Published: May 14, 2008 12:39 am            

GIRLS' TRACK AND FIELD: Devils ignore coach’s prognostication, win sectional title

JEFFERSONVILLE — While breaking down the seedings for this year’s Jeffersonville girls’ track sectional at Blair Field, Jeffersonville coach Tom Kendall came away weary of his squad’s chances of recapturing its spot as champion.

The seeding said the Red Devils were solidly stuck in second behind defending champion Madison, meaning his team needed to rise to the occasion to reclaim the first-place trophy.

On Tuesday, the Devils got exactly what they needed and more. Jeff claimed seven first-place finishes and had a regional qualifier in all but one event, as it rolled to its fifth sectional crown in the past six years.

The Devils totaled 156 points to best the second-place Cubs, rolling to a title with relative ease.

“You don’t know what’s going to happen, especially when you total everything out and it says you’re going to lose by at least 12 points,” said Kendall. “I knew we needed points where we might not have expected to get them, and we might still need a little bit of help.”

Jeff swept three relay events, received first-place finishes in both the 100 and 200-meter dashes, swept the top two spots in the 800 and got a record-breaking performance in the pole vault in its winning effort.

The running events started with Jeff winning the 3,200 relay and was concluded by a surprising victory in the 1,600 relay by a squad that was seeded third entering the event.

In between, Jeff saw sophomore Shanice Gohlson sweep the 100 and 200 to go with a dominating effort in the 400 relay and a side-by-side sweep of the top two spots in the 800 by winner Stephanie Lander and second-place Megan Blackburn. There was also a surprise runner-up in the discus by freshman Tierney Mull, who was seeded eighth in the event but set a new personal best by over 12 feet to finish in the second-place spot.

“Relays were really strong and we kind of hoped that we would get the points we were able to get out of Shanice,” said Kendall. “Seeing us take the top two spots in the 800 is a nice surprise though. That was a very strong race by those girls.”

Jeff’s strongest win though arguably came from senior Andrea Newcom in the pole vault. The senior was seeded first, but scored a resounding win as she eclipsed the school and sectional record with a vault of 11 feet, 5 inches.

“It was really exciting,” said Newcom about her record-breaking vault, which drew a loud ovation from spectators watching around the pit. “I had been close at the height a few times and I wanted it really bad.”

While Madison fell well short of the top overall spot, the Cubs received an almost unexpected challenge for second by upstart Silver Creek.

The Dragons, who brought just a total of 15 competitors, finished just 7 1/2 points behind the Cubs while scoring four victories and 131 1/2 points.

“I couldn’t ask for much more out of these kids,” said Dragons coach Al Eckert. “They were outstanding and this performance is better than any we’ve had at this meet in quite a few years.”

The star for Silver Creek was senior Heather Stacey, who swept the 100 and 300 hurdles. She set a new school record in the 100 with a time of 16.66 seconds. Fellow senior Donna Ferree was first in the discus, and freshman Hayley Turner overcame her fifth-seed to win the 1,600.

In total, Silver Creek had 15 total regional-qualifying efforts.

“Hayley has just gotten better and better,” said Eckert. “Her seed was fifth, but in some of our most recent meets she’s had times that we hoped would be competitive with the favorites. We had so many girls get in the top four and get a chance to go to regional. I’m almost as thrilled for some of them as I am for the girls who won. This was just a great overall day for us.”

While finishing fourth, Henryville got another sterling day from senior Maggie Gilstrap. She repeated as champion in the long jump and also was tops for the second straight year in the 400 while also anchoring the Hornets’ 1,600 relay squad to a third-place finish.

New Washington’s fifth-place finish included a second by freshman Katelyn Walker in the high jump, a third in the 400 relay and two fourth-place showings by Lindsay Krohn in the hurdles. Charlestown also had a regional qualifier in the 300 hurdles as Elizabeth Stephens finished third.



JEFFERSONVILLE SECTIONAL

Team scores — Jeffersonville 156, Madison 139, Silver Creek 131 1/2, Henryville 56 1/2, New Washington 40, Scottsburg 25 1/2, Austin 24, Jennings County 18, Charlestown 15, Southwestern 13 1/2, Rock Creek Christian 4.

3,200 relay — 1. Jeffersonville (Blackburn, Conway, Simcoe, Lander) 10:24, 2. Madison, 3. Austin, 4. Silver Creek.

100 hurdles — 1. Stacey (SC) 16.66, 2. Witherspoon (J), 3. Day (JC), 4. Krohn (NW).

100 — 1. Gholson (J) 12.52, 2. White (M), 3. Kinnaird (J), 4. Bentz (M).

1,600 — 1. Turner (SC) 5:38, 2. Stephen (M), 3. Hart (M), Thomas (J).

400 relay — 1. Jeffersonville (Gallahar, Harbin, Kinnaird, Gholson) 50.71, 2. Madison, 3. New Washington, 4. Silver Creek.

400 — 1. Gilstrap (H) 1:01.78, 2. Maymon (SC), 3. Simcoe (J), 4. Voyles (SC).

300 hurdles — 1. Stacey (SC) 48.73, 2. Owens (M), 3. Stephens (C), 4. Krohn (NW).

800 — 1. Lander (J) 2:31.31, 2. Blackburn (J), 3. Simmons (M), 4. Grimes (M).

200 — 1. Gholson (J) 26.97, 2. White (M), 3. Kinnaird (J), 4. Bentz (M).

3,200 — 1. Hart (M) 12:25.65, 2. Turner (SC), 3. Stephan (M), 4. Horvath (SC).

1,600 relay — 1. Jeffersonville (Blackburn, Conway, Simcoe, Lander) 4:19.61, 2. Silver Creek, 3. Madison, 4. Henryville.

Shot put — 1. Deaton (S) 36-10, 2. Ferree (SC), 3. Collins (J), 4. Rickerson (M).

Pole vault — 1. Newcom (J) 11-5, 2. Rickerson (M), 3. Hess (SC), 4. Voyles (SC).

High jump — 1. Hough (A) 5-4, 2. Walker (NW), 3. Voyles (SC), 4. Lander (J).

Long jump — 1. Gilstrap (H) 16-4, 2. Gholson (J), 3. Green (M), 4. Owens (M).

Discus — 1. Ferree (SC) 115-11, 2. Mull (J), 3. Eckert (SC), 4. Brawner (SW).

        

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