Ellie Irwin broke the Greenwood girls high jump record last season at 5 feet, 5 inches.
Daily Journal file photo
Ellie Irwin could have run out of incentive before her freshman track and field season was over.
Irwin set Greenwood’s new girls high jump record at the Franklin Sectional last May, her second-place effort of 5-feet, 5-inches surpassing the previous standard of 5-4¼ established four years earlier by Olivia Weston.
If tempted to rest on her laurels, Irwin isn’t showing it.
The sophomore cleared 5-7 during the past indoor season and continues to work her craft with various motivational factors still lined up to potentially be knocked down.
Take today, for instance.
Irwin and her Woodmen teammates return to Franklin for the annual Johnson County meet. Irwin was runner-up in the high jump a year ago to since-graduated Bella Jackson of Whiteland, now a freshman competing at Lipscomb University.
Another objective is advancing to the state meet at Indiana University in June. Irwin missed out as a ninth-grader, qualifying for regional but managing a best of only 5-2 to place seventh.
Last season, Irwin was mostly utilized as a high jumper. She’s since expanded her track horizons and is competing in the 200-meter dash — her best time is 27.8 seconds — and leading off the 4×100 relay.
Greenwood coach Blaine Williams had seen Irwin compete as a middle schooler.
“The tough part was her eighth-grade year was when we all got sent home (due to the pandemic), so just based on what she had done as a seventh-grader, we knew she was going to make an impact right away,” Williams said. “Last year, she goes out and breaks the school record.”
Athletics has long been part of Irwin’s life, but as a track and field participant, she had to do some experimenting before finding the event that best suited her.
“I had always wanted to run, ever since elementary school,” Irwin said. “Then, as a sixth-grader, I actually ran the 800. The next year I tried high jumping and I kept winning meets. I would jump 4-10 and then 5 foot, and then I PR’d the last meet of my seventh-grade year.
“I grew up being a dancer, so the force and the drive that I have to push off the floor and get up in the air, that’s what mainly drives me. I started dancing when I was 2, and I think that’s where I got a lot of my strength.”
Irwin’s successes her first years of middle school had her looking forward to seeing what she could accomplish in eighth grade.
Her season was canceled, but Irwin’s perseverance wasn’t lessened. She continued doing whatever she could under the circumstances to ensure success at the outset of her high school career.
Irwin’s takes her involvement in the 200 and 4×100 relay seriously, also.
“I do put high jump above the other events, but this is a team sport at the end of the day. You’re trying to get points for your team,” she said. “Obviously, I care about those events, and try to get those points for my team.
“For me, the biggest thing is working as hard as I can all the time. It doesn’t matter what height I’m trying to jump or what I’m trying to achieve that meet. It’s just working as hard as you can to be the best.”
