by

Richie Hall

Sports Editor

Hamilton County Reporter

Based on the performance list, Hamilton Southeastern was favored to win Friday’s IHSAA girls state track and field meet.

All the Royals had to do was take care of business. And they did.

Southeastern won its first ever girls track and field state championship, waiting out a
one-hour weather delay and some very tough competition to triumph at  Indiana University. The Royals used their superior depth to score 62 points, pulling away from runner-up Brebeuf Jesuit as the meet went into its later stages. The Braves scored 44
points.

“We were favored to win, but there’s so many things that can happen,” said HSE
coach Julie Alano. The Royals coaches impressed upon their athletes that everybody
needed to do their part – “You go take care of what you’re supposed to do,” said Alano
– and if that happened, Southeastern would win.

“And that’s what we talked about, and making sure that you did whatever you need
to do to make sure you score your points and do your part,” said Alano.

Brebeuf held an early advantage due to its strength in the 4×800 relay (which finished
third), the 100 hurdles (which placed second) and wins in the 100 dash and 4×100
relay. Alano admitted that the Royals were a little worried after those events.

But Southeastern wasn’t too far behind.  Junior Tierra Sydnor helped out with a
fifth-place finish in the long jump, then senior Mia Mackenzie added another five
points by taking fifth in the 100 hurdles. “It’s amazing, because last year we
weren’t even expecting to get second, because there’s only seven of us who made
it,” said Sydnor. “And this year, we were really working hard towards it in practice,
saying that we can do it.”

Senior Camille Christopher finished third in the 100 dash, and was part of the
Royals’ runner-up 4×100 relay, along with sophomore Olivia Burgess, Sydnor and
freshman Alyssa Barker.

The tied began to turn in HSE’s favor once the pole vault results came in. Royals
junior Kennedy Drish defended her state championship in that event, with a winning
vault of 12 feet, 6 inches. Drish went for 13 feet, but 12-6 isn’t bad either – “I just came
in, did what I did, what I’ve been practicing, and got 12-6, so I’m happy with that.”

Drish’s teammate, senior Jessica Bray, helped out with a sixth-place finish in the
pole vault, clearing 11-6.

“It’s been a really exciting past two years,” said Bray, who has committed to
Grand Valley State University. “I never really expected to be here when I first
started, so I’m just happy to be here. I’m happy to be here again this year.”

With the pole vault points in, Southeastern moved into the lead. The Royals got
more points from Mackenzie, who took seventh in the 300 hurdles, then Christopher
earned a runner-up finish in the 200 dash. Junior Lulu Black added two more points
after taking eighth in the 3200 run; Black’s time was 10:47.67, a new school record.

By now, Southeastern had the meet in hand, but why not finish with a bang? That’s
what the Royals did in the 4×400 relay. The team of Burgess, junior Mya Hammons,
freshman Annice McFarland and Sydnor finished the meet with a win in that event.

HSE’s 4×400 time was 3:51.10. The Royals edged out Perry Meridian by .04
seconds. Sydnor ran the anchor leg, and she got that extra inch in the end.

“Last week was a lot of pushing, it was a lot of roughhousing going around, so no
one really ran their best best times,” said Sydnor. “Like today, we were a whole two
seconds faster.”

“Exclamation point. Oh, my gosh,” said Alano. “They’ve done it in practice. I knew
they could run faster. That was a school record for us.”

“There were a lot of good teams in that race,” said Alano. “We had practiced all
kinds of crazy situations, but not really out front by ourselves, because we weren’t sure
that would happen. We were so excited. We had a pack there, we were so excited, it was
so crazy. That was awesome. All the girls ran well there. It was every person doing
their part on that relay, too.”

Southeastern’s win was the first state championship for the Royals since the boys
track and field team won in 2013. It also puts HSE in an exclusive club: Friday’s state title
was the school’s 10th IHSAA state title.

After Brebeuf’s 44 points, two-time defending state champion Warren Central
placed third with 40 points. Carmel finished in fourth place with 38 points.

Sophomore Phoebe Bates led the way, claiming the state championship in the 1600
run. Bates made a strong kick in the last 100 meters to finish the race in 4:51.79. Bates
also took fifth in the 3200 run.

“I thought the mile went really well, and then the 32, I just gave it everything I had,”
said Bates. “It was a good day.”

Senior Kara Deady finished up her high school career with another medal in the pole
vault. Deady, who will vault for IU next year, placed fourth by clearing 11-9.

“It was very tough this year,” said Deady. “We had a lot of good vaulters. But
you just got to try your best. It wasn’t what we had hoped, but I’m happy to be back here.
It was fun.”

Junior Reagan Hune earned three medals at the meet. She placed fifth in the 400 dash,
then was part of Carmel’s ninth-place 4×100 relay, joining sophomore Kiara Gill and
seniors Carly Markley and Josie Upton. Hune ran the anchor on the Greyhounds’
eighth-place 4×400 relay, teaming up with freshman Abbey Grogan and seniors Beverley
Thompson and Alexis Waples.

Carmel opened the meet with its 4×800 relay team of freshmen Annie Christie and
Mahalet Zeruesenay, senior Anna Morozov and sophomore Sydney Haines finishing in
fifth place. Senior Maddie Dalton took sixth in the 1600 run.

“Our girls showed up and competed their hearts out,” said Greyhounds coach Aaron
McRill. “The coaches are so very proud of this group. The meet itself was incredibly
exciting from start to finish. Lots of great teams and lots of great competition. We fell
just six points shy of the podium, but we feel we had a pretty great meet. Congratulations
to HSE and Brebeuf, well deserved.”

Noblesville tied for 13th place with 15 points. Junior Shelby Tyler soared to
another state championship in the high jump, in yet another battle between her and
Zionsville senior Katie Isenbarger.

Both athletes cleared 5-11, but Tyler got the win on fewer misses. Thus Tyler
defended her state title, becoming the first Millers athlete to win back-to-back track
championships.

“It felt good,” said Tyler. “I had really good competition. And it was fun, and I
think that’s the most important part.”

Noblesville’s 4×800 relay team of senior Abi Little, junior Aubrie Deal, freshman
Bella Sharples-Gordon and sophomore Anna Hazelrigg placed sixth in that event.
Little also finished ninth in the 1600 run; she has committed to run at IU.

Fishers scored nine points to place 28th as a team. Junior Tamia Perryman won three
medals for the Tigers, first placing eighth in the 100 dash. Later, she finished ninth in the
200 dash. In between, Perryman joined seniors Toni Grace and Danielle Harrison
and junior Grace May to take fourth in the 4×100 relay.