrigg for a third-place result in the 4×800 relay.
Carmel finished seventh as a team. Junior Phoebe Bates qualified for state in both long-distance events, placing second in the 1600 run and third in the 3200.
Hamilton Heights sophomore Maria Mitchell earned a place at state in the 1600 run. Mitchell finished fifth, but her time of 5:02.10 beat the state standard.
“I was pretty excited,” said Mitchell. “I was kind of nervous, I wasn’t sure if I was going to make it, but the state standard is what I got.”
Sheridan junior Becca Merritt won the discus with a throw of 133-7, qualifying for state. Merritt officially finished fourth in the shot put with an effort of 40 feet even, which could be good enough for a callback.
Westfield senior Zoe Pentecost placed second in the discus, also qualifying for state.
Guerin Catholic senior Ellie Schroeder finished third in the 800 run, earning her a place at state.
Team scores: Hamilton Southeastern 104.5, West Lafayette 101, Fishers 56.5, Zionsville 50, Noblesville 45, Brownsburg 33, Carmel 27, Plainfield 22, Avon 21, McCutcheon 20, Westfield 16, Hamilton Heights 16, Sheridan 15, Lebanon 13, Lafayette Central Catholic 11, Lafayette Jefferson 10, Mooresville 10, Frankfort 9, Guerin Catholic 7, Tri-West 7, Clinton Prairie 6, Western Boone 6, Harrison 5, Danville 5, Twin Lakes 3, Rossville 3, Benton Central 1, Crawfordsville 1.
4×800 relay: 2. Southeastern (Maddie Mirro, Annice McFarland, Ellie Pedersen, Lulu Black) 9:24.54, 3. Noblesville (Maria Anderson, Bella Sharples-Gordon, Aubrie Deal, Anna Hazelrigg) 9:26.85, 4. Fishers (Abby Carter, Vera Schafer, Emma Gillespie, Elizabeth Barrett) 9:27.23, 5. Carmel (Emily Hand, Annie Christie, Martha Hunter, Sydney Haines) 9:34.69, 7. Westfield (Hannah Fife, Sophia Brown, Julia Clark, ChristyAnn Delahunty) 9:54.23, 8. Guerin Catholic (Isabelle Museck, Grace Vlasak, Sophia Woods, Allison Wozniak) 10:01.81, 11. Heights (Abby Christiansen, Morgan Guthrie, Alex Lopez, Abby Roth) 10:13.59.
100 dash – Finals: 3. Ella Scally (F) 12.64, 4. Alyssa Barker (HSE) 12.66, 8. Myah Donaldson (F) 13.11. Preliminaries: 10. Riley Pennington (C) 12.98.
110 hurdles – Finals: 6. Haley Boehm (W) 16.04. Preliminaries: 14. Olivia Elkin (C) 17.54.
200 dash – Finals: 1. Scally (F) 25.42, 2. Barker (HSE), 3. Olivia Burgess (HSE) 25.77, 5. Gabby Lewis (F) 26.01, 7. Markaela Pugh (HH) 26.65, 8. Aaliyah Thompson (C) 27.07.
1600 run: 2. Phoebe Bates (C) 4:59.35, 5. Maria Mitchell (HH) 5:02.10, 6. Halle Hill (HSE) 5:08.28, 9. Barrett (F) 5:20.00, 12. Carter (F) 5:31.14.
4×100 relay: 1. Southeastern (Olivia Burgess, Mya Hammons, Tierra Sydnor, Barker) 48.31, 2. Fishers (Scally, Donaldson, Lewis, Grace May) 48.61, 10. Carmel (Thompson, Pennington, Kiara Gill, Flora McKay) 50.89, 14. Heights (Pugh, Samera Henson, Jenna Peterson, Victoria Lopez) 52.79.
400 dash: 2. Regan Wans (HSE) 56.78, 3. Maria Anderson (N) 57.65, 6. McFarland (HSE) 1:01.03, 9. Emersen Carlile (C) 1:01.43, 11. Abbey Grogan (C) 1:02.10, 13. Evelyn Butler (F) 1:03.45.
300 hurdles: 2. Sydnor (HSE) 44.42, 5. Katie Folta (F) 46.18, 10. Arianna Kelley (F) 48.09.
800 run: 3. Ellie Schroeder (GC) 2:16.36, 4. M. Mirro (HSE) 2:17.86, 5. Mitchell (HH) 2:19.03, 6. Schafer (F) 2:19.65, 8. Hazelrigg (N) 2:23.74, 10. Pedersen (HSE) 2:24.70, 12. Sharples-Gordon (N) 2:25.72.
3200 run: 1. Black (HSE) 10:46.48, 3. Bates (C) 10:58.94, 7. Johanna Strueder (F) 11:26.89, 8. Tessa Kraft (F) 11:28.64, 9. Brooke Waldal (C) 11:28.69, 11. Ellie Johnson (HSE) 11:57.63.
4×400 relay: 1. Southeastern (Burgess, Hammons, Sydnor, Wans) 3:55.91, 4. Noblesville (Anderson, DeLaney Boles, Sharples-Gordon, Hazelrigg) 4:04.84, 6. Carmel (Grogan, Thompson, Abby Kaufman, Mahalet Zeruesenay) 4:07.09, 7. Heights (Mitchell, Christiansen, Guthrie, Kelsey Smith) 4:09.40, 9. Westfield (Sarah Coates, Alison Bullock, Fife, Boehm) 4:11.88, 10. Fishers (Kate Baumgartner, Butler, Folta, Chloe Schroeder) 4:12.33, 13. Guerin Catholic (Anna Jacoby, Joelle Klavon, E. Schroeder, Emily Zlatniski) 4:15.01.
Long jump: 2. Kiana Siefert (N) 17-6, 3. Scally (F) 17-5.5, 4. Sydnor (HSE) 17-0.5, 7. Folta (F) 16-7.75, 8. Jehnea Mirro (HSE) 16-5, 10. Sydney Black (W) 16-2.
High jump: 1. Shelby Tyler (N) 5-9, 4. Lily Wilhelm (N) 5-1, 5. Smith (HH) 5-1, 8. Madisyn Etheredge (HSE) 4-10, 9. Heather Barker (S) 4-10.
Discus: 1. Becca Merritt (S) 133-7, 2. Zoe Pentecost (HSE) 127-1, 6. Leah Roebuck (C) 123-4, 13. Lauryn Wiley (HH) 104-5, 15. Anna Kiser (N) 90-9.
Shot put: 4. Merritt (S) 40-0, 6. Pentecost (W) 37-2.
Pole vault: 1. Kennedy Drish (HSE) 12-6, new regional record, T4. Alison Casey (F) 11-2; Ella Wilhelm (HSE) 11-2, 6. Tyler (N) 11-2, 7. Jenna Springirth (C) 10-10, 8. Erika Knieper (N) 10-6.
Hamilton County runners made their presence known in the 200 dash at the Lafayette Jefferson girls track and field regional on Tuesday. Fishers’ Ella Scally (far right, 110) won the event, with Hamilton Southeastern’s Alyssa Barker (155) placing second and her teammate Olivia Burgess (157) finishing third. Fishers’ Gabby Lewis (105) placed fourth. (Kent Graham)
Hamilton Southeastern won its 15th girls track and field regional championship Tuesday, edging out West Lafayette 104.5-101. (Richie Hall)