UPDATED (5-18-22) Nine Putnam County athletes, two relays secure regional qualification at THS Track Sectional

Tuesday, May 17, 2022
Cloverdale's Ella Szczerbik and South Putnam's Sarah Jones tail Clay City's Macy Tucker during the 3,200-meter run at Tuesday night's Terre Haute South Girls' Track Sectional. Szczerbik would qualify for next week's regional at Bloomington North with a third-place finish behind Tucker in 12:33.48 while Jones was among the next best four times among the sectionals, finishing fourth in 12:38.89, while also finishing third in the 1,600-meter run to qualify for next week's regional in two events.
Banner Graphic/TRENT SCOTT

TERRE HAUTE – Six Putnam County athletes punched tickets to the Bloomington North Regional next week as all four schools took part in the IHSAA Terre Haute South Girls’ Track and field Sectional Tuesday night.

The hosts cruised to a team sectional title on 144 points with Northview second on 109.5 points and crosstown rivals Terre Haute North third on 99.5 points.

Greencastle was top of the county schools on 35 points, one point behind Clay City and two ahead of South Putnam. Cloverdale finished tied for ninth with North Central on 18 points while North Putnam finished 12th on eight points.

Eagle sophomore Bailey Brickert finished as runner-up in the 100-meter hurdles for a second-straight year, bested by North Central’s Kathryn Ison but sealing passage to the regional with a time of 15.99.

Three other runners also qualified for the regional with third-place finishes as fellow Eagle Sarah Jones finished the 1,6000-meter run in a time of 5:41.78, Greencastle’s Susanna Akinwole ran a 27.82 in the 200-meter dash and Cloverdale’s Ella Szczerbik ran 12:33.48 in the 3,200-meter run.

Two field event athletes also qualified as Tiger Cub sophomore Kylee Owens grabbed third place in the high jump with a clearance of 5-00 while North Putnam sophomore Olivia Stewart finished third in the discus with a throw of 92-02.

In addition, five other events were in a position to qualify as being among the four best times to complete the field of 16 at the regional next week.

Jones finished fourth in the 3,200-meter run in 12:38.89, as did Greencastle’s Lauren Elam in the 100-meter hurdles in 16.85 and South Putnam’s Lilly Vittetow in the 300-meter hurdles in 50.66.

Additionally, the Tiger Cub 400-meter relay team of Elam, Akinwole, Autumn Shrum and Ali Dobbs finished fourth in 52.48 while the 1,600-meter relay team of Akinwole, Dobbs, Raigan Chavez and Kyra Bandy finished fifth in 4:27.98, both teams among the best four qualifying times.

Other place finishers for Greencastle included a fifth-place finish for Lilly Barnhart in the discus with a throw of 88-02, a seventh-place finish for Dobbs in the 100-meter dash in 13.64 and eighth-place finishes for Bandy in the 100-meter hurdles in 18.38 and 300-meter hurdles in 52.27 and Sheyenne Graham in the shot put with a throw of 29-03.75.

Place finishers for South Putnam included fifth-place finish for Hanna Teipen in the shot put with a throw of 30-5.75 the 400-meter relay team of Vittetow, Brickert, Teipen and Bayli Clampitt in 54.18 and an eight-place finish for the 1,600-meter relay team of Clampitt, Brickert, Vittetow and Lilly Emmerich in 4:57.91.

Place finishers for Cloverdale included a fifth-place finish for the 3,200-meter relay team of Szczerbik, Abigail Nees, Olivia Hemmerling and Hannah Baker in 11:43.91, sixth-place finishes for Hemmerling in the 300-meter hurdles in 51.51 and the 1,600-meter relay team of Nees, Hemmerling, Szczerbik and Kiersten Wade in 4:52.95 and a seventh-place finish for the 400-meter relay team of Hemmerling, Alayna Oberkrom, Yasmin Sorter and Emily Mann in 57.37.

Place finishers for North Putnam included eighth-place finishes for Jacy Huffman in the 1,600-meter run in 6:11.20 and Saylor Carrell in the high jump with a clearance of 4-08.

UPDATE: The athletes mentioned in the article as being in a position to qualify for the regional all received calls to the regional meet. This includes includes Jones in the 3,200-meter run, Elam in the 100-meter hurdles, Vittetow in the 300-meter hurdles and both Greencastle relays (400, 1,600). In addition, Cloverdale's Olivia Hammering qualified for the regional in the 300-meter hurdles.