INDIANAPOLIS – With a trip to the state finals at Indiana University on the line, Pendleton Heights and Lapel track and field teams competed at Pike High School last Tuesday and Thursday.
The girls competed on Tuesday, while the boys looked to punch their ticket on Thursday.
Both schools had a variety of competitors, but only one secured their spot in Friday’s state finals, and she did so — as she’s done all season long — with ease.
Pendleton Heights junior distance runner Ava Jarrell won the 1,600-meter race with a time of 10:30.60.
Her winning time beat the field by 45 seconds and was the 25th fastest time in state history. She enters tomorrow seeded first by nearly 20 seconds.
The win in the 3,200-meter was one of many for Jarrell this outdoor season. Along with the regional title, she won the sectional, Madison County, and the Carmel Distance Showcase.
She’ll look to cap off that run with a state championship in her third appearance at the meet.
Last season, she ran in the 1,600-meter at state and placed 12th, and as a freshman placed 16th in the 800-meter.
Along with Jarrell, Maddy Pfister, Hadley Walker and Jaycee Thurman competed in individual events for the Arabains at the Pike Regional.
Thurman was fifth in the 3,200-meter with a time of 12:02.99, Walker was 12th in the 800-meter (2:32.19), and Pfister was both 13th in the 100-meter (13.59) and 17th in the long jump (13-feet, 4.75-inches).
In the 4×400 relay, Jarrell and Walker, along with Addison Stanley and Ava Reed placed 10th with a time of 4:14.88.
The Lapel girls best finish came from Leila Wilson in the 400-meter. She placed fifth with a time of 59.78 breaking her own school record and becoming the first girl in school history to break one minute in the event.
Along with her, Regan Stookey was ninth in the 200-meter with a time of 27.49, and AnnaLee Stow placed 19th in the high jump at a height of 4-feet, 8-inches.
In the boys meet, the Bulldogs got a pair of ninth-place finishes to lead the way.
Simon Nickelson placed ninth in the 3,200-meter with a time of 10:03.88 and JJ Baxter was ninth in the shot put at 49-feet, 5-inches.
Braxton Burress rounded out the Lapel placements with a 14th in the 1600-meter.
Pendleton Heights’ best placement in the boys meet came from Benson Davis in the 3,200-meter. He ran a 9:34.41 to place fourth.
Will Coggins was ninth in the 1,600-meter with a time of 4:33.78, and Gabe Marin was 10th in the shot put at 48-feet, 10-inches.
The girls state finals begin tomorrow at 3 p.m. at Indiana University’s Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex. Jarrell’s event, the 3,200-meter, is scheduled to begin at 8:15 p.m.
