Athletes from GHS, North Putnam and Cloverdale advance to Regional

Wednesday, May 19, 2010
Mariah Oetken

GREENCASTLE -- With threatening overcast skies soaring overhead, the 2010 South Putnam Sectional for girls' track displayed some heated battles and great finishes across the board. Greencastle was the top county finisher with its fourth place finish with 68 points.

Plainfield was the sectional winner, edging Brownsburg by less than four points 119-115.5.

North Putnam came away with a 10th place finish on the night, while Cloverdale tied for 11th with Rockville with eight points and South Putnam was 13th with five.

GHS will be moving eight events on to the West Lafayette Regional Tuesday, while North Putnam and Cloverdale will each be represented in one event.

Greencastle will be advancing all three relays, plus five individual runners.

Laura English was fourth in the 200 with a time of 27.38, while Abby Coffin was second in the 300 hurdles with a time of 49.53. Hilary Fox placed third in the discus with a throw of 98-flat, while teammate Hannah Deer was fourth with a toss of 97-1.

"It's been a good meet for us," Garry Anderson said. "We've had some disappointments, but also some bright spots. Our 300 hurdler was a bright spot and our girls in the 800 did well -- getting all three relays through -- that's hard to do.

Colleen Weatherford

"Abby did fine in the hurdles, Laura English had another good day. Again, to have all three relays (get through), that's pretty darn good. I'll have to go back to find the last time that happened," Anderson said.

In one of the most heated races of the night, GHS freshman Colleen Weatherford came in second in the 800 to Brownsburg's Veronica Goduto. Guduto finished just ahead of Weatherford posting a time of 2:20.33 to Weatherford's 2:20.36.

"That was probably one of the best 800s you're going to see in any sectional around -- top to bottom, from first to eighth place, that's pretty hard to beat right there. It was great, very exciting,"

The 3,200 relay team of Emily Gill, Ivonne Martinez, Sara Culler and Weatherford placed third with a time of 10:16.12, with the team of English, Paige Pickens, Brittany Girton and Kelsey Grezseik finished second in the 400 relay with a time of 51.78. Gill, English, Weatherford and Erika Davies teamed up to place second in the 1,600 relay with a time of 4:14.67.

North Putnam's lone advancer was freshman Samantha Lucas in the shot put with a toss of 35-even. For head coach Kevin Lutes, it was an emotional night. His team had a lot of nice finishes, but it was the fire to compete that moved the Cougars' head coach.

"Sam Lucas, as a freshman, getting fourth is just phenomenal," Lutes said. "She's one of those kids that will do absolutely everything is asked of her and she just has a fun time throwing. So, that's really exciting to see.

"We had several injuries coming into it, so we were unable to compete in the 4x100, the 200 we didn't have any regular girls, but the girls that did step up competed so well," Lutes continued. "Every time I come out -- I'm just proud of how the girls represent the school and they represent the county."

Lutes also expressed his feelings regarding distance runner Paxton Stephenson following the meet.

"I felt bad for Paxton Stephenson," he said. "We knew she had an outside shot, but those Brownsburg girls are (good). But, she ran the best she could. She got her second best time in both of those (1,600 and 3,200). She has another year and I'm really excited with the way the program is going."

Cloverdale will also advance a field event athlete to the regional. High jumper Mariah Oetken will be traveling to West Lafayette after posting a height of 5-feet-even in the event.

Shelby Hacker was South Putnam's top finisher with a sixth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 32-5.5.

Advancing athletes will compete at the West Lafayette Regional Tuesday at 6 p.m.

Cloverdale track coach Susan Jordan and South Putnam coach Kate Atkinson were unavailable for comment following the meet.

At South Putnam

IHSAA Girls' Track Sectional

Plainfield 119, Brownsburg 115.5, Avon 77.5, Greencastle 68, Southmont 65, Cascade 60, Western Boone 33, Tri-West 26, Danville 23, North Putnam 14, Rockville 8, Cloverdale 8, South Putnam 5, Crawfordsville 1

Individual Results (Putnam County only)

3,200 R -- 3. Greencastle (Gill, Culler, Martinez, Weatherford) 10:16.12, 7. Cloverdale (Monnett, Shadwick, Routh, Nally) 11:03.84

100 -- 5. Grzesiek GHS 13.48, 6. Johnson GHS 13.61

200 -- 4. English GHS 27.38, 6. Girton GHS 28.05

1,600 -- 8. Stephenson NP 5:51.07

400 R -- 2. Greencastle (Grzesiek, Pickens, Girton, English) 51.78, 8. Cloverdale (Tate, Gruener, Shrum, Sinks) 55.49

400 -- 5. Davies GHS 1:03.97, 8. McGaughey NP 1:05.58

300 H -- 2. Coffin GHS 49.53

800 -- 2. Weatherford GHS 2:20.36, 8. Egold SP 2:30.75

3,200 -- 6. Stephenson NP 12:41.21, 8. Cash GHS 12:49.06

1,600 R -- 2. Greencastle (Davies, Gill, English, Weatherford) 4:14.67

HJ -- 4. Oetken CHS 5-0, 8. Coffin GHS 4-10

LJ -- 8. Schmidt SP 15-2

Disc -- 4. Deer GHS 97-1, 5. Welch NP 96-6

SP -- 4. Lucas NP 35-0, 5. Penturf GHS 33-4, 6. Hacker SP 32-5