Top 5 takeaways from IHSAA girls track and field sectional championships at Harrison

WEST LAFAYETTE — Harrison junior Ruth Moser knows the expectations whenever she dawns the orange Raider track suit.

Season after season it seems, Moser and her group continue to excel past the rest of their 12 competitors from the Lafayette area.

Moser won the 300-meter hurdles in 46.13 seconds as one of five individual champions and two relay champions for Harrison as it won the IHSAA Sectional 10 title in West Lafayette for the fourth straight season.

Harrison finished with 195 points, West Lafayette finished second with 157 points and McCutcheon finished third with 73 points.

"I'm proud to be a Raider and it's the team spirit," Moser said. "It's the team work and the hard practices day in and day out. Being with these girls is amazing and I love each and every one of them.

Here are five takeaways the 2024 IHSAA Sectional Championships along with the top three finishers from each event and athletes who hit state benchmarks to be eligible to compete in next week's IHSAA Regional Championship at Lafayette Jeff.

1. West Lafayette sets new 4 x 400 sectional record

West Lafayette senior and Cornell Henny Schminke burst through the first 400 meters that created a gap for her competitors.

Now the rest of her teammates needed to play their role and race the way they practiced. Charlotte Simpson, Molly Andrew and Joselyn Jundos executed their plan to near perfection.

Simpson, Andrew and Jundos powered threw their 400-meter leg with Schminke to set the new sectional record of 4:00.90, breaking their old record by .49 seconds.

Simpson was the newest addition joining the reigning champion trio of Schminke, Jundos and Andrew.

"I feel like with the Westside training we always push through and that always helps us with this kind of race," Simpson said.

More: Harrison fends off McCutcheon, West Lafayette to win third straight girls track sectional

The next goal for West Lafayette is to become the first girls team to break the 4:00 mark. A goal that Schminke believes her current rotation is capable of accomplishing.

"We are really just looking forward to next week to drop some more times," Schminke said. "Put ourselves in a good position at the end of the season."

2. De La Cruz wins by a photo finish to capture 100-meter hurdles

Lafayette Jeff senior Maria De La Cruz burst forward threw the hurdles and feeling her Harrison senior rival Park Peterson match her stride for stride.

The beat by beat race turned out to be the closest result of the wet IHSAA Girls Track & Field Sectionals in West Lafayette.

De La Cruz won the 100 meters hurdles in 16.12 seconds, edging Peterson by 1-hundredths of a second who placed second in 16.13. The time shredded .37 seconds off of an event she only began competing in three weeks ago.

"I felt (Peterson) right beside me and I wasn't going to let her win," De La Cruz said. "I had her.

De La Cruz took the event on seemingly on a whim, trying it for the first time just three weeks ago. She never competed in the 100-meter hurdles ever. Not as an elementary school, middle school or her freshman through junior year.

"It's amazing how I'm able to do all these wonderful things," De La Cruz said.

De La Cruz dedicated the victory to her father David who helped encourage his daughter to take on the new event.

"He was telling me how I got this," De La Cruz said. "He pushes me to do my best and always encourages me."

3. Stokes building stardom at young age

Harrison freshman thrower Eva Stokes broke into her stance crouched as the rain water washed away the grip chalk to create an unsavory slipperiness that was felt by all competing in the field events.

But the 6-foot-2 Stokes wasn't about to let a little moisture affect the dreams and goals she has carried since picking up the discus as a seventh grader at Battle Ground Middle School.

More: How Lafayette Jeff girls wrestlers are finding new opportunities and learning empowerment

Stokes threw the slippery discus 113 feet and 6 inches to claim one of what could be multiple sectional championships.

"I just try to stay humble, work on myself and work with my teammates and come in with a positive attitude,"

Stokes already won a sectional title in girls wrestling earlier in the year but throwing is her passion.

She won the Tippecanoe School Corporations Track and Field Championship in the seventh grade and enters as one of the contenders to claim the IHSAA Regional Championship.

Stokes dreams of one day throwing for Purdue and possibly competing in the Olympics.

"My teammates pushed me to do better," Stokes said. "My family is always driving everywhere and I want to make my family and my team proud."

4. Schminke credits east coast roots for sectional success

Before moving to West Lafayette as a freshman, Schminke held other athletic passions.

Schminke was a competitive squash player and a lacrosse player based near Philadelphia before moving to the midwest.

Schminke explained why she couldn't be the runner be the same runner she is today without having backgrounds in squash and lacrosse.

"I didn't start running cross country and track until I moved to Indiana as a freshman," Schminke said. "Both of those sports aren't as prevalent in Indiana especially here in the area. So having different skillsets and finding out where I belong on the track, I'm making the best out of it."

5. An unlikely passion is discovered by Woods during rehab

Becoming a track star happened almost entirely on accident for West Lafayette junior outside hitter turned thrower Taylor Woods.

Woods started track as a way to stay active and rehabilitate a knee injury that began causing problems while playing volleyball for the Red Devils in the fall.

More: West Lafayette boys and girls track and field conquers Hoosier Conference championship

Little did Woods know that she'd become a sectional champion by the end of her first season. Woods threw the shotput 37 feet and 8.5 inches, just 1.27 centimeters farther than her teammate and second place finisher sophomore Audrey Alexander.

"It's overwhelming because I kind of had a rough day and it doesn't feel real yet," Woods said. "I've been working hard and I'm proud of Audrey too. We've both been working so hard and it's awesome."

IHSAA Girls Sectional Track and Field qualifiers

4 x 400 relay

1. West Lafayette - Henny Schminke, Charlotte Simpson, Molly Andrew, Joselyn Jundos - 4:00.96.

2. Harrison - Sadey Ringler, Gabrielle Converse, Addison Shepherd, Ruth Moser - 4:12.04

3. McCutcheon - Sarah Hall,  Lillie Graves, Sarah Luban, Scarlett Reksel - 4:15.12.

3,200 meters

1. Sawyer Dewitt, Harrison, junior, 11:22.19

2. Isabelle Burgess, Harrison, freshman, 12:12.52.

3. Annie Dunford, West Lafayette, sophomore, 12:17.76.

800 meters

1. Henny Schminke, West Lafayette, senior, 2:16.62

2. Gabrielle Converse, Harrison, freshman, 2:22.49

3. Ashley Caplinger, Faith Christian, freshman, 2:22.58.

300-meter hurdles

1. Ruth Moser, Harrison, junior, 46.13.

2. Peola Brock, McCutcheon, sophomore, 47.83.

3. Guinevere Schmitzer-Torbert, junior, 48.16.

400 meters

1. Joselyn Jundos, West Lafayette, senior, 59.09.

2. Charlotte Simpson, West Lafayette, sophomore, 59.59.

3. Scarlett Reksel, McCutcheon, junior, 59.96.

4 x 100 meter relay

1. Harrison - Shiva Shakouri, Akeelah Pearsall, Cait Traylor, Alaina Clary - 49.56

2. Lafayette Jeff - Jade Wiese, Nyra Walter, Maria De La Cruz, Amani Byrd - 50.30.

3. McCutcheon - Peola Brock, Nevaeh Cole, Vanessa Carrico, Brielle Young - 51.91.

1,600 meters

1. Henny Schminke, West Lafayette, senior, 5:11.96.

2. Kaitlyn Manfra, Harrison, sophomore, 5:15.85.

3. Anja Peterson, Harrison, junior, 5:28.55.

200 meters

1. Akeelah Pearsall, Harrison, junior, 26.54.

2. Scarlett Reksel, McCutcheon, junior, 26.80.

3. Joselyn Jundos, West Lafayette, senior, 26.97.

100 meter hurdles

1. Maria De La Cruz, Lafayette Jeff, senior, 16.12.

2. Park Peterson, Harrison, senior, 16.13.

3. Hyleigh Wilson, Clinton Prairie, junior, 16.64.

100 meters

1. Amani Byrd, Lafayette Jeff, junior, 12.54.

2. Naarah Byard, Crawfordsville, junior, 12.74.

3. Sabrina Willis, Harrison, freshman, 12.82.

4 x 800 meter relay

1. Harrison - Kaitlyn Manfra, Sawyer Dewitt, Carla Rodriguez, Gabrielle Converse - 9:39.18.

2. West Lafayette - Sarah Flesher, Annie Dunford, Emilia Leachman, Charlotte Simpson - 10:07.73.

3. Crawfordsville - Sophia Melevage, Katherine Novak, Skylah Strawser, Caroline Melevage - 10:22.85.

Shotput

1. Taylor Woods, West Lafayette, junior, 37 feet 8.5 inches.

2. Audrey Alexander, West Lafayette, sophomore, 37 feet 8 inches.

3. Mackenzie Conklin, Harrison, junior, 35 feet 11 inches.

Discus

1. Eva Stokes , Harrison, freshman, 113 feet 6 inches.

2. Taylor Woods, West Lafayette, junior 110 feet 4 inches.

3. Asra Foley, Harrison, senior, 99 feet 9 inches.

Pole Vault

1. Taylor Hornbeck, Clinton Prairie, junior, 10 feet 6 inches.

2. Amy Schminke, West Lafayette, freshman, 10 feet 3 inches.

3. Katya Hupy, Harrison, sophomore, 10 feet.

Long Jump

1. Naayrah Byard, Crawfordsville, junior, 17 feet and 10.5 inches.

2. Cait Traylor, Harrison, senior, 17 feet 5.5 inches,

3. Darya Areshkina, West Lafayette, freshman, 17 feet 2.5 inches.

High Jump

1. Makayla Ketterer, Harrison, sophomore, 5 feet 3 inches.

2. Riley Gardner, Crawfordsville, junior, 5 feet 3 inches.

3. Addison Shepard, Harrison, freshman, 5 feet.

Ethan Hanson is the sports reporter for the Journal & Courier in Lafayette. He can be reached at ehanson@gannett.com, on Twitter at EthanAHansonand Instagram at ethan_a_hanson.

This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: IHSAA Girls Track and Field Sectional Championship: 5 takeaways