INDIANAPOLIS
Hanna Anderson’s knee-high socks are a fashion statement her competitors got a good look at Tuesday night.
More accurately, they saw the backs of the socks.
The Greenwood senior made her final Mid-State Conference track and field meet memorable by winning the 100-, 200- and 400-meter dashes at Decatur Central.
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Plainfield won the girls team title, while Franklin was second and Whiteland third. In the boys meet, the Quakers prevailed with 131 points with Whiteland the runner-up.
Anderson, who will compete at Lipscomb beginning in the fall, ran five races overall when counting heats for the 100 and 200.
“It’s just kind of that’s what I do now,” said Anderson of running the three individual sprints. “I’ve just gotten used to it. I do it in all the dual meets. My strategy for the 400 was to just get out fast and hold it as much as I could.
“The 400 is probably my specialty. I’m more of a 400, 200 runner.”
Freshman Lilly Lacy spearheaded the Grizzly Cubs’ second-place effort as a team with victories in the 1,600 and 3,200. Other winners for Franklin were senior Emma Treibic in the 800 and classmate Kloie Doublin in the long jump.
For Whiteland, freshman Isabella Jackson was first in the 300 hurdles and second in both the 100 hurdles and high jump. Junior Reagan Emberton won discus for the Warriors by a comfortable margin.
In the boys meet, Whiteland scored two wins with freshman long jumper Dalton Debaun and the 4×800 relay team.
The first win of the night from a local squad was the Warriors’ 4×800. The team of Bailey McMahon, Eric Williams, Dalton Spangler and David Ryan won in 8:29.67.
By the time Ryan grabbed the baton the Warriors led by 100 meters, but the race became suspenseful at the end as Plainfield’s anchor runner edged closer.
“(Ryan) let up a little more than I would’ve liked,” Whiteland coach Brandon Bangel said. “They’ve been 8:17, but our third and fourth leg were shutting it down a little bit. When David took off, I said, ‘Hey, save it for the open 800,’ but he shut it down a little more than I would like.”
Greenwood junior Nick Patton cruised to victory in the 110 hurdles in a personal-best time of 14.85 seconds ahead of Franklin senior Nick Riggles, who lost a shoe late in the race.
“I’ve run faster with hand-held time, but you can’t always trust that,” Patton said. “I won it last year, so winning it back to back was big. Nick Riggles was a big motivator for me, too, because we’ve always been competitors.”
Riggles came back to win the 300 hurdles in 41.11 seconds. Other conference champions were Greenwood’s Ethan Pine in the 800, Franklin pole vaulter Matt Frazier, Cubs’ senior Manny Cheam in the shot put, Franklin’s 4×400 relay and Greenwood discus specialist Nick Young.
