Greencastle runs away with conference title

GHS junior Colleen Weatherford won two individual events during Friday WCC Meet at South Putnam.

They say it's not how you start, but how you finish that counts. But when you start off your night by eclipsing a record by more than 15 seconds, you know the finish is going to be as sweet as the start.

Greencastle road that hot start to a 64 point win in the West Central Conference meet Friday at South Putnam. GHS won with a total of 150, with Cloverdale placing fourth with 70 points, South Putnam placing fifth with 58.5 points and North Putnam placing sixth with a total of 41 points.

The Greencastle girls' 3,200-meter relay team of Emily Gill, Alex Stoffregen, Kayla Cash and Colleen Weatherford got things going, setting a new mark in the event after posting a time of 9:57.98. The previous record was set in 2002 by Speedway with a time of 10:12.80. On the night, Greencastle won nine events to lead all schools.

Colleen Weatherford won the 400-meter dash, posting the event's only sub-minute time, with a time of 59.45. Weatherford also won the 800-meter run with a time of 2:26.81.

The Tiger Cubs were able to have a nice blend of wins; recording first place finishes in sprints, distance and field events. Emily Gill won the 3,200-meter run with a time of 12:34.58 and Kayla Cash won the 1,600-meter run with a time of 5:38.38.

Paige Pickens paced the field in the 200-meter dash with a time of 26.77, while Carrisa Johnson out-jumping North Putnam's Audrey Healey to win the long jump with a distance of 15-8.

Pickens, Johnson, Emily Crawley and Carissa Johnson teamed up to win the 400-meter relay with a time of 51.29. The GHS team of Crawley, Pickens, Gill and Weatherford closed out the night by winning the 1,600-meter relay in dominating fashion, posting a time of 4:18.20.

Cloverdale's Mariah Oetken posted the team's only win on the night by winning the high jump with a height of 5-2. The Clovers narrowly missed out winning the 100-meter hurdles as Brooke Gray placed second just .06 out of first place.

The Clovers also placed second in the 3,200-meter relay and the 400-meter relay. The team of Claudia Monnett, Bailee Stevens, Rylie Vauters and Amillia Nally were second in the 3,200-meter relay with a time of 11:01.71, while Gray, Paige Gruener, Angela Manning and Miranda Tate were second in the 400-meter relay with a time of 54.99.

North Putnam had one win on the night coming from junior Sam Lucas in the shot put. Lucas had a toss of 37-7 to win over Cascade's Paxton Ott. Katie Welch placed second in the discus with a distance of 102-8.

The host Eagles were unable to log a victory on the night, but freshman Deborah Cheatham placed second in the high jump with a height of 5-1. Fellow freshman Ariel Higgins placed third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 50.36.

South Putnam will play host to the IHSAA Girls Track Sectional Tuesday at 5:30 p.m.

Full agate will be in Monday's edition of the Banner Graphic.