Published: May 14, 2008 12:29 am            

GIRLS' TRACK AND FIELD: New Albany captures Corydon sectional

CORYDON — When the New Albany girls’ track team won last week’s Hoosier Hills Conference championship, it seemed like it could have been a fluke.

On Tuesday, the Bulldogs left no doubt.

New Albany won 10 individual events, including all three relays, and grabbed the Corydon Sectional championship by rolling up 170 1/2 points. That effort was nearly 40 points better than second place Floyd Central, which finished at 133 1/2.

“I said that everyone needed to put it all out there for what might be their last performance,” said New Albany head coach Emily Hatton. “I didn’t want anyone walking away saying ‘I wish I did better,’ because I’ve head that too many times before.”

There was no chance of that.

Freshman Kaleb Barbour made a big splash in her first postseason with the Bulldogs, beating Highlander junior Becky Kennedy in the 100-meter dash, and then turning around to best Floyd’s Meghan Jones in the 200. Jones had previously beaten Barbour more than once this season, and the freshman seemed shocked that success had come so quick.

“I think she’s beaten me five times, so I was definitely surprised,” said Barbour. “I think sectional maybe brought a little more out of me.”

Not to be outdone by a newcomer, New Albany senior Carissa Martin put on a show of her own. She blew past the field in the 1600, beating Crawford County’s Lauren Schaftlein by nearly 15 seconds in the event. Martin likewise outdueled Schaftlein in the 800 by more than six seconds to advance to Tuesday’s Bedford North Lawrence Regional. The top four finishers in each event moved on.

“Carissa looked amazing,” Hatton said. “She’s not getting a lot of competition right now. That’s not to say she hasn’t this season, but she’s really coming on. The regional will be great for her to have some closer races.”

Hali Alexander, a state qualifier as a freshman last season, also impressed for New Albany with a first-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles. She couldn’t outduel Corydon’s Meghan Bussabarger in the 100 hurdles, but still ended up second.

Saisha Rairdon cruised to victory in the 3,200 and Angelica Groves won the long jump for New Albany, which put itself in good position to ascend even higher on Tuesday.

“We’re taking a big squad to regional,” Hatton said. “I can’t say how we’ll do, but we’ll have quite a few chances.”

Floyd Central, which seemed to falter in the HHC meet last week after a sixth-place finish, rallied behind Kennedy and Jones. Kennedy seized Floyd’s only outright event title by beating Jones in the 400 in 1:00.18.

But plenty of Floyd runners moved on to the regional. Kelsey Bristol was fourth in the 800 and second in the pole vault. Nikki Roberts also had a banner day, finishing fourth in the 100 hurdles, third in the 300 hurdles and fourth in the long jump.

Things were a little more interesting in the 3,200, where Sadie Huth moved on with a third-place finish and Chelsea Reidinger had to run the last part of the race shoe-less, pausing at the finish line to replace one before crossing in fifth.

“She lost one when someone stepped on her, and she was running lopsided, so she took it off,” said Floyd coach Sarah Harkema. “Really, it was a good night for us. We had personal bests all over the place.”

Freshman Hannah Keehn also moved on for Floyd, ending third in the 1,600, while all three Highlander relays moved on.

“We’ve been working on being positive,” Harkema said. “We’re trying to get all the negative thoughts out. We went after it tonight. New Albany was awesome, but we went after them.”

Corydon was next with 60 points, followed by North Harrison (58 1/2), Providence (56 1/2), Crawford County (44), Borden (34), South Central (22), Christian Academy of Indiana (20) and Lanes ville (15).

Sarah Frey advanced to the regional round for Providence, taking fourth in the 400. Alex Rodden was fourth in the high jump and Elyce Williams third in the shot put for Providence.

Borden had an event winner, as Melissa Hunt was two feet better than South Central’s Abigail Day for the title in the shot put. Kayla Plaiss and Brittney Newton also moved on in the pole vault by finishing third and fourth, respectively.

CAI’s Ali Thompson finished behind only Bussabarger in the high jump, with a jump of five feet.



CORYDON SECTIONAL

(Top four in each event advance to Bedford North Lawrence Regional)

Team scores — New Albany 170.50, Floyd Central 133.50, Corydon 60, North Harrison 58.5, Providence 56.5, Crawford County 44, Borden 34, South Central 22, Christian Academy of Indiana 20, Lanesville.

100 — 1. Barbour (NA) 13.03, 2. Kennedy (FC), 3. Lane (NA), 4. Jones (CO).

200 — 1. Barbour (NA) 27.16, 2. Jones (FC), 3. Groves (NA), 4. Plaiss (BO).

400 — 1. Kennedy (FC) 1:00.18, 2. Jones (FC), 3. Kasteler (NA), 4. Frey (P).

800 — 1. Martin (NA) 2:23.2, 2. Schaftlein (CC), 3. Kenner (CC), 4. Bristol (FC).

1600 — 1. Martin (NA) 5:19.44, 2. Schaftlein (NA), 3. Keehn (FC), 4. Rairdon (FC).

3200 — 1. Rairdon (NA) 12:36.36, 2. Gresham (NH), 3. Huth (FC), 4. Cave (NA).

100 hurdles — 1. Bussabarger (CO) 15.84, 2. Alexander (NA), 3. Miller (SC), 4. Roberts (FC).

300 hurdles — 1. Alexander (NA) 48.02, 2. Miller (SC), 3. Roberts (FC), 4. Finchum (NA).

400 relay — 1. New Albany 52.01, 2. Floyd Central, 3. Providence, 4. Corydon.

1600 relay — 1. New Albany 4:14.88, 2. Floyd Central, 3. Providence, 4. Crawford County.

3200 relay — 1. New Albany 10:11.07, 2. Crawford County, 3. Floyd Central, 4. Providence.

High jump — 1. Bussabarger (CO) 5-02, 2. Thompson (CAI), 3. Ricke (NA), 4. Rodden (P).

Pole vault — 1. Eberly (CO) 9-00, 2. Bristol (FC), 3. Plaiss (B), 4. Newton (B).

Long jump — 1. Groves (NA) 15-11, 2. Wehmiller (NA), 3. Thompson (CAI), 4. Roberts (FC).

Shot put — 1. Hunt (B) 34-01, 2. Day (SC), 3. Williams (P), 4. Hartley (NH).

Discus — 1. Gayhart (L) 107-07, 2. Cockerham (NH), 3. Hartley (NH), 4. Grosheider (FC).

        

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