Petkova, Decker medal at state
Goshen’s Kristina Petkova and Elkhart’s Ava Decker were among the top performers Friday at the girls track state finals at Indiana University.
Both medaled, with Petkova finishing fifth in the 400 and Decker placing eighth in the discus.
It was the first time for Petkova at state, while Decker was participating at the state finals for the second straight year.
“I’m a little bit tired,” said Petkova, who came home from the meet at 2 a.m. on Saturday morning.
Petkova finished with a time of 56.82. She was seeded fifth going into the meet.
“I’m pretty happy with it,” she said about her finish. “I had a fifth place seed time and I finished fifth.
“The day of the track meet I was super worried, but when I got to the track it felt like any other meet. It was cool to see all the top athletes from the other regionals. It was super packed with fans. That’s the biggest crowd I’ve seen in awhile for a track meet. It’s certainly different from other meets.”
Petkova wasn’t take much time off from running. She was hopping on a plane at 8 p.m. on Saturday and traveling to Bulgaria to start her off-season running.
“It’s where I practice after the high school track season,” Petkova said. “I run races there.”
In her last high school track meet, Decker finished with a throw of 132-0 in the discus.
“It feels pretty amazing,” said Decker about earning a medal. “I really wanted to place and get on the podium. I wanted to beat Emma Yoder (from Wawasee). She threw 150 and placed third. For awhile, I was in seventh place. I wanted to throw a PR, but that didn’t happen. But I’m proud of what I did and have no regrets.
“I had a great high school experience. It was cool to represent women in sports and Elkhart High School. It was an incredible honor to be a female athlete at Elkhart.”
Decker felt she was more prepared this year to compete at the state finals.
“I didn’t do the greatest last year at state,” she said. “It’s completely different. It’s not like any other track meet. It’s very orderly and they’re strict with rules. Everything’s fast and rushed. Last year I was new to that. I knew what to expect this year. I came down (Thursday) and practiced in the ring and got a feel for what was going on.”
Several other area athletes also competed at the meet.
Penn High School’s Mary Eubank finished 11th in the 1,600 (4:58) and 22nd in the 3,200 (11:10).
Northridge’s Lily Vasil placed 22nd in the pole vault (10-6). NorthWood’s Claire Payne placed 24th in the high jump (5-0) and her teammate Hanna Clyde finished 25th in the 400 (59.91). The Panthers also got a 21st place finish from its 400 relay team of Anna Roeder, Kady Hutsell, Hannah Chupp and Elayna Yoder. That foursome finished with a clocking of 50.00.
