Center Grove’s Kate Henselmeier celebrates after her 100-meter dash victory during Tuesday’s Johnson County meet.
Sam Findley | For the Daily Journal
Kate Henselmeier bedazzled herself for Tuesday’s Johnson County track and field meet, underlining her eyebrows with red rhinestone stickers.
Her competitors probably never saw them. They were all stuck looking at Henselmeier’s back all evening long.
The Center Grove senior sparkled more brightly than anybody on what was a record-melting night of competition at Whiteland, setting a pair of meet standards while racking up four first-place finishes as the Trojans’ boys and girls teams both successfully defended their county titles against some formidable opposition.
Henselmeier shattered the previous meet record in the 400-meter dash, posting a time of 55.46 seconds to knock more than three and a half seconds off of the old mark. She also won the 100 in 12.47 seconds and the 200 in 25.43, and then closed the meet by anchoring Center Grove’s winning 4×400 relay.
Lara Phipps, Hallie Mimbela, Marissa Pogue and Henselmeier finished in 4:05.97, good for another meet record — the 10th of the night overall and the third for the Trojan girls.
“I’ve just learned a lot about me as an athlete and how to be better,” Henselmeier said of the improvement she’s made since last season.
Center Grove, which outpointed runner-up Franklin 158-133, also got a record-setting performance in the shot put from Shelby Wingler, who broke her own year-old mark with a heave of 45 feet, 1/4 inch. In addition, Wingler was first in the discus (139-3).
Henselmeier and Wingler weren’t the only athletes assaulting the record book.
Franklin sophomore Aubrey Runyon ran to victory in the 100 hurdles in 14.94 seconds, shaving two hundredths of a second off of the mark set two years ago by Center Grove’s Makensie Kramer and tied last year by her sister, Madi Kramer. Runyon came back shortly thereafter and broke another record in the 300 hurdles, winning in 46.08 seconds.
Grizzly Cub senior Morgan Sandrock took first in the high jump (5 feet, 6 inches).
Whiteland junior Victoria Jackson also set two meet records, winning the 800 with a time of 2:16.10 and taking the 1,600 in 5:.55. Warrior reshman Elnora Stevenson took the long jump (17-5) and anchored the victorious 4×100 relay, joining Sydney Rodgers, Emma Gill and Marissa Kratowicz to win in 50.07.
The Indian Creek quartet of Abby Fleetwood, Libby Dowty, Phoebe Dowty and Paige Iaria obliterated the old meet record in the 4×800 relay, posting a time of 9:31.93 to lop more than 15 seconds off of the standard set by Center Grove in 2006. Libby Dowty also took the 3,200 meters in 11:17.88.
Greenwood junior Amy Luttrell was first in the pole vault (11-6) and runner-up in the long jump.
Center Grove’s boys, who amassed 215 points to beat Whiteland by 85, didn’t get any record performances but overwhelmed everyone else with its balance and depth. The Trojans got individual victories from sophomore Dallas Johnson in the 110 hurdles (14.95), senior Parker Doyle in the 300 hurdles (39.72), senior Parker Mimbela in the 1,600 (4:26.88), senior Jarret Rockwell in the 3,200 (9:59.65), sophomore Caden York in the long jump (21-2 1/2), junior Peyton Coffey in the high jump and senior Garrett Messer in the discus (155-11).
The Trojans’ 4×800 relay team of Ty Garrett, Jacob Ellis, Levi Farmer and Kyle Montgomery won comfortably in 8:09.43, just a second and a half off of the county mark.
“We’re good in just about every event this year for the first time,” Center Grove boys coach Eric Moore said. “We’ve never had this strong of a team all around. I don’t know how many pure state champions we have, but we can score in the state meet in every event, and we’ve never had that before.”
Whiteland junior Matthew Wray, named the top individual performer on the boys side, set a meet record in the 400-meter dash (49.28) while also winning the 200 (22.35) and finishing second in the 100.
“The competition tonight was amazing,” Wray said. “That pushed me beyond anything I’ve ever raced against. Especially in the 400 tonight (against Center Grove’s Zach Greller and Brevin Holubar). That was awesome.”
Senior Scott Parrish set a record of his own by clearing 15 feet in the pole vault; he also joined Benian Walls, Adrian Unger and Jamal Nyonteh to help the Warriors win the 4×100 relay in 42.93 seconds. Senior Dalton Hughes took the shot put (52-9).
Sophomore William Riley brought home an individual win for Greenwood, edging Wray to take the 100 in 10.95 seconds. Teammate Samuel Grimes won the 800 in 2:01.08.
