The IHSAA Boys and Girls Track and Field State Finals happened two weeks ago, but Hancock County standouts are still putting medals around their necks and some are seeking more.
At last weekend’s Midwest Meet of Champions (Indiana All-Stars), held at Marian University, standouts from Mt. Vernon and Greenfield-Central continued to add to their successes from the state finals.
Previously, the annual post-State Finals meet featured Indiana state-placers and qualifiers against other Midwestern states’ top competitors. Last weekend’s event was a Seniors vs. Juniors format with only student-athletes from Indiana.
The Seniors won the boys event 209-173. The Juniors were victorious in the girls meet 240-155. All relays were mixed with boys and girls.
In the 800-meter run, competing for the Seniors, Mt. Vernon’s Tristan Trevino finished first (1:53.47) and Greenfield-Central’s Griffen Wheeler (1:53.98) placed third.
In the 400 dash, for the Juniors, Mt. Vernon’s Andres Langston won with a time of 48.56 seconds. Teammate Tre Jones was third in 50.52 seconds.
Greenfield-Central’s state runner-up high jumper Elliot Ryba, a junior, was second again, clearing 6-feet, 8-inches.
Another G-C junior, Chris Ross, was second in the 3200 at 9:30.66. Mt. Vernon junior Colin Strachman was sixth in 10:04.93. Greenfield-Central junior Carter Crouch was eighth in the race at 10:24.69.
On the girls side, Greenfield-Central junior Savannah Lake was fifth in the 100 (12.39 seconds). She was part of the runner-up 4×100 mixed relay team (44.27 seconds) and placed sixth in the 200 (27.55 seconds).
For the Seniors, Mt. Vernon’s Riley Nielsen placed sixth in the pole vault. She cleared 11-feet.
Both schools will have runners competing in national events this week.
Greenfield-Central has six members from the high school team, as well as a middle school runner, competing in the NIKE Outdoor Nationals in Eugene, Oregon at Hayward Field on the campus of the University of Oregon.
The venue has hosted Olympic Trials and USATF Championships along with other major track and field events.
Greenfield-Central competitors include Wheeler (800, 1600, 4×400 relay), Ryba (high jump), Cash Looper (100 hurdles, 400 hurdles), Aaron Lee (100, 4×400 relay), Ian Jack (200, 4×400 relay) and Michael Runions (4×400 relay).
From the middle school, Josie Kinnaman is running in the girls Middle School Mile today. She holds all the G-C middle school distance records. This is her final middle school race before going to high school for 2023-24 school year.
Ryba and Kinnaman both competed in indoor national meets in March.
“We qualified in a lot of events,” Greenfield-Central boys track and field head coach Aaron Smith said. “It’s exciting. A big stage like this is a cool event for them.”
“Ideally, we’d like to get more people out for (Greenfield-Central track and field). We’ve got people doing really good things. For the guys that are going, it’s giving them more looks. Elliot and Aaron want to compete in college. For the juniors, it gives them that opportunity to compete in a national meet.”
Smith said a GoFundMe effort helped with some costs of the trip.
Mt. Vernon will take a group to Philadelphia for the New Balance Nationals Outdoor 2023.
Trevino will run in one of eight heats of the 800 where all runners have qualified by running in the 1:53s. Langston will compete in the 400. Trevino, Langston, Jones and Caden Casada will run in the 4×400 relay.
