Top photo: Record breakers: Chesterton’s 3,200 relay team poses on the awards stand after their record breaking performance Saturday night at the State Finals meet in Indianapolis on Saturday. Front row: (left to right) Ali Bishel and Cassie Peller. Back row: Mandi Loving and Kelly Peller.

(Photo by Geoffrey Lambert)

Right photo: Senior standout: Chesterton senior Emily Prather placed fourth in the shot put at Saturday’s State Finals Meet in Indianapolis.

 (Photo by Julie Peller.)

In contrast to the previous evening when the boys contested their championship, near-perfect weather conditions greeted the field and a crowd of 4,627 for the 30th Annual Girls Track and Field State Finals at the Michael A. Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis, on Saturday, June 7, 2003.

The evening got off to a blazing fast start when Chesterton’s 3,200 Meter Relay team made their dreams a reality by setting a new state mark. Mandi Loving (12), Ali Bishel (9), Kelly Peller (9) and Cassie Peller (11) combined their talents to finish in 9:11.30, erasing the state meet mark of 9:13.41 set by Carmel a year ago.

Cassie Peller followed that effort with second place finish in the 800, while anchoring the 15th place relay team of Loving, Alissa Bishel and Kelly Peller.

Other Chesterton medalists included Emily Prather’s fourth place finish in the shot put, Mary Ballinger eighth in the 3,200 and Sarah Kehe eighth in the 1,600. Loving went on to 22nd in the 400. As a team the Lady Trojans finished seventh overall with a total of 28 points.

The state’s number-one team, Fort Wayne Northrop, was expected to be front and center in the evening’s festivities as the Bruins set out for an unprecedented fourth consecutive state title and sixth overall. Warren Central had other ideas, as the eastside Indianapolis school gathered in three first place finishes early to take what appeared to be, at the time, a near insurmountable margin, leading by as many as 26 points as the meet wound down.

However, it all came down to the final event of the evening, the final heat of the 1600 Meter Relay. Fort Wayne Northrop started in lane one, with Warren Central in lane four and all eyes were focused on the outcome.

But the result was settled quickly, as Northrop jumped out front early and never looked back, with Lakeesha Burnett (10), Tamara Adams (9), Natasha Fletcher (10) ad Shauntel Elcock (10) winning in a time of 3:47.94.

With Warren Central unable to do any better than fourth in the event, the Bruins and coach Tom Knudson were state champs again by a 93-85 margin.

The 93 points tallied by the Bruins set a new standard for points scored in the girls track and field competition. The previous high total was 70, scored by Gary Wallace in 1993.

Warren Central entered the winner’s circle in the 100 Meter Hurdles, when Briana Cunningham (11) led the field across the finish line in 14:32, the second year in a row that a Warrior had captured the top prize.

Cunningham returned to the top of the field in the 300 Meter Hurdles, outrunning the rest of the contenders in a time of 42.74.

Warren Central’s Lorian Price (12) was dominant in the Long Jump.

After an 18-05.75 performance in 2002, she increased that effort by one foot, three inches and closed out the day’s action in the event at 19-08.75, eight inches ahead of second place.

Warren Central was back in the win column again in the High Jump, with Mariesa Greene (11) getting over the bar at 5-09.00. She had finished second last year, performing in a Richmond High School uniform.

Fort Wayne Northrop did not reach the top of the podium until the 400 Meter Relay and when they did, they did it in style, turning in a time of 45.75, smashing the old mark of 47.32, set by cross-town rival Concordia last year. Tamara Adams (9), Lakeita Rox (12), Kyndal Carr (11) and Zakiya Robinson (11) carried the mail for the Bruins.

Northrop was back in the winners’ circle for the second time in the 400 Meter Dash, as Elcock and Burnett finished one-two to chop Warren Central’s once-huge lead to only eight points at the time.

And then, Northrop finally took over the points lead, finishing one-two-three in the 200 Meters, with Elcock showing the way at 24.22, Robinson finishing second and Carr third.

Christina Poulson (12) of Delta has owned the 100 Meter Dash the past two seasons and she made it three in a row on Saturday in a time of 11.75, her best effort of the trio of titles she has garnered in the event.

Katie Harrington (11) gave Carmel its two top efforts on the evening, turning in a record setting 4:49.38 as the 2002 cross country champion went on to win by over four seconds in the 1600 Meter Run, moving up from her second place slot a year back. The previous mark was set by Sherry Hoover of Woodlan in 1985, with a 4:49.54. She then returned to capture the 3200 Meter Run by a margin of 14 seconds in a time of 10.27.08.

Another mark bit the dust late in the competition in the 800 Meter Run, as Temeka Kincy (11) carried on some of the excitement the Lawrence North boys had generated the previous night with their third straight championship, as she romped home in the record time of 2:09.82.

The previous standard of 2:09.99 had been set in 1985 by Kari Krehnbrink of Lafayette Jefferson.

For the first time in the history of the sport, Pole Vaulting entered the competition as a non-scoring event. Tori Allen (10) of Lawrence Central was an easy winner with a vault of 11-10.25, just over a foot higher than her closest competitor, thus establishing the new standard.

In the other field events, Lafayette Jefferson grabbed their first 10 points of the day as Liz Honegger (12), fifth place finisher a year ago at 131-07, bettered that mark by 18 feet, turning in a 149-07 in the Discus.

And Honegger wasn’t finished for the day, as she moved over to the Shot Put arena, where she was third a season ago, and gathered in her second blue ribbon there with a put of 46-04.25.

Girls Track Results

At IUPUI

Team Standings

1. FW Northrop 93; 2. Warren Central 85; 3. Carmel 36; 4. Laf. Jeff. 33; 5. Lawrence North 31; 6. FW Concordia 29; 7. CHESTERTON 28; 8. Westfield 26; 9. Muncie Central 20.5; 10. North Putnam 15; 11. Columbus North 14; 12. Indpls. Bishop Chatard 13; 13. Hamilton SE 12; 14. (tie) Gary West Side 11, FW North Side 11; 16. Logansport 10, Delta 10; 18. (tie) Bloomington North 9, Kokomo 9, Michigan City 9; 21. FW South Side 8, Providence 8, Northridge 8, Lawrence Cent. 8, Pike 8; 26. (tie) FW Carroll 7, Roncalli 7; 28. (tie) Harrison 6, Heritage Christian 6, West Lafayette 6, Brebeuf 6, Jac-Cen-Del 6, Warsaw Comm 6; 34. (tie) Sullivan 5, White River Valley 5, Lake Central 5, Plymouth 5, Avon 5, Forest Park 5, LaVille 5; 41. (tie) Brownstown Cent. 4, Greenfield-Cent. 4, Zionsville 4, Evansville Cent. 4, Harding 4, SB Adams 4; 47. (tie) Maconaquah 3, Anderson 3, Hobart 3, Ben Davis 3, Boomington South 3; 52. Triton Cent. 2.5; 53. (tie) Valparaiso 2, Crown Point 2, Southport 2, Merrillville 2, Mt. Vernon 2, North Central 2; 59. (tie) Castle 1, Kankakee Valley 1, Horace Mann 1, Wawasee 1, Frankfort 1, Plainfield 1, Muncie Southside 1.

3,200 Relay

1, Chesterton (Mandi Loving, Ali Bishel, Kelly Peller, Cassie Peller), 9:11.30 (breaks record of 9:13.41 set in 2002 by Carmel); 2, Carmel, 9:17.93; 3, Lawrence North, 9:20.71; 4, West Lafayette, 9:23.27; 5, Fort Wayne Concordia, 9:26.72; 6, Zionsville, 9:26.99; 7, Bloomington South, 9:27.48; 8, Northridge, 9:30.82; 9, Valparaiso, 9:31.52.

100

1, Christina Poulson, Delta, 11.75; 2, Lakeesha Burnett, Fort Wayne Northrop, 11.84; 3, Zakiya Robinson, Fort Wayne Northrop, 11.89; 4, Danielle Logan, Warren Central, 11.99; 5, Shannon Carlisle, Lawrence Central, 12.00; 6, Aundrea Brown, Fort Wayne North Side, 12.11; 7, Lashonda Davis, Kokomo, 12.21; 8, Nina Matthews, Warren Central, 12.25; 9, Tekisha Martin, Michigan City, 12.31.

100 Hurdles

1, Briana Cunningham, Warren Central, 14.32; 2, Jarae Prothro, Gary West Side, 14.51; 3, Lorian Price, Warren Central, 14.60; 4, Jasmine Russell, Fort Wayne Northrop, 14.64; 5, Lanae Stofall, Lafayette Jefferson, 14.66; 6, Brandi Huddleston, Logansport, 14.92; 7, Chara Lane, Bloomington North, 15.06; 8, Geneva Trotter, Brebeuf, 15.22; 9, Natasha Fletcher, Fort Wayne Northrop, 15.29.

1,600

1, Katie Harrington, Carmel, 4:49.38 (breaks record of 4:49.54 set in 1985 by Sherry Hoover, Woodlan); 2, Cassie Hunt, North Putnam, 4:53.70; 3, Julie Eckerly, Colunbus North, 5:00.31; 4, Magin Kebert, Harrison West Lafayette, 5:01.69; 5, Tiffany Redlarczyk, Lake Central, 5:02.88; 6, Heather Stembridge, Evansville Central, 5:09.07; 7, Kristina Heinecke, Hobart, 5:09.31; 8, Sarah Kehe, Chesterton, 5:09.91; 9, Rachel Stichter, Wawasee, 5:10.01.

400 Relay

1, Fort Wayne Northrop (Tamara Adams, Lakeita Rox, Kyndal Carr, Zakiya Robinson), 45.75 (breaks record of 47.32 set in 2002 by Fort Wayne Concordia); 2, Warren Central, 47.10; 3, Fort Wayne Concordia, 47.32; 4, Muncie Central, 47.81; 5, Lawrence North, 47.91; 6, Pike, 48.00; 7, Lawrence Central, 48.77; 8, Kokomo, 48.79; 9, Hamilton Southeastern, 48.87.

400

1, Shauntel Elcock, Fort Wayne Northrop, 53.57; 2, Lakeesha Burnett, Fort Wayne Northrop, 54.40; 3, Hilary McEowen, Westfield, 56.42; 4, Lauren Haffner, Heritage Christian, 56.56; 5, Erica Moore, Sullivan, 57.06; 6, Caitlin Lauer, South Bend Adame, 57.48; 7, Brittney Knies, Forest Park, 57.52; 8, Jamie Kendrick, North Central, 57.53; 9, Me Shell Jolley, Gary Horace Mann, 57.54; 22. Mandi Loving, Chesterton 1:00.01

300 Hurdles

1, Briana Cunningham, Warren Central, 42.74; 2, Takisha Martin, Michigan City, 43.86; 3, Vanneisha Ivy, Muncie Central, 43.89; 4, Brandi Huddleston, Logansport, 44.34; 5, Malea Firestone, White River Valley, 45.18; 6, Colleen Stein, Hamilton Southeastern, 45.26; 7, Taylor Sefranka, Harding, 45.27; 8, Natasha Fletcher, Fort Wayne Northrop, 45.28; 9, Lauren Hutton, Valparaiso, 45.50.

800

1, Temeka Kincy, Lawrence North, 2:09.82 (breaks record of 2:09.99 set in 1985 by Kari Krehnbrink, Lafayette Jefferson); 2, Cassie Peller, Chesterton, 2:13.26; 3, Amanda Ponsot, Carroll, 2:14.65; 4, Julie Seiss, Warsaw Community, 2:15.13; 5, Morgan Uceny, Plymouth, 2:15.18; 6, Winter Holman, Brownstown Central, 2:15.20; 7, Maggie Noonan, Maconaquah, 2:15.66; 8, Heather Griffis, Crown Point, 2:16.29; 9, Brandi Murrell, Bishop Chatard, 2:16.80.

200

1, Shauntel Elcock, Fort Wayne Northrop, 24.22; 2, Zakiya Robinson, Fort Wayne Northrop, 24.58; 3, Kyndal Carr, Fort Wayne Northrop, 24.68; 4, Hilary McEowen, Westfield, 24.96; 5, Danielle Logan, Warren Central, 25.04; 6, Valara Anderson, Pike, 25.07; 7, Brittany Ross, Bloomington North, 25.72; 8, Brittney Knies, Forest Park, 25.84; 9, Vanessa Cork, Muncie Southside, 26.07.

3,200

1, Katie Harrington, Carmel, 10:27.08; 2, Alissa McKaig, Concordia, 10:41.15; 3, Cassie Hunt, North Putnam, 10:48.37; 4, Tiffany Brenneman, Northridge, 10:50.54; 5, Adele Mitchell, Concordia, 10:59.38; 6, Julie Eckerly, Columbus North, 10:59.95; 7, Lauren Fence, Columbus North, 11:01.72; 8, Mary Ballinger, Chesterton, 11:04.16; 9, Laura Geswein, Plainfield, 11:06.71.

1,600 Relay

1. FW Northrop 3:47.94; 15. CHESTERTON (Mandi Loving, Alissa Bishel, Kelly Peller, Cassie Peller) 3:59.94.

Discus

1, Liz Honegger, Lafayette Jefferson, 149-7; 2, Jill Andres, Providence, 139-0; 3, Stephanie Hamer, Hamilton Southeastern, 138-8; 4, Emily Prather, Chesterton, 126-7; 5, Mandy Bodnar, LaVille, 125-9; 6, Cara Collins, Greenfield-Central, 124-11; 7, Lara Lubbe, Bloomington North, 124-6; 8, Ashlie D’Angelo, Mount Vernon, 124-3; 9, Laura Corbito, Bishop Chatard, 121-6.

Shot Put

1, Liz Honegger, Lafayette Jefferson, 46-4.25; 2, LaTonya Fryerson, Westfield, 45-1; 3, Anna Weber, Roncalli, 44-10.75; 4, Katie Norris, Bishop Chatard, 44-6; 5, Kortney Norris, Bishop Chatard, 42-0.25; 6, Ze’nai Savage, Warren Central, 41-3.5; 7, Kenya Jones, Anderson, 40-6.25; 8, Adrienne Cobb, Lawrence North, 40-2.75; 9, Jennifer Barney, Frankfort, 40-1.25.

High Jump

1, Mariesa Greene, Warren Central, 5-9; 2, Katrina Kelly Fort Wayne South Side, 5-8; 3, Santia Spight, Warren Central, 5-7; 4, Molly Gilland, Jac-Cen-Del, 5-6; 5, Lindsey Moody, Avon, 5-6; 6, Natalie Mullikin, Brebeuf, 5-6; 7 (tie), Emily Schaf, Triton Central; Ruth Campbell, Muncie Central, both at 5-5; 9, Lindsey Singleton, Kankakee Valley, 5-5.

Long Jump

1, Lorian Price, Warren Central, 19-8.75; 2, Amanda Barnhart, Lafayette Jefferson, 19-0.75; 3, Aundrea Brown, Fort Wayne North Side, 19-0; 4, Zakiya Robinson, Fort Wayne Northrop, 18-11.5; 5, Ruth Campbell, Muncie Central, 18-8.5; 6, 6, Lashonda Davis, Kokomo,18-8; 7, Monica Robinson, Gary West Side, 18-4.5; 8, Dashawn Golliday, Southport, 18-2; 9, LaShira Norwood, Harding, 18-0.5.

Pole vault (non-scoring event)

1, Tori Allen, Lawrence Central, 11-10.25 (new event, so new record); 2, Verity Johnson, Bloomington North, 10-9; 3, Charli Reid, Columbus North, 10-3; 4, Kristein Mendez, Portage, 10-0; 5, Cara Newton, McCutcheon, 9-6; 6 (tie), Lindsay Johnston, Penn; Briana Klimek, Portage; Nikki Howe, Columbus East; Erika Johnson, Lawrence Central, all at 9-0.

Posted 6/9/2003