Center Grove’s Shelby Wingler hopes to again medal in both the shot put and discus this season.
Daily Journal file photo
A relentless sun made any patch of shade a most valued commodity at last season’s girls state track and field meet.
Drew Mallory, a member of the Whiteland girls team, found hers beneath the umbrella of a rival.
“It was just so hot, and I had two umbrellas,” remembers Center Grove junior Shelby Wingler of that unbearably stifling June day at Ben Davis High School. “We were sitting next to each other.
“I really like Drew as a person. We push each other, and she brings out the best in me.”
The two combined for three walks to the awards podium at state, with Mallory taking home a third-place medal in the shot put with a best of 43 feet, 1 inch. Wingler took sixth in the shot at 41-8¼ and was eighth in the discus with a top distance of 128-1.
Mallory didn’t qualify for state in the discus, having placed fifth at the Franklin Regional 11 days earlier.
Maybe this time, they team for four medals.
Either way, both hope today’s Franklin Sectional is the start of a long postseason journey that culminates inside the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex at Indiana University on June 3.
Mallory and Wingler have the talent and drive to not only qualify, but stand on the podium’s highest perch.
A senior, Mallory has season bests of 140-3 in the discus (currently fourth in the state) and 42-1 in the shot (fifth). Her top efforts last spring in those events, 145-6 and the aforementioned 43-1, are both Warrior records.
Not too shabby for someone who didn’t compete in track and field prior to high school.
“I was a freshman when I started,” Mallory said. “My mom did track when she was in high school, so she wanted me to try it and see if I liked it. I liked the people I was around and the environment at Whiteland.
“It’s definitely the people who go there. We cheer each other on and push each other.”
Wingler, too, was inspired by a parent to try track and field.
“In sixth grade, my dad told me I had to do a sport,” Wingler said. “There were very limited options, and I did not want to play tennis or golf.”
Wingler’s shot put distance at state in 2021 broke the Trojans’ girls standard previously held by her current coach in the muscle events, 2009 Center Grove graduate Katy (Watson) Odle. The junior separated herself even more in April when she recorded a distance of 43-8½ during the Lime City Relays at Huntington North. That mark is currently third in the state; Wingler is also ranked sixth in the discus (130-9).
Mallory and Wingler don’t favor one event over the other — the confidence they exude spreads over both the shot put and discus.
“I think I’m pretty consistent and confident in both events,” Wingler said. “I think I definitely can contend for a state title. It just depends on how you do that day.”
Unbearable heat or not, there’s always the chance Mallory and Wingler will again be seated next to one another while waiting their turn, whether at state, regional or this evening at Franklin.
Athletes with the success level of Mallory and Wingler sometimes take a rivalry too seriously, resulting in silence, little to no eye contact or a half-hearted post-competition handshake.
Not the case here.
“I would definitely call it more of a friendship,” Mallory said. “We have respect for each other.”
