South, GHS athletes advance to regional

Beautiful weather greeted area track athletes who competed at the South Putnam Track Sectional Tuesday night. Greencastle was Putnam County's top placer, finishing in third place with 86 points. South Putnam tied for sixth with 44 points and North Putnam scored 2.5 points.

The night belonged to South Putnam senior Shelby Johnston. She helped lead the Eagles to a sixth place finish by winning three individual titles on the night.

South Putnam's Shelby Johnston (center) consults with her mom (left) and Coach Kate Atkinson late in Tuesday's meet as she begins to concentrate on regional.

Johnston won both hurdle events in Tuesday's meet. She won the 100 hurdles in 16.56 and the 300 hurdles with a time of 47.85. She also captured the high jump after clearing 5-feet-two inches.

South Putnam head coach Kate Atkinson acknowledged that in track nothing is a given but Johnston accomplished what she was expecting.

The Eagles also got good performance from Brittany Cox who placed third in the discus with a toss of 97-feet-9-inches.

In addition to Johnston and Cox, South Putnam's 3,200-relay team consisting of Shannon Egold, Rachel Egold, Lauren Haynes and Amanda Lund advanced to regional after posting a 10:38.90.

"I think we had a great night," Atkinson said. "I had team goals for them and one of them was to advance two individuals and a relay to regional. At the beginning of the season they just looked at me like 'I don't know about that,' but we did it and they feel great.

"Brittany had a great chance in the discus and by the way the 3,200 relay turned on the second half of the season, we knew they had a shot. Especially for the seniors involved, I think it's a great way for them to wrap up their final season. It was good night -- it was what we wanted," Atkinson commented.

Greencastle captured three first place finishes on the night, with their final event securing their second place finish.

As darkness began to consume the meet, Greencastle's Caitlin Gannaway took center stage in the shot put event. Gannaway's toss of 38-feet-7-inches was good enough to land her in first place. Teammate D'Aundrea Williams finished in second place with a throw of 37-feet-4-inches.

"It was very competitive between the two of them (Gannaway and Williams). They just kept punching the ball out there," Anderson commented. "Both had personal best, so it's outstanding. Young kids and they're both back next year, that's the best part about it."

Jamie Patterson (left) and Laura Weatherford come to the line in the 200-meters Tuesday. Weatherford won the event in 12.13, while Patterson finished fourth.

Laura Weatherford, coming off her record setting performance at conference, won the 200-meter in a time of 26.13. She was also a member of the 400-meter relay that won. She, along with Dee Wood, Jamie Patterson and Laura English, seized first place with a time of 50.47.

After the meet, GHS head coach Garry Anderson was pleased with some individual performances but thinks the Tiger Cubs didn't run to their potential.

"I don't think we ran to our hopes," Anderson said. "We hoped to have done better in some events. Pleased with Laura Weatherford, my gosh, and Melissa Ball ran a real nice 400 meter also. Those two did a fine, fine job."

GHS advanced to regional in six events on the night. Weatherford advanced in the 200 and 400, with Patterson also advancing in the 200. Gannaway and Williams moved on in the shot put, while Hannah Serlin advanced in the 1,600 meter run. Greencastle also advanced the 400 and 1,600-meter relays.

"Our 1,600 and 400-meter relays came through nicely and we'll see what we need to work on for regional and hopefully do better at regional," Anderson said.

North Putnam saw its track season come to an end after posting a 2.5-point performance.

Cassie Preecs was North's top finisher after placing sixth in the high jump with a height of 4-feet-10-inches. Paxton Stephenson ran a 2:49.83 in the 800 meter to place 10th. North Putnam's 400-relay team of Stacey Stinson, Shannon Brock, Laura McGaughey and Jasmine Mimms also placed 10th on the night.

"I would have liked have had more than two-and-a-half points but it was just such good competition here," Cougar head coach Kevin Lutes said with a smile. "Our girls tried our best but we don't have a lot of depth. As far as effort, we still had several girls run personal bests tonight and I just think as a coach, ideally, that's what you want.

"It doesn't matter if they're at the top or at the bottom, if they're running their hardest and giving their full effort, I'm just thrilled to death," he concluded.

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

At South Putnam

IHSAA Girls' Track Sectional

Brownsburg 104.5, Avon 88, Greencastle 86, Plainfield 79, Southmont 71, South Putnam 44, Danville 44, Cascade 38, Western Boone 28, Rockville 20, Tri-West 11, Crawfordsville 8, North Putnam 2.5

3,200 Relay -- 1. Southmont 9:43.01, 2. Brownsburg 9:52.22, 3. Avon 9:55.09, 4. South Putnam (S. Egold, Haynes, Lund, R. Egold) 10:38.90, 5. Plainfield 11:08.89, 6. Greencastle (Wood, Martinez, Barger, Culler) 11:11.00, 7. Western Boone 11:52.00, 8. Tri-West 11:59.59.

100 -- 1. Allison Weimer (B) 12.86, 2. Courtney Erlenbaugh (P) 13.07, 3. Jessica Coccaro (D) 13.10, 4. Kenya Owens (B) 13.12, 5. Jamie Patterson (G) 13.22, 6. Dee Wood (G) 13.27, 7. Shelby Reynolds (Cs) 13.33, 8. Kara Brothers (TW) 13.56.

100 H -- 1. Shelby Johnston (SP) 16.56, 2. Nina Winkler (Cs) 16.87, 3. Abigail Brewer (D) 16.93, 4. Rebecca Hoesman (P) 17.13, 5. Sara Solomon (WB) 17.36, 6. Samantha Harlan (D) 17.56, 7. Kristin Mercer (P) 17.72, 8. Erica Soster (G) 17.93.

1,600 -- 1. Lorna Whaley (A) 5:13.37, 2. Kylie Lippencott (SM) 5:31.00, 3. Hannah Serlin (G) 5:37.80, 4. Leiona Noah (A) 5:38.86, 5. Maddie Webster (B) 5:38.97, 6. Callie Dale (WB) 5:46.66, 7. Hannah Stroup (TW) 5:51.03, 8. Casey Moore (P) 5:55.00.

400 relay -- 1. Greencastle (Wood, Weatherford, Patterson, English) 50.57, 2. Brownsburg 51.31, 3. Cascade 52.25, 4. Danville 52.34, 5. Avon 52.77, 6. Southmont 53.34, 7. Western Boone 53.72, 8. Plainfield 55.98.

400 -- 1. Allison Weimer (B) 57.37, 2. Laura Weatherford (G) 58.17, 3. Brandy Woody (WB) 59.37, 4. Rachel Lucas (A) 1:00.04, 5. Melissa Ball (G) 1:00.21, 6. Kirsten Gaerke (B) 1:00.81, 7. Brooke McGaughey (SM) 1:01.91, 8. Kelsey Hungerford (Cv) 1:03.48.

300 hurdles -- 1. Shelby Johnston (SP) 47.85, 2. Rebecca Hoesman (P) 48.01, 3. Nina Winkler (Cs) 49.51, 4. Audra Cokain (A) 49.81, 5. Allison Norris (SM) 49.84, 6. Samantha Harlan (D) 50.52, 7. Soster (G) 51.32, 8. Sara Solomon (WB) 51.74.

800 -- 1. Creasy Clauser (SM) 2:15.53*, 2. Haley Miller (B) 2:19.20, 3. Kelsey Erlenbaugh (P) 2:24.49, 4. Lauren Callahan (D) 2:24.50, 5. Sara Lucas (A) 2:25.00, 6. Maya Nagy (A) 2:26.44, 7. Hannah Serlin (G) 2:35.00, 8. Hannah Stroup (TW) 2:35.37.

200 -- 1. Weatherford (G) 26.13, 2. Allison Weimer (B) 26.62, 3. Kenya Owens (B) 26.81, 4. Jamie Patterson (G) 27.12, 5. Megan Westell (A) 27.21, 6. Courtney Erlenbaugh (P) 27.27, 7. Brandy Woody (WB) 27.31, 8. Kara Brothers (TW) 28.47.

3,200 -- 1. Lorna Whaley (A) 11:38.94, 2. Holly Hatch (SM) 12:19.03, 3. Casey Moore (P) 12:22.04, 4. Krista Beal (P) 12:25.50, 5. Megan Moser (B) 12:32.00, 6. Shannon Egold (SP) 12:36.54, 7. Deirdre Nolan (B) 12:48.00, 8. Briana Deckard (D) 12:48.31.

1,600 relay -- 1. Brownsburg 4:06.99, 2. Avon 4:13.72, 3. Southmont 4:15.62, 4. Greencastle (Ball, English, Serlin, Weatherford) 4:17.24, 5. Plainfield 4:25.76, 6. Western Boone 4:30.73, 7. Crawfordsville 4:31.98, 8. Danville 4:44.00.

High jump -- 1. Shelby Johnston (SP) 5-2, 2. Jenadon Eldridge (R) 5-0, 3. Shalynn Eckols (Cs) 4-11, 4. Brandy Woody (WB) J4-11, 5. Whitney Adams (D) J4-11, 6.(tie) Cassie Preecs (NP), Sara Tate (B) 4-10, 8. Haley Austin (A) J4-10.

Long jump -- 1. Shelby Reynolds (Cs) 14-7.5, 2. Briscney Fleming (A) 16-1, 3. Kyra Burton (SM) 15-3, 4. Sara Blair (D) 14-9, 5. Molly Stewart (D) 14-9, 6. Miranda Judt (SM) 14-7.5, 7. Mikyla Houston (B) 14-5.5, 8. Rebecca Norlin (G) 14-5.

Discus -- 1. Morgan Ford (P) 114-9, 2. Brittany Sherron (R) 107-9.5, 3. Brittany Cox (SP) 97-9, 4. Liz Fowler (Cv) 92-11.5, 5. Jody Pearcy (P) 89-6, 6. Lana Taylor (A) 89-3, 7. Mariah Jones (A) 88-8, 8. Erika Collins (G) 88-2.

Shot put -- 1. Caitlin Gannaway (G) 38-7, 2. D'Aundrea Williams (G) 37-4, 3. Morgan Ford (P) 36-1, 4. Alicia Peterman (P) 34-9, 5. Brittany Sherron (R) 33-8.5, 6. Carlynn Carter (A) 32-2, 7. Mariah Jones (A) 32-00, 8. Rael Smith (B) 31-9.

Pole vault -- 1. Jacque Toth (B) 9-3, 2. Kyra Burton (SM) 8-9, 3. Stephanie Cullison (D) 8-6, 4. Chelsea Todd (A) 7-9, 5.(tie) Megan Walkosak (G), Carrie Rhoads (SM), Sara Story (B) 7-0, 8.(tie) Lindsey Silcox (P), Olivia Miller (P) J7-0.

*--Sectional record.