King and Decker earn NIC titles

ELKHART — Over a year, substantial grown has taken place for Jimtown sophomore Brooklyn King in the shot put.

King added another strong performance in that event on Wednesday at the Northern Indiana Conference girls track meet at Rice Field.

King finished first with a personal-best throw of 37-10 and continued her streak of placing first in all outdoor track meets this year in the shot put.

Last year at the conference meet, the Jimmies track standout didn't even place in the top six in the shot put.

"It was bad," said King.

King then went on to explain why she has improved so much in one year.

"I went to a couple camps over the summer and I just wanted to be better this year," she said. "My coaches and friends have really helped me."

Her expectations were high in the shot put coming into the meet, despite struggling in 2023.

"I didn't want to lose," King said. "I just wanted to stay on my outdoor record of not losing this year."

King, who also placed sixth in the discus with a personal-best toss of 101-1, hopes to keep peaking next Tuesday when the sectional takes place at Warsaw High School.

"I'm pretty anxious for sectionals," King said. "There will be great competition, but I'd say I'm peaking. In the last meet I got a PR in the shot put and discus and the meet today I got a PR in both. I feel like I've been stepping it up in every meet."

Elkhart's Ava Decker was another top thrower on Wednesday, as she placed first in the discus with a toss of 134-10 and finished fourth in the shot put with a throw of 35-10.50.

The Lions' senior claimed a meet record in the discus.

"I have some pretty amazing coaches and I love throwing," said Decker. "It has been a pretty special season so far. I get to throw with Brynlee (Jellison) and with Maddie (Homo). I've just had a really great support system throughout the years. My coaches really believe in me. I took a lot of time in the offseason to try to get stronger and it's paying off for me."

It's the second straight year that Decker has won the discus at the NIC meet. Last year, she placed first with a throw of 126-1.75.

Decker goes into the sectional hoping to come close or surpass her personal-best throw this year of 136-5.50 in the discus.

"I think I have plenty of room to grow," Decker said. "I think I have a shot at the podium at state if I continue to improve my throwing. I just need to keep working hard."

Penn won the meet for the fourth straight year, as the Kingsmen finished with 141 points. Second place Elkhart totaled 72.5 points.

Among the standouts for Penn was Mary Eubank, who finished first in the 1,600 meters (5:11) and 3,200 meters (11:50).

"I feel pretty good about today," said Eubank, who will be running next year at Indiana University. "The goal was to win both of my events. In the 1,600, was fun and I enjoyed it. The 3,200 was rough. I'm working through an injury (hip) right now that seems to come up when I try to run more than one event in a day, so I was working through that. But I was happy to win both events."

It's the second straight year that Eubank has won the 1,600 and 3,200 at the NIC meet.

Penn also got first place performances from Anna McCullough in the high jump (5-0) and from Jill Pletcher in the pole vault (10-0).

It's the fourth straight conference title for the Kingsmen and the school's 23rd overall.

"I'm so proud of the team," said Penn coach Melissa Danner. "They did a phenomenal job from the very beginning to the very end. It was exciting to see all the girls coming together from the field events to the sprints, to the distance, to the middle distance."

Along with getting points from Decker, Elkhart got second place showings from Ja'leiiya Williams in the 100 (12.57) and from freshman Madilyn Collins in the pole vault (9-0).

"We definitely had some good surprises in the pole vault, getting second and third (Kyla Albright) there," said Elkhart coach Bekah Shenk. "That was great to see and Madi also got a PR. To have runners in the finals of the 100 and 200 was a really good thing I feel like we can improve on that. I also feel like we can improve on the sprint relay.

"It was great to see Ava Decker perform and set a meet record. I know she and Brynee (Jellison) will continue to work to get better in the shot put and be at their best for the sectional. I'm also looking forward to seeing freshman Rylee Drummond in the high jump at the sectional. She's already cleared 5-2 this year."

Drummond finished third in the high jump on Wednesday with a 4-10 showing.

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NORTHERN INDIANA CONFERENCE MEET

Team scores: Penn 141, Elkhart 72.5, SB Adams 66.5, SB St. Joseph 65, Bremen 62.5, John Glenn 55, SB Washington 54, SB Riley 36, New Prairie 31, Jimtown 29.5, Marian 11.

100: Lydia Goodsell (Glenn) 12.39, Ja'leiiya Williams (Elk) 12.57, Terryah Leonard (SBW) 12.57, Samara Ford (SBR) 12.71, Kila Foster (Bre) 12.77, Kylie Wiegand (Jim) 12.81.

200: Lydia Goodsell (Glenn) 25.57, Samara Ford (SBR) 26.40, Kila Foster (Bre) 26.58, Zoya Turk (Penn) 26.97, Kylie Wiegand (Jim) 27.02, Emma Kincaid (Bre) 27.16.

400: Terryah Leonard (SBW) 59.67, Emma Kincaid (Bre) 1:00, Michelle Carter (SJ) 1:01.37, Macey Gableman (Penn) 1:01.82, Sammy Walker (Glenn) 1:04, Isabella Soens (SBA) 1:05.

800: Lauren Frick (SJ) 2:24, Emily Shepherd (SBA) 2:25, Janine Mbianda (Penn) 2:26, Aubrey Morgan (Penn) 2:27, Elise Bulaoro (SBA) 2:30.69, Ella Trenerry (SJ) 2:30.99.

1600: Mary Eubank (Penn) 5:11, Arianna Balinnang (Penn) 5:23, Isabella Beall (NP) 5:24.53, Izzy Frabutt (SJ) 5:24.58, Hallie Klockow (Bre) 5:27, Stella Mowery (SBR) 5:56.

3200: Mary Eubank (Penn) 11:50, Izzy Frabutt (SJ) 11:57, Ellie Stabnik (Penn) 11:59, Cam Ritschard (SJ) 12:34, Ciara Vincent (Glenn) 12:57, Alaina Dibley (Elk) 13:19.

100 hurdles: Adriana Swanson (SBW) 15.38, Hannah Pezzuto (Bre) 16.60, Verriyah Williams (SBA) 16.73, Abby Wittrock (SBR) 17.06, Brennan Moser (SJ) 17.31, Lainey Eder (SJ) 17.56.

300 hurdles: Adriana Swanson (SBW) 46.39, Ella Bailey (Penn) 48.88, Verriyah Williams (SBA) 49.51, Getsemani Cruz (SBA) 50.03, Morgan Wittrock (SBR) 50.14, Ava Stevens (Penn) 50.27.

400 relay: Washington (Terryah Leonard, Janiya Wilson, Kendall Ivory, Adriana Swanson) 50.38; Penn 50.76; Riley 50.85; St. Joseph 51.56; Adams 52.29; Jimtown 52.37.

1600 relay: Bremen (Sara Sahlhoff, Elle Libey, Kila Foster, Emma Kincaid) 4:06; Penn 4:07; Adams 4:08; St. Joseph 4:16; New Prairie 4:24; Elkhart 4:28.

3200 relay: Adams (Elise Bulaoro, Emily Shepherd, Isabella Soens, Agnes Hasler) 9:50; Penn 10:08; St. Joseph 10:25; Elkhart 10:32; New Prairie 10:48; Riley 11:04.

High jump: Anna McCullough (Penn) 5-0, Meghan Carroll (NP) 5-0, Rylee Drummond (Elk) 4-10, Kennadi Ivory (SBW) 4-10, Anna Jasnieski (NP) 4-10, Justyce Williams (Jim) 4-10.

Pole vault: Jill Pletcher (Penn) 10-0, Madilyn Collins (Elk) 9-0, Kyla Albright (Elk) 9-0, Teagan Feathers (Bre) 8-0, Keira Kinney (SBA) 8-0, Lucia Lozar (Penn) 8-0.

Long jump: Lydia Goodsell (Glenn) 18-5, Kila Foster (Bre) 16-7.25, Ella Bailey (Penn) 16-5, Karle Mousaw (Mar) 16-4, Kamerin Malone (Penn) 16-2.50, Paige Goben (SJ) 16-2.

Shot put: Brooklyn King (Jim) 37-10, Samara Rouser (SBA) 37-.50, Arianna Stanley (Glenn) 36-1, Ava Decker (Elk) 35-10.50, Gabrielle Noubissi (Penn) 35-6, Brynlee Jellison (Elk) 34-8.

Discus: Ava Decker (Elk) 134-10, Reese McCaskill (Penn) 115-4, Arianna Stanley (Glenn) 114-6, Madelyn Homo (Elk) 104-5, Michaela Hurford (Glenn) 101-6, Brooklyn King (Jim) 101-1.

BOYS

Teams scores (One event to go): Concord 159.5, Warsaw 149.5, Mishawaka 96, Northridge 88.5, NorthWood 83, Goshen 46.5, Wawasee 37, Plymouth 25.

3200 relay: Northridge (David Gingerich, Trevin Schalbach, Baylor Miller, Xavier Miller) 8:01.17, Warsaw 8:03, Mishawaka 8:08, Concord 8:16, Goshen 8:18.

110 hurdles: Skyler VanSkhawk (M) 15.15, Blake Keene (W) 15.28, Eric Pohl (W) 15.58, Ernest Jennings (C) 15.92, Julius Jodway (M) 16.02.

100: Jaron Thomas (C) 10.87, Joseph Moon (C) 10.88, Wyatt Mast (NW) 11.19, Bradyn Pike (Was) 11.24, Gavin Rulli (NW) 11.35.