While IHSAA Indoor Track officially kicks off March 6th, varsity athletes have been training and competing this winter in Indiana’s club season for indoor track. The BCTC (Bishop Chatard Track Club) sent runners to three meets: The U Indy Collegiate Invite, the Indiana University High School Open, and the Wabash Distance Showcase. Our runners came out of the gate strong, poised to have a great IHSAA season.
Tom Hathaway Distance Challenge
On January 25th at U Indy, a small group of varsity runners got to experience a meet against a mostly collegiate crowd. But their speed and their results showed that they fit right in with the older runners. Senior Thomas Joven – a Wabash commit – finished 14th of 38 (54.23), his sophomore brother Nate finished 30th (57.81). For the girls,
Our 200 runners for this meet were senior Amelia Dessauer who finished 20th out of 68 (27.65), and sophomore Mary Bea Sowinski who was 22nd (27.74). Quite a strong showing from these young ladies against college athletes.
The success continued into the 400 where Mary Bea (12th), Mayan (13th), and Amelia (21st) put forth some gutsy performance is their first official time of the year.
In the 800, Miranda started off her season strong and finished 4th of 37 (2:29.06).
Indiana Track Club High School Open
On February 15th another small group of varsity athletes took the trip down to Bloomington to compete at IU. This is the location of the Indoor State Finals, giving these athletes a preview of that track. Highlights of the day include Mayan setting a PR in the 400 (1:01.72) and a season best in the high jump. Meanwhile, newcomer Mara Foley also PR’d in the 400 (1:06.19).
Indiana Runner Distance Showcase
There were so many great moments at this classic event. Our sprinters took it to the 800, showing up in strong form, absolutely crushing this field from multiple states. Mayan went 3rd (PR), Mary Bea 4th (PR), Miranda 6th, and Mara 24th (PR) out of 60 runners. Ethan Clapacs, Mason Fellwock (PR), and Connor Moriarty (PR) also had strong showings in the 1200 along with Patrick Smith and his huge PR in the 800.
The highlight of the meet, though, had to be freshman XC standout, Lily Cridge, and her absolute dominance in the 3200. Lily sets her 2nd school record with a 10:48.30 in her very first track & field meet as a varsity athlete. She’s only 9 seconds away from the outdoor school record with that time, as well. That’s not all. It was the 7th fastest time in the nation that week and she is 33rd overall in the nation this season. The only freshman (in the nation) faster than Lily was her competitor at this meet, Jessica Secor from Louisville, who bested Lily by only 2 seconds. Hopefully we’ll get to see her a few more times this year and give Lily a second shot at taking the spot for top freshman in the nation.
All in all, club season was a great kickoff to the year as IHSAA indoor season begins this Friday at U Indy. The momentum continues to build as we have over 120 athletes as part of this great program. Every week we work, go fast, compete, and take every opportunity to get better. Let’s take this 2020 season head on.