FORTVILLE — The annual Hancock County Track Meet took place on Wednesday night, with the New Palestine girls repeating as champions and the Greenfield-Central boys winning for the first time since 2014. Mt. Vernon was the runner-up in both the girls and boys meet.
Both coaches credit results from all areas of their teams: sprinters, distance runners, and field athletes for their team.
For New Palestine coach Chuck Myers, his team’s perseverance through the strange weather (high temperatures along with strong winds) led his team to victory.
“We started off on a good foot with the 4×800 relay and really just kept it up from there,” Myers said.
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The Dragons 4×800 relay team won the first event of the night in meet-record time. Sophomore Kaylin Casner was a member of that relay team, and also won the 800 and 1,600 on the night.
“We really did well in every area tonight, and Kaylin Casner really shined” Myers said. “We picked up points everywhere, though.”
The Dragons won two field events (pole vault and shot put), two relays (4×800 and 4×400), and two distance races (1,600 and 3,200).
Despite Casner’s great meet, two other athletes made the annual Athlete of the Meet award a tight three-way race. Freshman Arianna Huff of Mt. Vernon won the 100-, 200-, and 400-meter sprints, while sophomore Crystal Peterson of Greenfield-Central won the 100 hurdles, 300 hurdles, and the long jump.
The coaches voted Peterson athlete of the meet.
Presumably the tiebreaker went to Peterson for her meet-record long jump of 17 feet, 2 inches, breaking Mt. Vernon’s Olivia Coleman’s three-year-old record by a quarter of an inch.
As for the boys, the Greenfield-Central Cougars used dominant field events, distance runners stepping up to score points, and a dominant Athlete of the Meet performance to win the team event.
“We’ve really tried to build up a mentality of this being a team sport,” Greenfield-Central coach Scott Burton said as he and his team were watching the final event of the night finish up. “Once the 3,200 starts we gather as a team and make sure to cheer on everyone together.”
The Cougars started off in winning fashion, as the 4×800 relay team edged out New Palestine by .09 seconds when Cougars senior Cooper Hanson lunged across the finish line, skinning both knees. Those distance runners continued to impress Burton.
“We picked up points in the distance races where our guys weren’t seeded to do so with [Zac Archibald] and [Parker Niemier].”
The Cougars dominated the field events, winning the long jump, shot put and pole vault, with high finishes in the high jump and discus as well.
One of those field event winners was the boys’ Athlete of the Meet as voted on by the coaches: Braden Brown. Brown, a senior, won the long jump with a jump of 22’7.5” and finished third in the high jump. He also won the 100-meter dash in 11.88 seconds, and ran a leg of the winning 4×100-meter relay team.
Pushing Brown for athlete of the meet considerations was junior Drew Austin of New Palestine. Austin easily won the 800 and 1,600 and nearly picked up a win in the 4×800 relay. Senior Alex Carver of Mt. Vernon won the 400 and keyed the Marauders to a victory in the 4×400 relay over New Palestine.
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Girls’ Team Results
New Palestine – 99
Mt. Vernon – 72
Greenfield-Central – 54
Eastern Hancock – 19
Athlete of the Meet: Crystal Peterson, Greenfield-Central
Girls Winners
4×800 Relay – New Palestine 9:58.7 (Meet Record)
100 Hurdles – Crystal Peterson GC 17.09 seconds
100 M Dash – Arianna Mack MV 13.27 seconds
1600 M Run – Kaylin Casner NP 5:33.08
4×100 Relay – Mt. Vernon 52.69 seconds
400 M Dash – Arianna Mack MV 1:00.22
300 M Hurdles – Crystal Peterson GC 47.80 seconds
800 M Run – Kaylin Casner 2:27.62
200 M Dash – Arianna Mack MV 26.93 seconds
3200 M Run – Kendall Mann NP 11:55.64
4×400 Relay – New Palestine NP 4:11.10
Long Jump – Crystal Peterson GC 17’2” (Meet Record)
High Jump – Mackenzie Polster GC 5.00 feet
Discus – Hannah Burkhart GC 115.00 feet
Shot Put – Aden Lumbly NP 37’4.5”feet
Pole Vault – Hailey Holbertson NP 7’6”
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Boys Results
Greenfield-Central – 83.5
New Palestine – 68.5
Mt. Vernon – 66
Eastern Hancock – 26
Athlete of the Meet: Braden Brown, Greenfield-Central
Boys winners
4×800 Relay – Greenfield-Central 8:30.91
100 Hurdles – Jared Reed NP 16.68 seconds
100 M Dash – Braden Brown GC 11.88 seconds
1600 M Run – Drew Austin NP 4:39.32
4×100 Relay – Greenfield-Central 45.68 seconds
400 M Dash – Alex Carver MV 52.35 seconds
300 M Hurdles – Brent Donaldson MV 42.20 seconds
800 M Run – Drew Austin NP 2:10.25
200 M Dash – Laine Schonauer NP 24.60
3200 M Run – Kyler Harrison NP 10:15.49
4×400 Relay – Mt. Vernon 3:34
Long Jump – Braden Brown GC 22’7.5” feet (Meet record)
High Jump – Gavin Hausz NP 6’0” feet
Discus – Conner Nelson MV 134 feet
Shot Put – Turk Faitele 46’2” feet
Pole Vault – Adam Lee GC 13’6” feet
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