“Nickels and dimes” add up for Carmel girls track

Hounds win first state title since 1999

By RICHIE HALL

INDIANAPOLIS – Even after some early drama, everything ultimately went right for the Greyhounds.

Their reward was a state trophy that Carmel hadn’t gotten its hands on in 26 years.

The Carmel girls track & field team ended its long state title drought last Saturday at North Central, winning its first team state championship since going back-to-back in 1998-99. The ‘Hounds finished with 54 team points, holding off runner-up Hamilton Southeastern. The Royals totaled 46 points.

“Everyone did what we needed to do, and we pulled this thing off,” said Carmel coach Aaron McRill. “I don’t want to compare it to other sports, but man, it is hard. It is so hard because you have to have everything go right that day, especially if you try to do it as a team.”

The Greyhounds didn’t win any individual events, but they scored in all three relays and got podium performances from several athletes. McRill said his team had to “nickel and dime points the entire meet,” but Carmel came through, earning medals in nine events.

The ‘Hounds also overcame some early drama. Sadie Foley was one of the top runners in the 1600 run, but fell at the start of the race, hurting her ankle.

“It was just a competitive start,” said Foley. “I’m thinking I must have stepped on someone…I kind of wiped out on the track and got a little scraped up.”

Foley was hesitant about running, but she had the team goal in mind.

“The team title’s the ultimate goal,” said Foley. “And so I was just like, ‘We need those points.’ It’s going to be a close one.”

After getting her ankle taped, Foley went back out on the track. She finished fifth, giving the ‘Hounds five team points.

Foley came back to finish the meet as part of Carmel’s 4×400 relay. She joined Gabriela Grande Rosas, Olivia Cebalo and Emily Norris to place second in the relay, with a time of 3 minutes, 48.27 seconds.

“Sadie Foley is a gamer,’ said McRill. After the 1600, the coaches talked with Foley, with McRill telling her “be honest with me about whether you can do this or not.”

“And she said she can do it, so I trust her. I think she split a 58-high on that, so great,” said McRill.

A late turning point in the meet came in the 3200 run, where Annabel Pollert finished third. That put Carmel ahead by 10, 46-36, effectively clinching no less than a tie for first place.

“We’ve known this from the beginning of the year that the team title is going to be a battle,” said Pollert. “We try to keep our mind focused on the team. Track is an individual sport, so everybody has to do good in their own thing. But in the end, it’s all for the team.”

The Greyhounds started off strong, with Foley, Pollert, Kaitlyn Oshimura and Larkin Taylor placing second in the 4×800 relay. Carmel clocked in that race at 8:53.45, which is under the old state record (8:53.74) set by Eastern in 2013. Bloomington South won this year’s race in 8:51.35.

Norris finished with four state medals. She took fifth in the long jump, sixth in the 200 dash and was part of the third-place 4×100 relay team. Rebecca Belanger, Cebalo and Grande Rosas also were on that relay.

Taylor also finished fourth in the 800 run, while Cebalo took sixth in the 400 dash.