By RICHIE HALL
WESTFIELD – There seems to be something about the 4×400 relay and the Hamilton Southeastern girls track and field team that brings the excitement, and the winning of close finishes.
Four years ago the Royals claimed a state title in the 4×400, winning the race in .04 seconds – an “exclamation point,” said coach Julie Alano, on winning a team state championship.
Now, let’s head back to the present day, or Tuesday, when Southeastern was competing in the 2022 Hamilton County girls track and field meet at Westfield’s Riverview Health Stadium. The Royals were battling Noblesville for third place in the 4×400, and managed to nose out the Millers by .02 seconds.
With that finish, Southeastern clinched the county championship, getting the points it needed to win the trophy. The Royals finished with 137 points, followed by runner-up Carmel’s 136 and Noblesville’s third-place 135. The difference between first and third was those .02 seconds.
“Yeah, every point mattered,” said Alano. The coach said her team was “just really focused on trying some things to make sure we had our sectional lineup determined,” as that lineup is due today. So, the county meet was more about tweaking things for the upcoming sectional, which Southeastern hosts next Tuesday. The sectional will consist of all the county teams, plus Lebanon and Western Boone.
“It was just really good for us to pull it out when I didn’t even really expect us to,” said Alano. “But I think it’s good for us to see where other teams fall and how next week will play out. We really value this competition for next week. If we can win, that’s great, but we’re not always that concerned about winning.”
The Royals did their share of winning in the individual events, taking four of them. Ally Elsbury had two victories, claiming the 100 hurdles in 14.72 seconds and the long jump in 18 feet, 4.25 inches, both of which are new county meet records.
Elia Blackmore was first in the 300 hurdles, clocking in at 45.68 seconds; Alano said that time was .01 seconds off the record Carmel’s Mary Steffel set in the year 2000. Rosiebella Fiabema was the shot put winner, with a best throw of 42 feet, 0.5 inches.
That put Fiabema back above the 42-foot mark, as she threw 42 feet, 11.5 inches at the Royal Relays early in the season, “so it was really relieving to do it again,” she said. Fiabema also placed third in the discus and was happy with her results.
“I worked really hard this week and I’m super excited for next week’s sectionals,” said Fiabema.
Carmel jumped into contention for the team championship with consistent results all the way around, including four event wins. The Greyhounds started the meet with a win in the 4×800 relay, and finished the meet by running away with the 4×400 relay. Carmel then picked up a pair of 1-2 finishes on the track in between. In the 400 dash, Olivia Cebalo won that race with Cambell Wamsley second, then later in the 3200 run, Alivia Romaniuk cruised to a victory with Olivia Mundt the runner-up.
Noblesville joined the battle by also taking four individual events. The Millers got a 1-2 high jump finish from champion Malina Miller and runner-up Rylee Hassan, while Laina Lillge triumphed in the pole vault. Hannah Alexander won the discus and took second in the shot put. Paige Hazelrigg was the 1600 run winner.
Fishers finished fourth as a team with 86.5 points. The Tigers won two events: Ella Scally was first in the 200 dash, and was also part of the Tigers’ winning 4×100 relay. Scally won the high point scoring award at the conclusion of the meet. Scally also placed second in the long jump and third in the 100 dash.
“This is actually my first meet doing all my normal events,” said Scally, who had foot surgery in December. Scally said the meet got her prepared for next week’s sectional.
Westfield scored 52.5 points to finish fifth as a team. The Shamrocks had an event champion in Princess Campbell, who won the 100 dash in 12.48 seconds.
“I think I ran great,” said Campbell. “Facing great competition.” Campbell also said that the race makes her “a lot more confident” in her 100 abilities.
Guerin Catholic’s Bridget Gallagher delivered a win for the Golden Eagles in the 800 run; the team finished with 26 points. Kelsey Smith placed third in the high jump to lead Hamilton Heights, while Abby Hannon took fourth for University in the shot put.
Team scores: Hamilton Southeastern 137, Carmel 136, Noblesville 135, Fishers 86.5, Westfield 52.5, Guerin Catholic 26, Hamilton Heights 22, University 5.
NOTE: Relay names were not available.
4×800 relay: 1. Carmel 9:24.07, 2. Noblesville 9:32.73, 3. Southeastern 9:44.62, 4. Fishers 10:14.89, 5. Westfield 10:29.88, 6. Guerin Catholic 10:36.40.
100 hurdles: 1. Ally Elsbury (HSE) 14.72, new meet record, 2. Kiana Siefert (N) 15.09, 3. Elia Blackmore (HSE) 15.68, 4. Ella Ewing (HH) 16.02, 5. Sophia Sullivan (C) 16.17, 6. Anna Williams (F) 16.40, 7. Madison Clary (W) 17.12, 8. Ava Sinex (C) 17.22, 9. Olivia Boe (N) 17.85.
100 dash: 1. Princess Campbell (W) 12.48, 2. Genesis Bowers (F) 12.653, 3. Ella Scally (F) 12.658, 4. Sanai Smith (HSE) 12.77, 5. Emily Norris (C) 12.82, 6. Tobi Fapetu (W) 13.04, 7. D’ahni Branch (C) 13.07, 8. Daniela Rios Rojas (HSE) 13.36, 9. Emma Bock (GC) 13.44.
1600 run: 1. Paige Hazelrigg (N) 5:08.99, 2. Alivia Romaniuk (C) 5:09.39, 3. Maggie Powers (HSE) 5:10.50, 4. Jasmine Klopstad (C) 5:14.89, 5. Kelly Pesyna (W) 5:19.86, 6. Brooke Lahee (N) 5:24.34, 7. Grace Newton (HSE) 5:24.71, 8. Megan Mybeck (F) 5:24.89, 9. Rosie Barrett (GC) 5:33.80, 10. Nezira Djour (W) 5:38.25, 11. Olivia Weyer (F) 5:42.24, 12. Kelley Trowbridge (U) 5:57.26, 13. LeAnne Alsatie (U) 6:00.23, 14. Grace Boivin (GC) 6:02.07.
4×100 relay: 1. Fishers 48.45, 2. Southeastern 49.08, 3. Westfield 49.60, 4. Noblesville 51.80, 5. Heights 52.70, 6. Guerin Catholic 53.13, 7. University 54.40.
400 dash: 1. Olivia Cebalo (C) 57.01, 2. Cambell Wamsley (C) 59.28, 3. Ciara Kepner (HSE) 59.68, 4. Maddie Coates (N) 1:01.84, 5. Clara Cameron (W) 1:01.92, 6. Marina Agapios (F) 1:02.64, 7. Lizzie Hirschfield (W) 1:02.65, 8. Camryn McKinney (HSE) 1:03.24, 9. Jaydi Jones (N) 1:03.28, 10. Hannah Samson (F) 1:04.04, 11. Kyndall Osborne (GC) 1:05.42, 12. Lily Hovda (U) 1:07.02, 13. Emily Demmings (GC) 1:07.90, 14. Lauren Porter (U) 1:09.78.
300 hurdles: 1. Blackmore (HSE) 45.68, 2. K. Siefert (N) 46.19, 3. Lucy Hauser (W) 46.71, 4. Sinex (C) 47.26, 5. Makenzie Loftin (HSE) 48.98, 6. Mallory Kixmiller (F) 49.39, 7. Williams (F) 49.67, 8. Madison Clary (W) 50.45, 9. Lani Samms (C) 52.53, 10. Brielle Siefert (N) 54.95.
800 run: 1. Bridget Gallagher (GC) 2:14.47, 2. Summer Rempe (N) 2:15.36, 3. Brinkley Cooper (N) 2:18.27, 4. Vera Schafer (F) 2:19.64, 5. Allie Latta (HSE) 2:19.82, 6. Kara Wenzler (C) 2:21.34, 7. Jamie Klavon (C) 2:23.64, 8. Audrey Baldwin (F) 2:25.32, 9. Julianne McLean (HSE) 2:27.67, 10. Sydney Klinglesmith (W) 2:27.78, 11. Liz Smith (W) 2:27.84, 12. Allison Wozniak (GC) 2:45.09, 13. Trowbridge (U) 2:49.28, 14. Alsatie (U) 3:02.39.
200 dash: 1. Scally (F) 25.84, 2. Kya Hoskins (F) 26.13, 3. Regan Wans (HSE) 26.31, 4. Wamsley (C) 26.35, 5. Jehnea Mirro (HSE) 26.52, 6. Fapetu (W) 26.54, 7. Kate Rollins (N) 27.31, 8. Katelyn Malin (W) 27.50, 9. Maddie Coates (N) 28.07.
3200 run: 1. Romaniuk (C) 11:33.40, 2. Olivia Mundt (C) 11:43.64, 3. Kennedy Applegate (N) 11:45.65, 4. Robyn Schemel (W) 11:58.87, 5. Nadia Perez (N) 12:05.36, 6. Addison Smith (HSE) 12:32.17, 7. Elise Herman (HSE) 12:38.22, 8. Samantha Taylor (W) 12:38.99, 9. Claire Milam (GC) 12:41.79, 10. Addie Kane (F) 12:57.50, 11. Annabel Wright (GC) 13:03.05, 12. Nithya Murthy (U) 13:34.46, 13. Trowbridge (U) 14:39.03.
4×400 relay: 1. Carmel 4:01.08, 2. Guerin Catholic 4:11.73, 3. Southeastern 4:15.51, 4. Noblesville 4:15.53, 5. Westfield 4:20.12, 6. Fishers 4:24.66.
High jump: 1. Malina Miller (N) 5-4, 2. Rylee Hassan (N) 5-2, 3. Kelsey Smith (HH) 5-2, 4. Kori Dues (GC) 4-10, T5. Lydia Pedersen (C) 4-10; Makenzie Holcomb (C) 4-10, 7. Mia Kemp (HSE) 4-8, T8. Kixmiller (F) 4-8; Amiyah Ballard (W) 4-8, 10. Camryn Runner (HH) 4-8, 11. Alyssa Karwowski (HSE) 4-6, 12. Hannah Samson (F) 4-4, 13. Madison Scheidler (GC) 4-4.
Long jump: 1. Elsbury (HSE) 18-4.25, new meet record, 2. Scally (F) 18-1, 3. Lauren Bailey (C) 18-0.5, 4. K. Siefert (N) 17-8.5, 5. Kemp (HSE) 17-7.25, 6. Emily Norris (C) 17-0, 7. Megan Feltner (N) 16-11, 8. Ewing (HH) 16-8.25, 9. Jurnee Hall (F) 16-7, 10. Mia Chang (GC) 15-5.5, 11. Lizzy Smith (HH) 15-1, 12. Harleigh Abbott (GC) 14-11, 13. E’layah Ballard (W) 14-4, 14. Patty Chikamba (U) 13-9.5.
Pole vault: 1. Laina Lillge (N) 10-6, 2. Ella Wilhelm (HSE) 10-6, 3. Linley Burman (N) 10-6, 4. Julia Dong (C) 10-0, 5. Taylor Standridge (HH) 10-0, 6. Riann O’Leary (C) 9-0, 7. Mady Hutcherson (HH) 8-6, 8. Savannah Strange (F) 8-0, 9. Paige Lemieux (W) 7-6, 10. Allie Hermann (GC) 7-6, 11. Beth Whiteford (F) 7-6.
Discus: 1. Hannah Alexander (N) 138-11, 2. Taylor Reagor (C) 127-0, 3. Rosiebella Fiabema (HSE) 124-10, 4. Audrey Dickson (C) 113-3, 5. Marina Alphin (HSE) 111-0, 6. Kayla Gregory (F) 104-9, 7. Anna Jozsa (HH) 101-3, 8. Macey Miller (F) 97-11, 9. Maris Bulger (GC) 94-1, 10. Kendall Pagington (W) 92-9, 11. Alana Halsted (W) 83-5, 12. Lauren Porter (U) 83-4, 13. Hadleigh Cherry (HH) 81-10, 14. Abby Hannon (U) 80-9, 15. Thalia Siefert (N) 79-0, 16. Sophia Moore (GC) 61-11.
Shot put: 1. Fiabema (HSE) 42-0.5, 2. Alexander (N) 40-6.5, 3. Miller (F) 36-0.5, 4. Hannon (U) 35-7.5, 5. Reagor (C) 35-3.5, 6. Delaney Richards (HSE) 34-11, 7. Daley Rhodes (F) 33-10, 8. Bulger (GC) 32-2, 9. Jada Henson (W) 30-7.5, 10. Ayo Arulogun (C) 29-7.5, 11. Mya Bryson (HH) 28-2.5, 12. Alexandria Peltonen (W) 27-8, 13. Marielle Fitch (N) 27-3.5, 14. Cherry (HH) 27-1.5, 15. Moore (GC) 23-8.5, 16. Diana Luna (U) 19-2.