By RICHIE HALL
Reporter Sports Editor
On paper, Hamilton Southeastern was favored to win the Lafayette Jefferson girls track and field regional.
Of course, meets aren’t won on paper. They are won on the track and in the field – and the Royals certainly did win on the track and in the field on Tuesday, to the tune of 121 points.
“That’s exactly what we pre-seeded ourselves at,” said Southeastern coach Julie Alano. “So that’s really scary. Someone upstairs said we should go to Vegas now. We didn’t score exactly in the same spots that we were seeded, but to score the same amount of points that’s on the sheet, that’s crazy. You don’t always do that.”
In order to get that win, the Royals had to perform at their seed, which is never an easy thing to do. But Southeastern was up to the challenge. The Royals were top-seeded in seven events and won six of them, and also got other athletes to step up as well.
“We had a lot of No. 1 seeds, so it’s hard to maintain that,” said Alano. “You have to win. The only place you can go in those events is down. That’s really telling of how well we did.”
Leading the way was senior Camille Christopher. She took two individual events, the 100 and 200 dashes, and was part of the winning 4×100 relay team, along with Olivia Burgess, Tierra Sydnor and Alyssa Barker.
“Everything went really good, as a team and personally,” said Christopher. The senior said that everyone is ready for state and compete at a bigger level.
Christopher’s 100 and 200 times were incredible – and new regional and HSE school records. She won the 100 in a time of 11.66 seconds and the 200 in 24.18 seconds. In the 200, Christopher finished over a second ahead of second place, which just does not ordinarily happen in high-level competition.
“I was actually really shocked,” said Christopher. “I was so surprised that actually happened and I can’t wait to drop more time.”
Sydnor was a double winner, as she also placed first in the long jump in addition to the relay success. Mia Mackenzie won the 100 hurdles, and was a close second in the 300 hurdles, going to state in both events. The top three finishers in each event earn a spot at the Friday, June 1, state meet at Indiana University.
“I definitely think I did a lot better in the 300,” said Mackenzie. The senior said that while her times over the year have been “a little rough,” but she was finally able to get down to the “44s,” running the 300 race in 44.65 seconds.
“Next week I’ll hopefully have enough to get me good placements for the 300 and 100,” said Mackenzie.
Southeastern’s pole vaulters continued to dominate. Kennedy Drish, the defending state champion in that event, and Jessica Bray both cleared 12 feet, 2 inches, topping the old regional record by two inches. Drish finished first on Tuesday, with Bray taking second on misses.
Other state qualifiers for HSE include Olivia Burgess in the 200, Sydnor in the 400 dash, Lulu Black in the 3200 run – “Lulu finally broke 11 minutes, that’s awesome,” said Alano – and the 4×400 relay team of Burgess, Mya Hammons, Annice McFarland and Sydnor. West Lafayette won the race by a quarter of a second over HSE, but the Royals are happy to get the team on to state.
“Distance stepped up to get those points and spots at state, too,” said Alano. “We didn’t have much of that last year. We didn’t have a 4×4 last year. It’s so exciting to have a 4×4 in it. West Lafayette ran amazing, but we did really well there, too. 3:54, that’s huge for us right now. After not even going to state in 4×4, that’s going to be helpful.”
Carmel placed second as a team with 76.5 points. Sophomore Phoebe Bates won two events, the 1600 and 3200. Bates held of Zionsville’s Sophia Rigg to win the 1600, then cruised to victory in the 3200 with a winning margin of almost 13 seconds.
Bates said that she went into the meet “just taking it one race at a time,” and knew that there would be more competition. “So I just went out as hard as I could and just had to hold until the end.”
Junior Reagan Hune had a nice day, earning a place at state in three events. Hune finished third in the 400 dash and was part of two qualifying Greyhound relays: The 4×100 with Kiara Gill, Carly Markley and Josie Upton, and the 4×400 with Abbey Grogan, Beverley Thompson and Alexis Waples.
“Today was a great day,” said Hune. “It was beautiful weather, I made sure I got real stretched out and just got support from my teammates. I thought I did pretty well with all of our handoffs, the 4×1 and 4×4, and I just remembered all my training for the 400.”
Also qualifying to state from Carmel are the 4×800 relay team of Annie Christie, Mahalet Zeruesenay, Anna Morozov and Sydney Haines; Maddie Dalton in the 1600 run and Kara Deady in the pole vault. Deady finished fourth in the pole vault, but made the state standard of 11 feet, 2 inches, which ensured a place at state.
Fishers finished in fifth place with 50 points. Tamia Perryman made it to state in three events, placing second in the 200, third in the 100, and second with Toni Grace, Danielle Harrison and Grace May in the 4×100 relay.
Harrison finished second in the 100 dash. Kamya Lapsley took third in the 800 to earn a place at state.
“It was really nice,” said Lapsley. The senior said her goal wasn’t just to get to state – it was to get to state and race well there.
“Now I have the opportunity and now I can see what I can do there and hopefully beat my place from last year,” said Lapsley, who finished sixth at state last year in the 800.
Noblesville scored 25 points, with Shelby Tyler taking second in the high jump. Tyler is the defending state champion in the high jump, so she will get the opportunity to defend her title. The Millers also had a couple fourth-place finishes that could receive a callback to state.
Westfield senior Sydney Spears qualified for state in two events. Spears was third in the long jump and placed fourth in the 400, but made the state standard in that event.
“I’ve been for relays, but never for individual events,” said Spears. “It feels great, honestly. Like right at the right time, my senior year. So it feels great to go out on a good note.”
Team scores: Hamilton Southeastern 121, Carmel 76.5, West Lafayette 69, Brownsburg 56, Fishers 50, Zionsville 40.5, Avon 33, Noblesville 25, Plainfield 21, Westfield 16, Lafayette Jefferson 14, Mooresville 14, Tri-West 14, Harrison 9.5, McCutcheon 9, Danville 8.5, Faith Christian 8, North White 6, Lafayette Central Catholic 6, Twin Lakes 6, Hamilton Heights 5, Benton Central 4, Rossville 3, Clinton Prairie 3, Lebanon 2, Frankfort 2, Southmont 1, North Montgomery 1.
4×800 relay: 3. Carmel (Annie Christie, Mahalet Zeruesenay, Anna Morozov, Sydney Haines) 9:25.61, 4. Noblesville (Abi Little, Aubrie Deal, Bella Sharples-Gordon, Anna Hazelrigg) 9:26.20, 6. Southeastern (Ellie Pedersen, Samantha Alphin, Maddie Mirro, Annice McFarland) 9:34.29, 7. Fishers (Corrine O’Leary, Corrine Yorkman, Johanna Strueder, Brynn Urban) 9:44.68, 8. Heights (Abby Christiansen, Morgan Guthrie, Maria Mitchell, Abby Roth) 9:52.16, 10. Westfield (Sophie Porter, ChristyAnn Dulhanty, Sydney Clifford, Sophia Brown) 10:09.07.
100 dash: 1. Camille Christopher (HSE) 11.66, new regional record, 2. Danielle Harrison (F) 12.13, 3. Tamia Perryman (F) 12.33, 9. Alyssa Barker (HSE) 12.79. Preliminaries – 10. Kailyn Ely (N) 12.76, 11. Carly Markley (C) 12.77.
100 hurdles: 1. Mia Mackenzie (HSE) 14.76, 6. Tayah Irvin (HSE) 15.33. Preliminaries – 12. Ava Henson (W) 16.24.
200 dash: 1. Christopher (HSE) 24.18, new regional record, 2. Perryman (F) 25.21, 3. Olivia Burgess (HSE) 25.38. Preliminaries – 10. Markley (C) 26.39.
1600 run: 1. Phoebe Bates (C) 4:54.34, 3. Maddie Dalton (C) 5:03.02, 4. Little (N) 5:03.53, 5. Mitchell (HH) 5:11.09, 7. O’Leary (F) 5:14.25, 12. Yorkman (F) 5:22.89, 15. Brooke Ratliff (HSE) 5:37.84.
4×100 relay: 1. Southeastern (Burgess, Tierra Sydnor, Barker, Christopher) 47.57, 2. Fishers (Perryman, Toni Grace, Harrison, Grace May) 48.00, 3. Carmel (Kiara Gill, Reagan Hune, Markley, Josie Upton) 49.32, 6. Noblesville (DeLaney Boles, Grace Brisco, Ely, Shelby Tyler) 50.08, 12. Guerin Catholic (Emily Zlatniski, Anna Hallett, Anna Jacoby, Macy Lips) 52.09.
400 dash: 2. Sydnor (HSE) 56.41, under old regional record, 3. Hune (C) 56.87, 4. Sydney Spears (W) 57.23, 5. Alexis Waples (C) 58.37.
300 hurdles: 2. Mackenzie (HSE) 44.65, 5. Beverley Thompson (C) 46.55, 7. Olivia Elkin (C) 46.67, 8. Katie Folta (F) 46.91.
800 run: 3. Kamya Lapsley (F) 2:15.89, 4. Pedersen (HSE) 2:19.21, 6. Hazelrigg (N) 2:20.83, 7. Christie (C) 2:21.21, 8. Haines (C)2:21.22, 9. Sharples-Gordon (N) 2:21.73, 11. Yorkman (F) 2:25.01.
3200 run: 1. Bates (C) 10:38.69, 2. Lulu Black (HSE) 10:51.48, 6. Gabby Dilick (W) 11:06.06, 7. Lilly Cummins (HSE) 11:19.81, 8. Miya Wai (F) 11:26.16, 9. Debbie Shera (F) 11:26.77, 10. Dalton (C) 11:37.37.
4×400 relay: 2. Southeastern (Burgess, Mya Hammons, McFarland, Sydnor) 3:54.08, 3. Carmel (Abbey Grogan, Thompson, Waples, Hune) 3:54.64, 5. Fishers (Lapsley, Grace, Harrison, Kieya McClung) 3:59.80, 7. Westfield (Alison Bullock, Emma Luedke, Spears, Hannah Fife) 4:07.67, 10. Noblesville (Hazelrigg, Little, Brisco, Sharples-Gordon) 4:10.56, 12. Guerin Catholic (Ellie Schroeder, Zlatniski, Grace Gjerde, Jacoby) 4:12.39.
Long jump: 1. Syndor (HSE) 17-9.5, 3. Spears (W) 17-3.75, 6. Kenedi London (F) 16-9, 7. Gill (C) 16-7.75, 8. Folta (F) 16-6, 10. Gjerde (GC) 15-3.
High jump: 2. Tyler (N) 5-9, T4. Amiyah James (C) 5-2, 10. Ellie Clark (C) 5-0.
Discus: 7. Valerie Obear (HSE) 121-7, 13. Becca Merritt (Sheridan) 110-3, 16. Wiley (HH) 105-8.
Shot put: 7. Anna Kmec (C) 36-7.75, 11. Merritt (S) 34-4, 12. Erikka Ededuwa (HSE) 34-3.25.
Pole vault: 1. Kennedy Drish (HSE) 12-2, new regional record, 2. Jessica Bray (HSE) 12-2, over old regional record, 4. Kara Deady (C) 11-2, 8. Tyler (N) 10-10, 10. Erika Knieper (N) 10-6, 12. Allison Casey (F) 10-2.
The Hamilton Southeastern girls track and field team dominated the Lafayette Jefferson regional on Tuesday. The Royals scored 121 points, won six events, and qualified many athletes to next week’s state meet. (Richie Hall)
Carmel’s Reagan Hune (left) and Westfield’s Sydney Spears qualified for the state meet in multiple events. Hune earned state places in the 400 dash and as part of two Greyhound relays, while Spears advanced to state in the 400 dash and the long jump. (Kent Graham)