Kokomo Tribune - Tuesday, March 31, 2009

— Little has changed on the local girls track and field scene for 2009 with the balance of power still tipping toward the western half of Howard County.

Western finally broke through with its first sectional championship in school history, with Kokomo second and Northwestern fourth, respectively, at the 2008 Madison-Grant Sectional.

On the east side, Eastern (10th) and Taylor (12th) brought up the rear, and with small numbers again this season, they’ll concentrate once more on individual progress.

One change is that a pair of former state competitors have returned to their alma maters as assistant coaches — Michelle (Faulkner) Nicholson at Western and Lashonda Davis at Kokomo.

Nicholson captured an 800-meter state championship for the Panthers in 1988 and will help with an already talented middle distance/distance corps at Western.

Davis finished seventh in the 100-meter dash and sixth in the long jump as a senior at the 2003 state finals and is still the area’s all-time leader in those two categories. She’ll tutor the Kats in both sprints and the long jump.

The following are capsules of the five county teams in order of sectional finish.

Western

The Panthers, despite being what coach Marvin Boswell termed as “very young” last season, lapped the sectional field by more than 60 points over runner-up Kokomo.

Western shows no signs of slowing down this season, having lost only one regional athlete, thrower Lizi Chandler, to graduation.

“Last year was a real special year for the girls,” said Boswell, the second-year coach who, for the second year in a row, will lead the boys and girls for Western.

“They understand they can’t just stay in one spot and expect the same thing to happen. They have continued to come out and push hard.”

Senior Cara Earlywine returns to anchor the sprinting corps. The defending sectional champion in the 100 and 200 meters will likely concentrate her efforts on the 200 and 400 this spring.

Also returning are sophomore Alleca Kerker, second to Earlywine in the 100 and seventh in the 300-meter low hurdles a year ago, as well as senior Danae Rittman (7th, 200 meters).

Joining them are sophomores Allison Everetts (either the 200 or 400 meters), Sidricka Harris and freshman Taylor Young.

Another sophomore, Sable Staller, was sixth in the 400 meters last year and qualified for regional in high jump and long jump.

Senior Jenn Elliott serves the same role with the middle distance and distance runners as Earlywine, a four-year standout who last year was fourth in both the 800 and 1,600.

“She’s really motivated this year to come out and have a strong senior season,” Boswell said of Elliott. “She’s one that wants to get a lot of things accomplished this year.”

Returning with Elliott are classmate Lacey Myer (800) and sophomores Kayla Gaskins (800), Corianne Myer (800, 1,600), Ashley Gaskins (1,600, 3,200) and Breana Nicholas (1,600, 3,200).

All were regional qualifiers last season either as individuals or part of the 4x800 relay team, and they are joined by freshman Krissy Durr, a standout on the cross country team.

Nikki McCracken returns for her senior campaign already the area’s all-time best pole vaulter at 10 feet, 33/4 inches.

McCracken also was a regional qualifier in the 100-meter hurdles and will be aided by Rittman there, along with sophomore Taylor Ruch, who was sixth in that event at sectional.

Ruch and Kerker run the 300 along with freshmen Alexandria Frazier and Kim Grider.

In pole vault along with McCracken will be Everetts, who qualified for the recent Hoosier State Relays indoor meet, and senior Kiley Camp.

Sophomore Shelby Spall backs up Staller in high jump and Kerker, Young and Harris will long jump with Staller.

Senior Kristin Tiedeman steps up to replace Chandler in the throws, along with sophomore Amy Hudson and freshman Caily Tanner, who qualified for the Hoosier State Relays.

“The girls have done a nice job getting started,” Boswell said. “We’ve got a real strong group coming back. Last year we were very young and we hope to have another great season.”

Kokomo

The Wildkats haven’t lost back-to-back sectionals since 1993, but coach Dave Barnes seems resigned to the fact that his team doesn’t have the depth necessary to knock off Western.

Instead, Kokomo will take aim at the North Central Conference title, which went to Huntington North last season by fewer than 10 points over the Kats.

“Our No. 1 goal is to take a shot at the North Central Conference,” Barnes said. “We were close last year but I know it won’t be easy because Huntington North has a good team and Muncie Central and Marion have some outstanding athletes. We should be in the mix.

“When I hit the sectional I’m looking to advance as many girls as possible to the next level. That’s not a team event in my mind.”

Kokomo’s greatest strength is in the throws, led by senior Ashley DeWitt, who came from nowhere last year to capture shot-put titles at conference, sectional and regional. She just missed the finals of the shot put at the state meet a year ago and recently finished fifth at the Hoosier State Relays.

Returning with DeWitt are sophomore Kelly Hopkins, another Hoosier State Relays qualifier, and Alexis Stamper as well as Clarissa Woodard.

Barnes sees a core group of returning juniors as heavy contributors, including regional qualifiers Madi Cassidy (400 meters) and Whitney Weir (300 hurdles).

That group also includes Hailey Rice (hurdles, pole vault), Rachel Pace (pole vault, sprints), Shelby Ransbottom (sprints), Kellie Miles (distance) and Kelsey Griffin (800, 1,600).

Beyond those athletes, Barnes will rely on several freshmen and untested newcomers to fill in the gaps, including seniors Mary Lang (long jump, sprints) and Lexi Reed, junior Ashli Minor (distance) and sophomores Emily Keller (200, 400), Lexi Laird (hurdles) and Brielle Bonnafon (hurdles, sprints, long jump).

Among the freshman are Annika Taber, a regional qualifier in cross country who has already cleared 7 feet, 6 inches in pole vault; Portia Lang (high jump, sprints), sprinters and hurdlers Arienne Beard, Stacia Fletcher, Sarah Frey and Courtney Gilman as well as Kayla Reinagle (distance).

“We’ve really got a nice balanced squad when you look at us because we have a number of seniors who decided to come out,” said Barnes. “There are some unknowns in there but they’re good kids and they work hard.

“It is really a quality group. It’s been a while since I’ve had this kind of group of girls.”

Northwestern

Up and down the lineup the Tigers return quality athletes from the team that won the Mid-Indiana Conference title in 2008, losing only a handful to graduation.

Their biggest loss, though, was four-time state qualifier Megan Schubert in high jump as well as a four-time sectional champ.

“It’s hard to replace the [girls who have graduated] but some of the younger girls have stepped up and know their roles for this year,” said coach Mary Clem. “We have a good attitude this year — girls who are dedicated to track and working hard after last year.”

Northwestern won sectional titles and set school records in the 4x400 and 4x800 relays last year and return several of those runners. They include Lauren Brun, Lauren Dewhurst and Rachel Lowden in the 4x400 and Nicki Hendricks, Hannah Ault and Annie Sloss in the 4x800.

Kara DeFabritis won the sectional long jump and returns in the sprints along with Hannah McDermott and Lowden in the 200 and 400. Freshmen Brittany Jocius and Kylie Ballard are also sprinters, while Ballard has already placed eighth in high jump at the Hoosier State Relays.

Brun and Dewhurst will man the 800 while Hendricks, Sloss and Ault as well as senior Ruby Sanchez and sophomore Gretchen Catron fill out the middle distance and distance events.

Junior Courtney Silvey will lead the hurdles effort. She was fifth at sectional in the 300 a year ago.

Junior Lainey Sewell was seventh at sectional in high jump and returns, as does Stephanie Colter. Sophomore Kayla Priday is back in long jump.

The throws feature junior Ally Combs, who was sixth at sectional in the shot put, along with senior Annie Tarkington and a handful of freshmen contenders.

Pole vault returns school-record holder and senior Ashley Miller.

The Tigers’ schedule gets a major upgrade this year when they join the Kokomo Relays on May 2.

“I think we’ll surprise some people this year,” Clem said. “The girls are more focused. They’ve seen success last year and want it back.”

Eastern

It would be unfair to call the Comets a one-person team, but with low numbers returning, Eastern will rely heavily on super-sophomore Zoe Wolfe.

All Wolfe did as a freshman was capture the 300-meter hurdles at the Madison-Grant Sectional and finish second to Schubert in high jump at the county, conference and sectional meets.

Wolfe went on to place sixth in both events at the Bremen Regional.

The Comets return only one senior in Jennifer Slusher (sprints, 4x100) and two juniors, Stephanie Parton (400, 4x100, 4x400) and Lindsay Reprogle (800, 1,600, 4x800). Sophomore Emily Wilcox returns in the distance events.

The future arrives with freshmen Demi Shafer (pole vault), sprinters Liz White and Allyse Turner and Jordan Powell (400, 4x400).

“We’re in the same position this year, definitely a rebuilding year,” said coach Michael Goodspeed. “We want to do as well as we can on the track, but we just want to see our girls improve individually.”

Taylor

Four years removed from a stunning sectional championship, the Titans are in straits similar to Eastern with only 14 team members.

“Without the numbers it’s kind of tough,” said coach Alan Tunmer, who returns two seniors, Teri Oliver and Hannah Hawkins.

Oliver was sixth in discus and seventh in shot put at sectional last year while Hawkins was sixth in pole vault and is a past regional qualifier.

“I can put [Hawkins] just about anyplace else I need her,” Tunmer said. “She’s one of those girls I can put a number of different places.”

Junior Kaitlynne Smith was eighth in the 100-meter hurdles at sectional and returns there and in the relays. Mary Troyer is a pole vaulter and returns with Skylar Denman in the middle distances and 300 hurdles.

Also returning are Rebecca Weirauch (800, 4x800), Avery Gotshall (long jump, 400, 4x400) Amber Doehrman (distance), Halle Fletcher (high jump, throws) and Bri Barnett (400, 800).

Freshmen include Sable Walls and Erika Hughes (sprints), Laura Mansur (hurdles) and Lesly Winburn (distance).

“We’ll be in the same place we were last year in the fact that we’ll do better at invitationals and relays than we do at regular meets because we don’t have the depth to score a lot of points,” said Tunmer.