POISED AND READY

Defending sectional champ NW leads local squads into new season

PEDRO VELAZCO Kokomo Tribune Apr 11, 2024

Northwestern’s girls track and field team has a crew of 21 athletes on the squad after surging to the Kokomo Sectional title last season.

“Our roster is smaller this year and that will make things tougher,” NW coach Josh Perry said. “The girls are going to have more to do this season, but they have already been willing to step up and fill in wherever they can. We still have a lot of talent back this year to hold us together.

“The team is really focused on this year. I don’t think there is a lot of pressure to repeat felt by the girls. They have been really dedicated to getting better each week.”

The Tigers have some stacked events, and two returning state finalists — senior Hannah Moore and sophomore Ayla Jackson.

“We have two pairs of girls that are ready to score quite a few points,” Perry said. “Senior Hannah Moore and junior Courtney Adams have always been successful in the distance events. We are hoping to keep that going again this season. We also have senior Lexi Hale and sophomore Ayla Jackson looking to score well in high jump and the hurdle events.”

Butler recruit Moore was 17th in the 1,600-meter run at state last season (5:09.92) and 24th in the 3,200 (11:29.55). Jackson was 23rd in high jump (5 feet, 2 inches). Adams was a regional qualifier in the 1,600 and 3,200 and Hale reached the regional in the high jump.

Hale, and Emma Baker return from the 4x100 team that reached the regional. Moore and Adams return from the 4x800 team that reached the regional.

Baker, a sophomore, will compete in sprints and pole vault. Sophomore Meredith Kelly will be involved in the 200, 400 and relays. Sophomore Avery Nielson, senior Dani Dunten and freshman Gabbi Hopkins are in throws.

“As a team, we are looking to stay in the running for another sectional title,” Perry said. “It’s too early to know what’s going to happen at the end of a long season, but I am happy with where we are.

“I would really like to see us take three to state this year. We had two athletes qualify last year and you always want to improve. Hannah Moore had several personal bests in our indoor season and I am hoping that success will continue growing. She got a medal last October for cross country and she is looking to get back to the podium this spring.

“High jumpers Lexi Hale and Ayla Jackson also have a chance to make a podium run.”

WESTERN
The Panthers have 31 athletes on the squad after finishing second at the sectional last season. Coach Gary Jewell isn’t sure yet if he has a team that can contend for the sectional title again but has a lot of options and places where the Panthers can score points.

“We’re probably the strongest in the throwing events,” Jewell said, noting sophomores Ellyse Walden, Ellie Kretz and Caitlin Sylvester. “This year we have three girls who are pushing for those top two spots [in] conference and sectional.”

Walden won the shot put at sectional last season, went to the regional in both throwing events, and set a school record in discus in a meet on Tuesday at Tipton. Kretz reached the regional in shot.

Another area of strength is in hurdles, where Jewell thinks senior Lacy Rathbun should set the standard in the area after reaching the regional in both events. She won the 100 hurdles at the sectional last season and took second in the 300 hurdles.

Jewell is a distance coach and feels this season’s distance crew is “pretty sound.” That group consists of sophomore Kendall DePoy, junior Hattie Harlow, the two who have shown the most growth, senior Lauren Bradley, junior Maddy Shoaff, and freshman Sam Williams.

DePoy, Harlow, Shoaff and Bradley reached the regional in the 4x800 last season.

Jewell said he expects to score well in: “Hurdles — in most meets we should score well in both. Could score twice in the 300 hurdles. Throws, distance and shot put, Ellyse could probably win most competitions with Ellie and/or Caitlin also placing in the top three. Distance — probably not as strong as the other two, but we could definitely score consistently and possibly twice in three of the four events.”

Sophomore Ashlyn Pownall and junior Kenzie Moore have the early lead in sprinting events. Others expected to factor in are freshman London Jones and sophomore Haylee Krause.

Also on the squad are: seniors, Anna DiPaola (hurdles, pole vault), and Natalie Schnurpel (distance); juniors Ilana Hossain (high jump, pole vault), Joy Marley (sprints), Laura Perdoni (sprints), and Anna Pownall (distance); sophomores Katherine DiPaola (sprints, high jump), Aubreyana Hoeppner (pole vault, long jump, sprints), Lainey LaShure (sprints, long jump), Ashlyn Pownall (sprints), and Kelsey Weber (sprints); and freshmen Dylan Barger (sprints), Ameerah Chiamopoulos (sprints), Mary Claire DiPaola (distance), Alaina Smith (hurdles), Ella Stranahan (distance, pole vault), Sara Szerdy (distance, pole vault), and Elise Wittenbach (distance, pole vault).

Jewell said the Panthers’ goals for the season are to “stay healthy and see consistent improvement, place in the top three overall at sectional, [and] place two athletes in the state finals.”

KOKOMO
Kokomo took fifth at the sectional last season. The Wildkats have 35 athletes out for the squad, up a little from last season, but lean young.

“I would say I probably return about 50% of my team,” Kokomo coach John Malone said. “I should have had eight or nine seniors this year but I only have one senior this year. I would say out of the 35 girls, 27 of them are freshmen or sophomores.”

Malone is enthused about the attitudes and athleticism of the freshman class. The upside of that youth is that Malone can start looking down the road to funnel some athletes into events that the Kats need to fill to have a more well-rounded squad in coming seasons. As for now, the Wildkats’ strength is speed.

“We’re strong in our sprints,” Malone said. In “the 100 and the 200 and the 4x100 relay, and the 4x400 relay, we’ll be pretty strong.

“I’m going to have to move some girls to the 400 because I have six to seven girls that are very fast. I try to explain to the girls that we get to these meets, we can only use two people [per event]. I’m going to have a couple of you do the 400 and maybe even convert somebody to the 300 hurdles, but that remains to be seen.”

Junior Ma’kaela Young-Drake and freshman Abrashia Moore will run the 100. Senior Mia Castillo, a regional qualifier the last two seasons, and freshman Jhazlyn McKay are in the 200. Junior Aramaea Fivecoate is in the 100 hurdles. Freshman Akiera Huntsman and sophomore Tia Williams are in the 400. Other sprinters include freshman Satyra Scott, sophomore Kamya Williams and junior Janae Young.

Tia Williams reached the regional in the 300 hurdles and long jump last year. She, Castillo and Young reached the regional in the 4x100 and 4x400.

Malone said the distance group is “low on numbers there, but we have some solid girls. They love to come to practice. They work very hard.”

Distance runners include sophomores Christina Durham, Gretchen Riggle and Morgan Rakestraw, and freshmen Apryl Naquin and Savannah Goff.

The Kats are thinner in field events but do have people for each discipline. Throwers are juniors Brielle Humphries and Felicia Ekola, sophomore Layla Ferraro, and freshman Destiny Forestal.

Regional qualifier Tia Williams is in the long jump along with Moore. Huntsman and McKay are in high jump. Fivecoate is pole vaulting.

Malone wants an improved performance and has his eyes set on advancing from the sectional in speed events.

“To be honest, we really want to get our 4x1 back to state,” he said. “We lost our fastest girl last year — Reanna Jones moved. We’re hoping we can get a 200 runner to state, maybe even our 4x4 to state.

“We want to finish in the top three in sectionals and conference. The sprints, we’re there. We’re going to be improved in the distance. It’s just about putting it all together. We’re going to go against some teams that will score more points in the field events. That’s just how it is. We have to try to make it all back up on the track and we may run out of events. We really feel like next year is the year we can start winning some championships.”

EASTERN
The Comets have a squad of 17 and several newcomers as they try to keep pace. Eastern was seventh in the sectional last spring.

“We have definitely more underclassmen than upperclassmen, so a young group,” Eastern coach Anne Kantz said.

“We’ve got some girls that have been around for a while, got some veterans, but I have six freshmen and four sophomores.”

There are some experienced Comets to build with, led by sprinter Makenna Brooks, and thrower Elisabeth Bruno, both juniors.

McKenna Brooks leads the speedsters after reaching state in long jump last season and the regional in the 100 and 200. She was 16th at state with a leap of 17 feet, 0.75 inches.

Sprinting is an area of strength as other sprinters are junior Allie Hueston, freshmen Skyler Brooks, Cora Gunderson and Maya Monize, and sophomore Lilli Krogstie. Senior Hannah Morrisett will be in sprints and pole vault.

Anne Kantz expects sprints, high jump and pole vault to carry a big part of the points load as a former strength, distances, is thinner this season, especially at longer distances. However the coach expects junior Ava Kantz to get some points. Ava Kantz will run the 1,600, 800 and a leg of the 4x400 relay.

Sophomore Haven Gunderson is running hurdles and mid-distance events. New sophomores Haley Rose and Kennedy Stone are in mid-distance events. Senior Lily Greene is in mid-distances and high jump. Freshman Zoey Sexton will be in the 400, 800 and 4x800. Freshman Jocelyn Rogers is in mid-distances and pole vault.

Bruno reached the regional in discus. Joining Bruno in throws are senior Nyah Day and freshman Lizz Cavazos.

“I just want us to be able to work hard and compete, just compete and see where that takes us,” Anne Kantz said. “I don’t know how competitive we’ll be in conference. We’re just looking to compete with some conference schools coming up. My main goal is to go out there with great attitudes and compete and again see where that takes us.”

TAYLOR
The Titans have eight athletes on the squad and a new coach in Alyson Davis-Williams. There’s some experience in the upperclassmen and one experienced freshman. With a small squad, the Titans won’t have a lot of flexibility, but have areas of strength.

“I think our strongest in scoring points would probably the 100-, 200-meter dashes and the 4x100 relay, maybe even shot put,” Davis-Williams said.

Sprinters include returning junior Sheyli Nieves, freshman Kiera Phelps, returning sophomore Cecille Howard, and freshman Jocelyn Deaton. In the throws are sophomore Destiny Skinner and returning junior Amelia Collins. And in mid-to-long distances are freshmen Vanessa Davidson and Chloe Mills.

“We don’t have many people for distance running,” Davis-Williams said. “There’s one girl who really stepped up to the plate and does her best with distance running but other than that we don’t have any distance runners.”

The Titans have a couple more athletes than they had when they finished last season, giving hope to grow the program.

Davis-Williams said the Titans are “working to improve our time and distance and start building on that track program. [A priority is] getting more numbers to run and improving our personal [bests], and as a team.”