Bethany Neeley
Year: Senior
School: Eastern High School
Location: Greentown, IN
100m hurdles: 15.65
300m hurdles: 44.20
800m: 2:06.6 (relay)
1600m: 4:52.92
2000m steeplechase: 6:37.57
Bethany Neeley of Indiana, competing in the 2000m steeplechase for the first time last Friday night, ran the fastest girls time in the country this season, 6:37.57, to triumph by 49 seconds. A Hoosier to the core, Neeley, an 18-year-old Eastern High senior, will do her college running at Indiana. She practiced the water jump and steeple barriers only three days before the meet. With her twin sister Brittany, a star in her own right, the Neeleys have not only been the state’s marquee track performers but — more important in Indiana — basketball heroes.
Steeple success: Neeley’s performance came in the Indiana Runner Friday Night Special, a small open meet in Indianapolis. In her earlier practice session, Neeley said she found the water jump easier than expected. After all, she had plenty of hurdling experience from the 100 highs and 300 intermediates, in which she made this year’s state finals.
Rabbit duty: Also on Friday night, Brittany, who will join her sister at Indiana University, won the 1600m in 4:51.37 an 11-second PR. She was helped by Bethany, who 50 minutes after her steeple, took on rabbit duty for the first 900 meters, taking Brittany through a 2:26 first half.
State champs: The previous week, in the state finals on June 1 in Bloomington, Bethany won the 1600m in 4:53.37 and Brittany won the 800m in 2:07.91, a state meet record and 7-second PR. Then the Neeleys ran on Eastern’s winning 4 x 800m relay with splits of 2:07.7 for Brittany on the third leg and 2:06.6 for Bethany on anchor. The quartet’s time of 8:53.74 is the fastest in the nation this season.
Final meet: The Neeleys are skipping this weekend’s New Balance Outdoor Nationals in Greensboro, N.C., because of a commitment to run in the Midwest Meet of Champions, in Fort Wayne, Ind. The event features top athletes from Indiana, Michigan and Ohio in state scoring. Bethany will do the 1600m, Brittany the 800m and both will run the 4 x 400m relay. Brittany will also run the 4 x 800m.
Hoop dreams: In a female version of Hoosiers, the classic Indiana basketball film, Bethany and Brittany led tiny Eastern, with about 460 students, to the state 2A finals last March in Terre Haute. The Tigers lost, 62-42, to defending champ Evansville Mater Dei. Bethany and Brittany, both 5-foot-5, played guard and point guard, respectively.
School records: Other than their obvious Eastern High track records, Bethany and Brittany were both 1,000-point-plus scorers in their four-year basketball careers. Bethany holds the school rebounding record. Brittany holds school records in points, steals and assists.
Winter workouts: While skipping winter track for basketball, the twins maintained fitness by running 5 to 6 miles five times a week before school. They skipped runs only on game days. Bethany believes that running in basketball added that much more speed and power to the twins’ repertoire. “People think you should just run,” said Bethany, “but the explosiveness on the court really helped us.”
Top honors: Bethany received this year’s Indiana High School Athletic Association’s “Mental Attitude Award” in track and field. Brittany received the same honor for basketball. The award considers not only athletic achievement but also leadership, academics and community service. Both girls are straight-A students.
Training partners: Bethany and Brittany, who turn 19 in July, do every training run together. They try and emphasize consistent mileage with tempo runs. “We have natural speed,” said Bethany. “If anything we have to work on our endurance.”
Indiana girls: The Neeleys are the latest in what has become a long line of Indiana girls making national headlines. In 2011, Waverly Neer (now at Columbia) of Culver Academies set a high school indoor 5,000m record winning the indoor nationals at the New York Armory. Last year, Ashley Erba of Warsaw High won the outdoor nationals 5,000m by 25 seconds in meet record time. Last fall, Anna Rohrer of Mishawaka High won the Foot Locker national cross country title.
Farmer’s granddaughters: The Neeleys father died when they were young, and they live on a farm with their maternal grandparents. The girls help raise pigs, sheep and a cow named Bojo. They will show the animals at the annual 4H County Fair in July. To give the sheep some exercise (not to mention a little more for themselves), Bethany and Brittany walk the sheep about a quarter-mile across the pasture, then chase them back. “They are fast!” said Bethany.
Hometown pride: One coach from Indiana who helped the Neeleys with their middle school running said the girls — with all their success, team orientation and big smiles, despite difficult family circumstances — have raised expectations in the rural Greentown area while lifting the spirits of young and old alike.
College plans: Oftentimes while attending the same college, twins will decide on separate roommates, but Bethany and Brittany will room together at Indiana. Both girls will enter the School of Public Health. “We have the same habits and share everything,” said Bethany. “And we both like to sleep a lot.”
Marc Bloom’s high school cross-country rankings have played an influential role in the sport for more than 20 years and led to the creation of many major events, including Nike Cross Nationals and the Great American Cross Country Festival. He published his cross-country journal, Harrier, for more than two decades.
