Distance Queen: Lamerson's triple helps Tigers win title

May 11—LIZTON — Lebanon track coach Shelley West knew she was asking a lot of sophomore Penny Lamerson on Friday night at the Sagamore Conference Meet.

The Tigers distance star delivered — in a big way.

Lamerson won the distance triple — taking the conference titles in the 800-, 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, helping her team win the Sagamore Conference title.

"I'm really surprised with the way the night turned out," Lamerson said. "I came in with the mindset of 'OK, you got this.' Shelley just wanted us to worry about placing and not about times, and that's what I did."

It could have been a difficult philosophy for a runner, in a sport that is often run against the clock.

But Lamerson said she knew the team needed every point possible, and was willing to do whatever it took for the team.

"I felt like it was a bigger weight to carry, just because you're not running for yourself in the moment, you are running for the team," Lamerson said. "I just wanted to go out and help the team out and that made a big difference."

Lamerson defended her title in the 1,600 with a time of 5:26.02. She then won the 800 in a new Lebanon school record of 2:24.70 and ended her day with a title in the 3,200 in a time of 12:15.06.

It was the highlight of what was an impressive distance display from the Tigers.

Nadia Jones was second in the 800 in 2:36.44, and third in the 1,600 in 5:39.66. Sarah Keith was second in the 3,200 in 12:36.75.

Jones and Keith teamed with Harper Adams and Sophia Kyker to win the 4x800 in 10:21.96.

In a meet that Lebanon ultimately won by 15 points, the distance squad out-scored second-place Crawfordsville by 29 points in the four events.

"I was really proud of all my teammates — especially Nadia and Sarah," Lamerson said. "They are two of my biggest supporters and just being able to run with them and finish with them meant a lot. I love my teammates and they ran great tonight."

West said that she knew she was asking a lot of the distance group to score in multiple events, but they delivered.

"When you are running, you have to have a lot of guts, and tonight they showed it," West said. "They pushed through everything. I asked a lot of them today, and they pulled through."

It was the first conference title for the Tigers since 2021.

West said it was a total team effort to come out on top.

"We told the girls coming in that everyone needed to step up and that every point was going to count," West said. "Everyone did what they needed to do today."

Along with the distance win, the Tigers also got big points in the pole vault.

Ciarra Hiatt and Jocelyn Butler went 1-2, both clearing 8-6 with Hiatt winning the conference title with fewer misses.

"Coach Frost has really been working with them," West said. "They push each other to be better and that's what you need come tournament time."

The Tigers also got scoring in four events from Claire Boling — high jump (second), 200 (second), 400 (third) and 4x400 (third) and Soteria Udu — shot put (second), 200 (third), 100 (fifth) and long jump (eighth).

Sydnie Starkey was fourth in the high jump, Carley Adams was fifth in the discus and eighth in the shot put, Edwina Yealu was sixth in the 100 and Kyker was seventh in the 400. Jazmine Moore was sixth in the 100-hurdles and Sha'Myaih McNeal was third in the 300-hurdles and eighth in the 100-hurdles.

The 4x100 team of Leila Richards, Alli Albea, Hiatt and Yealu, and the 4x400 team of Kyker, Richards, Jones and Boling both placed fourth.

The Tigers are back in action Tuesday at the sectional.

"We asked a lot of them tonight and it's a quick turnaround," West said. "We want them to get a lot of rest this weekend and then get ready to go."

WeBo places third, sets one school record

The Western Boone girls track and field team placed third in the conference on Friday night.

While they didn't have a conference champion, there were a lot of solid performances.

"It was a really good effort, and I saw a lot of good improvements, especially on the distance side of things," Western Boone head coach Nate Birk said. "The girls really ran hard tonight. We just wanted to do the best we could. Facing some great competition tonight made us run just a little better."

The highlight for the Stars came in the final event of the day, as the Stars broke the school record in the 4x400.

The team of Lily Shirley, Sam Jones, Kate Higer and Raegan Durbin placed second in 4:13.36.

"All year we have been inching closer to that record, and were within a second heading into tonight," Birk said. "The girls ran great and broke it by almost two seconds. That's really cool to see all the hard work paying off and it was just a gutsy performance from all four of them."

Durbin was second in the 300-hurdles, Jones was third in the 800, Lily Shirley was third in the 100 and Ki'erra Koch was third in the long jump.

Lillie Cripe was fourth in the 200, Bailey Haag was fifth in the 1,600- and 3,200-meter runs, Cadence Ross was fifth in the 300-hurdles, Koch was sixth in the 200, Charlotte Stucky was sixth in the 3,200, Cripe was seventh in the 100, Emmerson Gott was seventh in the high jump and Bailey Keyes was eighth in the 800.

The 4x100 team of Becca Keyes, Koch, Shirley and Cripe placed second and the 4x800 team of Higer, Bailey Keyes, Hanna Bowman and Jones placed fourth.

"Bailey Haag and Charlotte Stucky ran great," Birk said. "It's not easy to run the two longest races in the same meet, but they ran hard and scored some big points tonight. I was really happy with the way they ran tonight."

Will Willems is the Sports Editor of the Lebanon Reporter. Follow him on Twitter @Will_Willems.