The time has come for spring sports to begin, and boys’ and girls’ track and field kicked it off on Saturday, March 8, when they traveled all the way to Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion to compete in the Hoosier State Relays Qualifier.
The Qualifiers take place indoors, and are primarily based on the individual runner, rather than the team as a whole. There are two events that allow runners to qualify for the state meet, which takes place at Purdue on March 22, one at IWU, and the other at Trine. The indoor track offers many obstacles, as far as slowing down times that could be faster. First of all, this is each team’s initial meet, so, with few extensive workouts, runners are far from their best shape. Also, the indoor track is 200 meters in length, where the outdoor track is 400 meters. The difference is that there are two curves for every one curve that would be taken outside, slowing down the times of simple runs like the 200 meter and 400 meter dashes. Regardless, after limited weeks of preseason conditioning, both teams earned the following results:
Girls 60 M Dash
Claire DeCamp 42 of 63
Alyssa Claymiller 43 of 63
Boys 55 M Dash
Brandon Mable 7.44
Jake Torrie 7.67
Keaton Osborn 7.95
The short dashes were fairly mild compared to past years, and the boys and girls took advantage of it. DeCamp and Claymiller impressed many with back-to-back finishes of 42 and 43, respectively. Mable left slightly disappointed in his performance, while Torrie ran valiantly as a sophomore. Osborn stole the show, though, being a defensive linemen in football, and running at a pace just tenths of a second slower than the speedy receiver in Torrie.
Girls 3200 M Run
Alexia Zawadzke 9 of 38
Zawadzke started out the two-mile race by keeping with the pace of the pack, but she fell back slightly as the race moved on. On the fifteenth lap (out of sixteen), Zawadzke pushed herself and passed a handful of competitors, thinking that the fifteenth lap was the final lap, leaving her gassed and keeping position for the final lap. Ninth is an excellent place out of 38!
Girls 60 M Hurdles
Lydia Walterhouse 7 of 50
Kavan Edwards 15 of 50
Chandler Jones 17 of 50
Boys 60 M Hurdles
Nathan Gamble, 10.44
Hurdle standout Lydia Walterhouse came out of her blocks slower than the rest of her heat, and caught herself playing the catch-up game early. With her eyes set on a state appearance at the end of the year, Walterhouse showed fantastic upside for the remainder of the year. Edwards and Jones cannot be forgotten though, as the also performed at a high level, placing 15 and 17, respectively, out of 50! The girls hurdling squad appears to be hungry and intimidating for the 2014 outdoor season! Nathan Gamble, a mere freshman who had never ran the hurdles at this height, never clipped a hurdle, and, although he left some to be desired in his time, he compensated that with courage and potential! The hurdles were difficult to run for these competitors because neither team was able to practice outside, meaning that they were unable to practice their form or block starts since last season.
Girls Long Jump
Kavan Edwards 9 of 36
Edwards performed admirably the entire meet March 8, in the hurdles and the long jump. She placed ninth out of 36 in the long jump without any practice in the preseason.
Girls Shot Put
Jaymee Wolfe 12 of 37
Boys Shot Put
Jacob Brown 47’2
Keaton Osborn 37’11
Kaleb Cook 36’
Shot put was also a success for both the boys and the girls, as Wolfe placed twelfth out of 37 and Brown threw just a few feet short of the state qualifying mark. Also, Cook set his personal record with a 36-foot throw.
Girls 4×200 12 of 29
Madison Cook
Claire DeCamp
Lydia Walterhouse
Kavan Edwards
Boys 4×200 Relay 1:38
Brandon Mable
Walker Boyles
Zan Foltyniak
Brant Hile
The girls and boys also impressed in the 4×200 relay. This relay involved four runners, who each ran 200 meters, adding up to a total of eight laps, which translates into a half mile. The girls ran well, placing twelfth out of 29, and the boys fell just a couple seconds short of a state-qualifying time.
Girls 4×400 13 of 25
Kaley Fulk
Chandler Jones
Alyssa Claymiller
Lindsey Casselman
Boys 4×400 Relay 3:54
Brandon Mable
Walker Boyles
Taylor Lehman
Zan Foltyniak
The 4×400 relay involves four runners, who each run 400 meters, adding up to a total of one mile. The girls placed about halfway in the event at 13, and the boys, a tired group since three runners ran in the 4×200 prior to the race, ran eight seconds faster than the previous year.
Boys 4×800 Relay 9:41
Matthew Kline
Frank Herrera
Michael Sanchez
Paul Shull
Boys Distance Medley Relay 14:07
Noe Rangel, 1200
Dustin Wells, 400
Hunter DeLaRosa, 800
Zack Jenkins, 1600
Trine
The indoor season continued on March 15 for both track teams, as they traveled to Angola for more attempts at state qualifiers, which were to take place back at IWU the following Saturday. The girls had an extremely successful day, as they broke three indoor East Noble records! Madison Cook set the new indoor record for pole vault, Kavan Edwards set the record for long jump, and Paige DeCamp broke the indoor record for shot put. The ladies sent two representatives to the state meet on March 22, Lydia Walterhouse and Paige DeCamp, who were to compete in the 60 M Hurdles and Shot put, respectively. The boys also improved their times in most of the events on the second week of trials, and Joe Vandiver became the lone representative for the boys at state, as he participated in the 3200. “This meet at Trine was a great chance for everyone that ran at IWU last week to run a race and not have those first meet of the season jitters,” said East Noble’s distance coach, Ryan Starkel. “It was also good for some kids to get their first chance to run a race and see what they’ve been training hard for.”
Girls 60 M Dash
Melissa Huff 34 of 48 9.11 seconds
Girls 3200 M Run
Alexia Zawadzke 4 of 23 12:16.07
Jessica Vandiver 18 of 23 14:26.97
Boys 3200 M Run
Joe Vandiver 9:50.1
Tyler Klinger 11:24.8
Girls 60 M Hurdles
Lydia Walterhouse 7 of 34 10.07
Kavan Edwards 18 of 34 10.98
Boys 60 M Hurdles
Nate Gamble 10.35
Girls 4×200 10 of 18 1:59.88
Madison Cook
Claire DeCamp
Lydia Walterhouse
Kavan Edwards
Boys 4×200 Relay 1:40
Brant Hile
Walker Boyles
Jake Torrie
Zan Foltyniak
Girls 4×400 13 of 19 4:46.06
Kaley Fulk
Chandler Jones
Alyssa Claymiller
Lindsey Casselman
Boys 4×400 Relay 3:47.4
Walker Boyles
Brant Hile
Jake Torrie
Zan Foltyniak
Girls 4×800 4 of 12 10:48.78
Kara McLaughlin
Sydney Rodenbeck
Alexia Zawadzke
Courtney Casselman
Boys 4×800 Relay 9:07
Matt Kline
Frank Herrera
Joe Vandiver
Michael Sanchez
Girls Distance Medley 6 of 29 14:09.58
Kara McLaughlin
Lindsey Casselman
Alexia Zawadzke
Courtney Casselman
Boys Distance Medley Relay 12:52
1200 Trenton Crager
400 Huner DeLaRosa
800 Paul Shull
1600 Sheridan Sibert
Girls High Jump
Kara McLaughlin 4′ 8″ Tie 6 of 24
Claire DeCamp 4′ 8″ Tie 6 of 24
Melissa Huff 4′ 8″ Tie 9 of 24
Boys High Jump
Bret Sible 18’11.25”
Tristan Jones 17’5.25”
Girls Long Jump
Lydia Walterhouse 16 of 33 14′ 4.25″
Girls Shot Put
Jaycee Cauhorn 19 of 48 31′ 1.25″
Jaymee Wolfe 21 of 48 30′ 10.5″
Boys Shot Put
Jacob Brown 46’1
State at Indiana Wesleyan
East Noble sent three representatives to the Hoosier State Relays meet on March 22 at Indiana Wesleyan, Paige DeCamp, Lydia Walterhouse, and Joe Vandiver. This meet wrapped up the indoor season for all track teams in the state, beginning the outdoor season for most schools.
Shot Put
Paige DeCamp 15th; 36’.75”
DeCamp performed incredibly at state, placing the best in her field of East Noble’s three representatives at 15th. As a sophomore, she has an bright future as a thrower here at East Noble!
60 M Hurdles
Lydia Walterhouse 18th; 9.95
Walterhouse ran well at state also, placing 18th in a strong field. With the outdoor state meet at Indiana University in her sights, she is right on track to competing into June!
3200 M
Joe Vandiver 20th; 9:54
Vandiver ran in possibly the strongest field of the meet, competing in the 3200 meter dash. “Joe got to get experience as a sophomore that most don’t get. He went to indoor state and ran against mainly older and more experienced athletes,” said Starkel. “We knew the race was going to go out fast and he was prepared for that. We talked about him running his own race and having runners come back to him in the second mile.” Vandiver placed 20th, but, being a sophomore, he also has an awesome future awaiting him, especially after improving his time by half a minute this year!
Overall, the Knights competed valiantly and nobly, as they took on schools like Indianapolis Cathedral and Homestead without cowering. Even with little practice under their belts, they traveled into competition with confidence and authority that left other schools including East Noble in their teams to beat this year. Well done to the guys and girls this indoor season!