MARION — Sydney Duncan won the shot put at last Tuesday’s Marion Girls Track and Field Sectional. The Frankton senior also earned a trip to Tuesday’s Carroll (Fort Wayne) Girls Track and Field Regional in two events by placing third in the discus.
Duncan is not the only Lady Eagle who will compete in multiple events at Tuesday’s regional as senior hurdler Bella Dean placed second in both the 100- and 300-meter hurdles. Skylar Drake also earned a regional trip with a second-place finish in the long jump and Frankton’s 4-by-100 relay team placed second and the 4-by-800 relay team was third.
Elwood also sends two athletes to the regional as senior Savannah Garcia placed third in the 100 hurdles and Elwood athletic director Ryan Vanskyock got the call last Thursday that Alivia Boston also will get to compete in the regional in the shot put.
The Lady Eagles placed fourth as a team. Norwell ran away with the team title, finishing with 134 points. Oak Hill (78.5 points) then edged Eastbrook (77) and Frankton (72) for second place. Rounding out the team scores were Marion 61, Mississinewa 42, Wabash 31.75, Bluffton 28, Southwood 25, Blackford 21, Northfield 20, Elwood 16, Southern Wells 12.75, and Alexandria 5.
The top three places and any athlete meeting state cut time, distance or height automatically earned a trip to the regional. The rest of the field was completed after all sectionals and scratches were completed.
Duncan threw the shot a record 43-feet, 2.75-inches. That was slightly more than nine inches further than second-place finisher Hannah Holmes of Northfield (34-0.75). Oak Hill’s Lauren Rex was third (33–6.25) and Boston, who also is a starter on Elwood’s softball team, was fourth (33-5.5).
Bluffton’s Lauren Reiff won the discus with a record throw of 139-11. Blackford’s Sarah Ellison was a distant second (108-0) and Duncan third (101-3). Boston placed fourth (99-8).
Drake became the Eagles’ third field-event athlete to earn a trip to regional, placing second in the long jump (16-1). Oak Hill’s Ellie Campbell was the winner with a leap of 16-6. Mississinewa’s Jaci Crick was third (1510.25). Frankton’s Joslyn Karnes-Hatfield placed seventh (15-4). Drake later earned a sixth-place ribbon in the 200-meter dash (28.51 seconds).
Dean, meanwhile, came real close to earning a first-place medal, just getting edged out at the finish line in the 100 hurdles. Norwell’s Claire Bailey won in a tie of 16.21 seconds, while Dean clocked 16.26. Garcia’s third-place time was 17.55.
Bailey earned a hurdles sweep, winning the 300 hurdles in 47.7 seconds. Dean’s second-place time was 49.14 and Eastbrook’s Alexis Thorne was third (49.66).
Drake, Duncan, Eva Bott and Dean placed second in the 400 relay (52.49). Marion was first (52.09) and Mississinewa third (52.54). Chelsea Newton, Evelyn Croy, Alexis Finney and Emma Sheward teamed up to place third in the 3,200 relay (10:51). Norwell (10:14) and Southwood (10:18) took the top two spots.
The quartet of Croy, Karnes-Hatfield, Drake and Dean placed fifth in the 1,600 relay (4:24). Croy (1:03.27) and Karnes-Hatfield (1:04.63) finished sixth and seventh in the 400-meter dash.
FRANKTON, ELWOOD DO NOT ADVANCE ATHLETES TO BOYS REGIONAL Frankton scored just 14 points in last Thursday’s Marion Boys Track and Field Sectional and Elwood did not score at all.
Oak Hill won the team title with 136 points with Norwell (116) and Marion (110) rounding out the top three.
Frankton’s Jack Melvin placed sixth in the 400-meter dash (52.55), while the 4-by-100 relay team of Dylan Pratt, Austin Nunley, Bott and Isaiah Malone also placed sixth (46.17) as did the 4-by-400 relay team of Melvin, Blake Niccum, Pratt and Nunley (3:35) and the 4-by-800 relay quartet of Niccum, Melvin, Hunter Smith and Brock Stephens (8:46).
Malone added an eighthplace finish in the long jump (19-1).
