Pendleton Heights alum Ellie McCardwell was inducted into the Indiana Track Hall of Fame.

Ellie McCardwell

TERRE HAUTE — Pendleton Heights graduate Ellie McCardwell was inducted into the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches Hall of Fame over the weekend.
She becomes the first athlete from Pendleton Heights to be inducted into the hall of fame.
McCardwell was a three-time all-state member for the Arabians’ track and field team in 2008, 2009 and 2010.
She set the Indiana State Final record of 13 feet, 6¼ inches, in 2009, which stood for 14 years until broken in 2023.
She followed up her 2009 state title with another top finish in 2010.
She also holds the Pendleton Heights High School record with a vault of 13 feet, 7 inches.
At the national level, McCardwell placed second at the 2009 Nike Outdoor Nationals.
In 2010, she was recognized as a SAMMY Scholar Athlete and the Gatorade Indiana Track and Field Athlete of the Year.
She captained the Pendleton Heights track team to the 2009 Hoosier Heritage Conference title and was part of three sectional championship teams.
She also captained the Pendleton Heights cheerleading team to 2010 All-State honors.
McCardwell’s track career continued at Stanford University, where she competed at the NCAA level for four years.
During her collegiate career, she earned four consecutive top-five finishes at the Pac-12 Championships, was a Pac-12 All-Academic selection honorable mention and Mountain Pacific Sports Federation (MPSF) All-Academic selection and was recognized as an NCAA All-American. She cleared her career-best vault of 13 feet, 7¾ inches, at the University of California Berkeley. She sits as the fifth all-time female vaulter in the Stanford record books.
After graduating from Stanford, she started a degree in international relations in 2014.
McCardwell retired from competitive athletics and started working in the technology startup scene in Silicon Valley and Austin, Texas. She completed her MBA from The University of Chicago Booth School of Business in 2023 and currently lives in Austin with her husband, Matt.
Inducted along with McCardwell were Fasil Bizuneh (Ben Davis), Scott Fangman (Southport), Harry Fredia (Chalmers), Ronald Gibson (Gary Tolleston), Larry Henning (Caroll), Candyce McGrone (Warren Central), Austin Mudd (Center Grove), Angie Ryker (New Washington), Brionna Thomas (Fort Wayne Wayne), Futsum Zienasellassie (North Central), Kerry Zimmerman (Corydon Central) and Gary Roosevelt’s 1962 4×440 relay team.