Kokomo Tribune - Wednesday, May 22 2008

— BREMEN — That Megan Schubert won the Bremen Regional high jump championship here Tuesday to earn a berth in next week’s IHSAA Girls State Track and Field Finals should come as no surprise to anyone.

It’s the second time the Northwestern towhead has topped the regional field, and it’s the fourth straight opportunity in her illustrious career to compete for a state title.

On the other hand, that Kokomo junior Ashley DeWitt not only advanced to the state finals in her first regional but won shot put with a school-record toss of 43 feet,3/4 of an inch may came as a surprise.

Even to her.

“I didn’t [think I would win],” DeWitt said after making the record-shattering throw on her final attempt. “I’ll have to give it some thought now that I’m going [to the state finals].

“All I do is practice and do my best, that’s all I can hope for. All I try to do is my personal best and put pressure on myself.”

Not bad for someone who’s been throwing for only three months since she joined the team in February. Kokomo throws coach Bobby Pettigrew said he practically had to get down on his hands and knees to get DeWitt to join the squad.

“She got started by begging,” Pettigrew said with a smile. “I’ve been begging her for two years to come [out] and she never has. This is her first year, and after three months this is what you get.”

DeWitt has shown steady improvement. She hit her season high of 40 feet, 2 inches at sectional before topping that number at regional.

“We don’t talk numbers; we just compete,” said Pettigrew, whose last state-finals appearance as a shot putter for the Kats came in 1995. “We take one meet at a time and work hard and the rest will take care of itself.

“We always talk at Kokomo that if you’re a competitor, you’re a competitor and that’s what she is. She did a great job competing. She worked hard all season long for this.”

Schubert looked confident and comfortable in winning. She cleared 5 feet, 2 inches without a fault, then won the competition by passing at 5-3 while second-place Ebony James of South Bend Riley and third-place Kate Hendershot both went out at that height.

With the title in hand, Schubert proceeded to clear 5-4 and 5-6, each on her second attempt, before soaring over a new regional, school and Kokomo Tribune area-best height of 5 feet, 71/2 inches.

Schubert was as relieved as she was happy with the win.

“I’m so excited and glad to finally get it over with,” she said. “In past years I think I’ve been really nervous at regional. I usually choke, but [this year] it’ll be good. I’ll have a good seed and have a lot of confidence going into state.”

Four of the top eight finishers were freshmen, including Eastern’s Zoe Wolfe, who placed sixth, and Western’s Sable Staller, who was seventh. Only the top three athletes in each event advance to the state finals.

“I remember my freshman year being nervous, and you get more consistent as you get older,” said Schubert. “People like Zoe and Sable, they are going to be awesome and they jumped really well [Tuesday].”

Wolfe was a one-woman team for the Comets. Not only did she finish sixth in high jump but also sixth in the 300-meter low hurdles with a time of 49.76 seconds. That earned Eastern six points, good for 22nd place.

“Coming here I didn’t know what to expect, so it was good preparation for next year,” Wolfe said. “I knew it would be harder [than sectional], but I’m glad for the experience. I was happy with it.”

Comets coach Michael Goodspeed couldn’t have been happier with his young prodigy. She cleared 5-1 in high jump, which was just an inch away from second and third place.

“For a freshman that’s fantastic. I’m really proud of her,” said Goodspeed. “She’s a natural athlete, so she just needs to get stronger.

“She just needs to work in the weight room and improve her form a little bit. I’m glad we’re going to have that opportunity the next three years.”

Western had the best finish of any local team. The Panthers were 13th with 16 points but failed to advance any athletes to next week.

In addition to Staller, Lizi Chandler finished fifth in discus and seventh in shot put, Cara Earlywine was sixth in the 200 meters, Nikki McCracken placed sixth in pole vault and the 4x100 relay team of Danae Rittmann, Jennifer Dale, Alleca Kerker and Earlywine was seventh.

Chandler is the only senior among the Western competitors.

“I’m real happy for Lizi,” coach Marvin Boswell said. “She was the 12th seed in discus and ends up getting fifth. That’s a lot improvement. She ends her career here with something to be proud of.”

Earlywine had a frustrating evening. She qualified just seventh-best in the 100 meters and so, according to Boswell, false-started the 100 finals in order to concentrate on the 200 finals, to no avail.

“We kind of got our eyes opened a little bit but I’m happy for the girls,” said Boswell. “We had a wonderful season this year. [The girls] have done everything I’ve asked of them and then some.

”I know we had a few performances that were a little frustrating but overall I’m very proud of the girls. They did a good job.”

The Tigers’ other placing was their 4x400 relay team of Rachel Lowden, Lauren Brun, Lauren Dewhurst and senior Lindsey Sewell. They were seventh with a school-record time of 4:13.23.

That was on top of the school-record performance by the 4x800 relay team of Annie Sloss, Nicki Hendricks, Hannah Ault and senior Jennifer Claudio. They were ninth in 10:18.67.

“Yes, we’re all happy,” Northwestern coach Mary Clem said. “We knew we couldn’t advance anyone but Megan. All we wanted was the records for the three seniors, and we got them.”