EC girls' relays fourth, sixth in track state finals

Lady Trojans' 4 X 800 wins heat, 4 X 400 breaks school record

East Central 4 X 800-meter relay teammates - from left, Rachel Campbell, Erika Wells and Ashtyn Gindling - greet anchor leg runner Callie Bentley with a cold towel after her blazing finish earned sixth place, and a school record, Saturday, June 3, at IU. (Sandy Mahoney)

East Central girls 4 X 400-meter relay - from left, junior Jorjia Ferguson, freshman Callie Bentley and seniors Rachel Campbell and Erika Wells - won its second of 3 heats to finish fourth in the June 3 IHSAA Girls Track & Field State Finals at Indiana University. (Sandy Mahoney)

East Central girls 4 X 800-meter relay - from left, Erika Wells, senior Ashtyn Gindling, Rachel Campbell and Callie Bentley - rallied from near last place on the final 2 legs for a sixth-place finish and new school record in Saturday's IHSAA Girls Track & Field State Finals. (Sandy Mahoney)

Members of East Central's school record sixth-place 4 X 800-meter relay - from left: Erika Wells, Rachel Campbell (hidden), Callie Bentley and Ashtyn Gindling - get together for a group hug following their 9:18.20 effort in Saturday's IHSAA Girls Track and Field State Finals at Bloomington. (Sandy Mahoney)

East Central's fourth-place 4 X 800-meter relay foursome (center) is pictured on the podium after their school record run in Saturday's IHSAA Girls Track and Field State Finals at Indiana University. (EC Athletics)

BLOOMINGTON - It was as close to a perfect finish to East Central's girls track and field season could be on a perfectly scorching day at IU's Robert C. Haugh Complex Saturday.

EC's 4 X 800-meter relay - opening the running events in the mid-afternoon heat - stood nearer to last place than first after the first 2 legs of its heat.

Then senior Rachel Campbell and freshman Callie Bentley picked up senior teammates Erika Wells and Ashtyn Gindling, rallying EC to a sixth-place podium finish with a new school record time of 9:18.20.

Capping one hot afternoon of running events at Indiana University, East Central's 4 X 400-meter relay of junior Jorjia Ferguson, Bentley, Campbell and Wells went into their second of 3 sections knowing they’d need to win their heat to make the podium.

That's exactly what they did, climbing all the way to fourth place with a time of 3:55.87, behind winner Carmel's 3:47.86.

"I'm so proud of these 7 ladies!" said EC girls head coach Ashley Andres later, via Twitter. "I wish we could give medals to our alternates, Addie Brewer and Launa Davis. It's not easy to train at this level knowing you most likely won't run. They killed it! We're so grateful they will be back next year!"

East Central's girls tied for 28th in the team standings, with 10 points, among 61 scoring teams Saturday.

Noblesville, state runner-up a year ago, edged Warren Central 45-44 for its first team state championship Saturday night. It marked the fourth one-point girls state finals victory margin in history. The Millers also completed a sweep of the cross country and track state titles in the same academic year.

State meet records were set by Forest Park senior Rachel Mehringer (13.38) in the 100-meter hurdles, Park Tudor's Gretchen Farley (2:04.95) in the 800-meter run and Cathedral's Kailee Swart (13-6.5) in pole vault.

Some of East Central's fellow Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference athletes had pretty fair days in Saturday's girls state finals, as well.

Connersville freshman Ahniyah Bennett, after a disappointing fifth (12.00) in the 100-meter dash finals, stepped up to win the 200 dash title in 24.50 seconds.

Greensburg junior thrower Emarie Jackson, long dominant in EIAC and area field events, took second in the state in shot put (48’0.5") and third in shot put (146’10").

Bloomington North junior Hadley Lucas repeated as shot put state champion with a 49’5" effort, while Noblesville junior Hannah Alexander was the discus champion at 158’8", upsetting defending champ Lucas while scoring 17 points for the state champs.

Three-time state champion Mehringer, signed with ISU, was named winner of this year's IHSAA Mental Attitude Award in Girls Track and Field after the meet.

49th Annual

IHSAA GIRLS

TRACK & FIELD

STATE FINALS

Saturday, June 3

At Indiana University,

Bloomington

TEAM SCORES - 1. Noblesville 45, 2. Warren Central 44, 3. Carmel 33, 4. Bloomington North 30, 5. Center Grove 28, 6. Heritage Christian 27, 7. Brownsburg 26, 8. Evansville Bosse 23, 9. Columbus North 22, 10. Fishers 20, 10. Bloomington South 20, 10. Forest Park 20, 10. Park Tudor 20, 10. Indpls. Cathedral 20. 15. Westfield 19, 15. Hamilton SE 19, 17. Delta 18, 18. Plainfield 16, 19. Greensburg 15, 19. Connersville 15, 21. Munster 14, 21. Indpls. Chatard 14, 23. Ft. Wayne North 12, 23. Carroll (Ft. Wayne) 12, 23. Homestead 12, 26. Lake Central 11, 26. Whiteland 11, 28. Oakland City Wood Mem. 10, 28. East Central 10, 28. Penn 10, 28. South Bend Adams 10

State champions (with area placers):

4 X 800M RELAY - 1. Columbus North (Baker, Klaus, Glyn-Jones, Meza) 9:11.22, 4. East Central (Wells, Gindling, Campbell, Bentley) 9:18.20

100M DASH - 1. Angel Thomas (South Bend Adams) 11.65, 5. Ahniyah Bennett (Connersville) 12.00

100M HURDLES - 1. Rachel Mehringer (Forest Park) 13.38 *

200M DASH - 1. Ahniyah Bennett (Connersville) 24.50

1,600M RUN - 1. Nicole Southerland (Delta) 4:43.73

4 X 100M RELAY - 1. Brownsburg (Rice, Neal, Smith, Kirtz) 46.71

400M DASH - 1. Alexia Smith (Evansville Bosse) 54.12, 23. Rachel Campbell (East Central) 59.26

300M HURDLES - 1. Rachel Mehringer (Forest Park) 42.72

800M RUN - 1. Gretchen Farley (Park Tudor) 2:04.95 *

3,200M RUN - 1. Sophia Kennedy (Park Tudor) 10:07.86

4 X 400M RELAY - 1. Carmel (Grande Rosas, Cebalo, Wamsley, Norris) 3:47.86, 6. East Central (Ferguson, Bentley, Campbell, Wells) 3:55.87

DISCUS - 1. Hannah Alexander (Noblesville) 158-08, 3. Emarie Jackson (Greensburg) 146-10

SHOT PUT - 1. Hadley Lucas (Bloomington North) 49-05, 2. Emarie Jackson (Greensburg) 48-0.5

LONG JUMP - 1. Kya Cooke (Heritage Christian) 19-10.75

HIGIH JUMP - 1. Josie Page (Wood Memorial) 5-10

POLE VAULT - 1. Kailee Swart (Indpls. Cathedral) 13-06.50 *

* - New state record

Complete results: www.ihsaa.org