Cubs provide more great efforts at regional

BLOOMINGTON — While Emma Wilson was the only state finalist qualifier for Greencastle at last week’s regional meets, Tiger Cub coach Craig Jordan was also pleased with the performance of his other competitors.

“As a team, everyone came out and performed well,” Jordan said of the girls’ regional competitors. “All of our ladies in the 4x800 were close or exceeded their personal bests.

“Katie Haynes was a big contributor to our 4x800 and impressed everyone with her speed as she went through 200 meters in 31 seconds.”

Jordan noted that shot put participants Mia Stevens (a senior) and Jada Amis (a sophomore) faced off for the last time.

“They both threw further than they did at sectionals and ended with Jada edging out Mia by less than an inch for eighth place,” he said.

Sophomore Sydney Lewis tied her personal best in the pole vault, Jordan said, which ultimately put her in a three-way tie for eighth place.

“Sydney is a girl that has shown tremendous growth over the past year going from a ‘no height’ at sectionals last year to a regional qualifier this year,” he said. “Of our entire team, we’ll lose four seniors, which has me very excited when I think of what our team can accomplish next year.”

Seniors J.T. Matthews, Elijah Williams and Clayton Wilson represented Greencastle at the boys’ regional on Thursday.

“Our boys team did a fantastic job at regionals,” Jordan said. “For Elijah and Clayton, it was their first time — so for those two to place ninth out of their 16-member field was great. Both performed better than their sectional seeds, which was our goal.”

Jordan was optimistic that Matthews would make a second return to state.

“We knew that he’d most likely need to hit the state standard in order to do so,” he said. “He cleared 6-3, which was the same height he cleared to qualify last year. This year it was not enough.

“All three will continue their athletic endeavors next year at the collegiate level, so there will be more big performances to be had for all of them.”