By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – If you attended Saturday’s IHSAA girls track and field state meet at Ben Davis and thought that just about every team there was in contention for the state title – you were right.
It was a remarkably close meet, with the team champion not determined until the final race, the 4×400 relay. Cathedral won that event, and that pushed the Irish over the top, as they scored 39 points to win the state championship. Cathedral edged out runner-up Warren Central by one point, as the Warriors scored 38.
The Hamilton County teams stayed in the mix as well. Hamilton Southeastern finished in a three-way tie for seventh place by scoring 26 points. The Royals matched Center Grove and Lake Central, both of which also scored 26.
Southeastern picked up five medals at the state meet. The highest finisher was senior Halle Hill, who was the runner-up in the 1600 run. Hill clocked in at 4 minutes, 49.87 seconds, behind only Huntington North’s Addison Wiley, who finished in 4:45.27.
“I think I ran it pretty well,” said Hill. “We went out really slow, which isn’t great, but we came back really strong the third and fourth lap, which ended up for a really good finish.”
Hill also ran in the 3200 run. She placed 10th, just off the podium (the top nine receive medals), but with a pretty good time of 10:56.05. It was an incredibly fast 3200, with Bishop Chatard sophomore Lily Cridge setting an outrageous new state record of 10:03.16, which was over eight seconds off the old record.
“It was really difficult coming back from the 16,” said Hill. “The first mile, I just tried to chill and the second mile, I just tried to catch up to all-state. I didn’t get it, but I just tried to give it what I had the second mile.”
Hill has committed to the University of Illinois, where she got to meet distance coaches Nolan Fife and Sarah Haveman.
“It was one of the few colleges I got to visit before the pandemic and everything happened,” said Hill. “Coach Fife and Coach Haveman are just absolutely amazing and I’m so glad that I get to be coached by them next year.”
Southeastern earned another runner-up finish at the end of the meet, with the 4×400 relay team of Alyssa Barker, Annice McFarland, Madisyn Etheredge and Regan Wans taking second. The foursome finished the race in 3:55.18, less than a second off of Cathedral’s winning time of 3:54.24.
The 4×400 was Wans’ second medal of the evening, as she also took sixth in the 400 dash. The Royals began the meet with a seventh-place result in the 4×800 relay, which featured Olivia Brown, Grace Newton, Maggie Powers and Allie Latta. Ally Elsbury also took seventh in the 100 hurdles.
MARATHON WOMAN
Carmel took 10th place with 22 points. The Greyhounds also had the lone county champion, beginning the meet with a victory in the 4×800 relay. The team of Annie Christie, Jasmine Klopstad, Mahalet Zeruesenay and Abbey Grogan clocked in with a time of 9 minutes, 11.77 seconds.
“I was super nervous about it, but we went in knowing we could win,” said Christie. “Pulling it off was super exciting and I just love that I had some of my best friends to do it with.”
Christie would later earn another medal by placing seventh in the 3200 run. She also ran in the 1600 run, where she took 11th, easily making her the marathon woman of the meet.
“Two medals at state, you can’t ask for anything more,” said Christie. “I’m definitely pleased about it.”
Christie will run at Miami of Ohio University.
“They have women on staff, and I think that that is something that is super important, so that is one of the main draws,” said Christie. “The campus is just beautiful. It’s a great school academically and the team is awesome.”
Carmel totaled four medals at state. Tristan Barr placed fifth in a loaded pole vault field, and the Greyhounds placed sixth in the 4×400. Zeruesenday and Grogan both ran on that relay, joined by Cambell Wamsley and Claire Swigart.
TWO MEDALS FOR SCALLY, SIEFERT, MITCHELL
Fishers and Noblesville tied for 15th place at state, with both schools scoring 18 points.
Tigers junior Ella Scally had a terrific meet, starting with a runner-up finish in the 100 dash. Scally clocked in at 12.22 seconds, then later placed sixth in the 200 dash. She was also part of the Fishers 4×100 relay team, along with Myah Donaldson, Maya Taylor and Genesis Bowers, which took 10th.
“It feels pretty good,” said Scally. “A lot of hard work goes into it. And especially after COVID, it was nice to see results from it.”
Alison Casey also picked up a medal for Fishers, placing fourth in the pole vault. She was the top county finisher in that event, clearing 12 feet, 3 inches.
While Scally was successful in the dashes, Noblesville junior Kiana Siefert was doing well in the hurdle events. Siefert started with a fifth-place finish in the 100 hurdles (14.82), then came back to do one better in the 300 hurdles, taking fourth place (45.41).
“I think I ran really well,” said Siefert. “I got PRs in both of them, which is super exciting.”
Siefert’s 300 hurdles time was around three-quarters of a second faster than her previous personal best.
“I do really well under pressure, so I think I was just striving to do the best I could,” said Siefert.
Noblesville also had two medals in the field events. Parker Davis placed sixth in the pole vault, while Hannah Alexander took seventh in the discus.
Hamilton Heights’ Maria Mitchell also finished the meet with two medals. She placed fourth in the 1600 run in a time of 4:50.15, then came back to place in the 800 run, surging to fifth place. Mitchell’s performance accounted for all 11 of the Huskies’ points.
Mitchell will run for Grand Valley State University.
“I love the campus when I visited there,” said Mitchell. She also liked the coaches as well, “and they have a really consistently good program, boys and girls, like every year,” she said.
Westfield had one medalist: Kierstyn Ballard placed seventh in the pole vault, scoring three points for the Shamrocks.
Guerin Catholic’s Alyssa Chang also competed in the pole vault, tying for 11th.
Team scores (Top 10 and all county): 1. Cathedral 39, 2. Warren Central 38, 3. Zionsville 33, T4. North Central 32; Lawrence Central 32, 6. Bishop Chatard 27, T7. Hamilton Southeastern 26; Center Grove 26; Lake Central 26, 10. Carmel 22. T15. Fishers 18; Noblesville 18, T27. Hamilton Heights 11, T46. Westfield 3.
4×800 relay: 1. Carmel (Annie Christie, Jasmine Klopstad, Mahalet Zeruesenay, Abbey Grogan) 9:11.77, 7. Southeastern (Olivia Brown, Grace Newton, Maggie Powers, Allie Latta) 9:27.28, 14. Fishers (Vera Schafer, Megan Mybeck, Anna Runion, Elizabeth Barrett) 9:38.68, 20. Noblesville (Paige Hazelrigg, Mya McGavic, DeLaney Boles, Summer Rempe) 9:49.61.
100 hurdles: 1. Rachel Mehringer (Forest Park) 14.35, 5. Kiana Siefert (N) 14.82, 7. Ally Elsbury (HSE) 14.90.
100 dash: 1. Taylor Herbert (Lawrence Central) 12.03, 2. Ella Scally (F) 12.22. Prelims – 11. Princess Campbell (W) 12.47.
1600 run: 1. Addison Wiley (Huntington North) 4:45.27, 2. Halle Hill (HSE) 4:49.87, 4. Maria Mitchell (HH) 4:50.15, 11. Annie Christie (C) 5:04.87, 13. Alivia Romaniuk (C) 5:13.13.
4×100 relay: 1. North Central 47.32, 10. Fishers (Myah Donaldson, Maya Taylor, Scally, Genesis Bowers) 48.73, 14. Westfield (Kierstyn Ballard, Lucy Hauser, Jadeyn Hammes, Campbell) 49.17.
400 dash: 1. Ramiah Elliott (North Central) 55.08, 6. Regan Wans (HSE) 58.36.
300 hurdles: 1. Reese Sanders (Cathedral) 43.36, 4. Siefert (N) 45.41, 15. Hauser (W) 46.45.
800 run: 1. Wiley (Huntington North) 2:08.62, 5. Mitchell (HH) 2:12.11, 21. Klopstad (C) 2:22.13.
200 dash: 1. Elliott (North Central) 24.33, 6. Scally (F) 25.31.
3200 run: 1. Lily Cridge (Bishop Chatard) 10:03.16, new state record, 7. Christie (C) 10:46.93, 10. Hill (HSE) 10:56.05, 15. Barrett (F) 11:16.16, 17. Cara Naas (C) 11:27.02.
4×400 relay: 1. Cathedral 3:54.24, 2. Southeastern (Alyssa Barker, Annice McFarland, Madisyn Etheredge, Wans) 3:55.18, 6. Carmel (Cambell Wamsley, Claire Swigart, Zeruesenay, Grogan) 3:57.46, 22. Noblesville (Boles, Reagan Wilson, Elana Chatterton, Jenna Chatterton) 4:06.84.
High jump: 1. Tacoria Humphrey (Warren Central) 5-9, 13. Rylee Hassan (N) 5-4, T24. Kelsey Smith (HH) 5-0; Malina Miller (N) 5-0.
Pole vault: 1. Taylor Jarosinski (Center Grove) 13-0, 4. Alison Casey (F) 12-3, 5. Tristan Barr (C) 12-3, 6. Parker Davis (N) 12-0, 7. Ballard (W) 12-0, T11. Alyssa Chang (Guerin Catholic) 11-3.
Long jump: 1. Michelle Nazarov (Zionsville) 19-0, 10. Siefert (N) 17-10.75, 15. Sydney Black (W) 17-6.75.
Shot put: 1. Erikka Hill (Shenandoah) 45-4.25.
Discus: 1. Mia Pulianas (Elkhart) 144-5, 7. Hannah Alexander (N) 129-1.