With sectionals behind us, and regionals this week, the competition will begin to get faster and faster!
Girls Regionals is set for tomorrow tonight across the state!
MileSplit Indiana is previewing all 8 Girls Regionals!
View meet previews for one through four down below!
Regional 1 - Portage
Lake Central comes into Sectional #1 at Portage High School looking for their third consecutive regional championship. They will rely on Senior sprinter Missy Fritz, who won the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash in the sectional championships last week and comes into this meet with the fastest time in both events.
Two teams that could challenge Lake Central for the regional championship are Chesterton and Valparaiso. Chesterton just got past Valparaiso for the sectional championship last week in a meet that was dominated by those two teams.
Cross Country state champion Karina James will headline the distance events at this meet. The Lowell product easily won the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run at her sectional, and she is the favorite to win both events again at this regional.
The 4x400-meter relay will be the race to watch on Tuesday night. Chesterton ran a 4:00.41 to beat Valparaiso by just over a second at last week's sectional, with both team's times ranking in the top six in Indiana this season.
Regional #1 will begin at 5:00 Central Time.
Regional 2 - Goshen
Girls Regional 2 is hosted by Goshen, and the Warsaw Tigers are the favorite to take the team championship in what would be their tenth regional title in school history. The Tigers are led by great distance runners Wini Barnett and Josefina Rastrelli, and Marin Hart will contend for the win in both the 100-meter hurdles and the high jump. All three of those athletes won their events at the Warsaw sectional last week.
An athlete to watch at this meet will be Culver distance runner Lexi Allen. The Princeton commit ran a 4:56.7 in the 1600-meter run last week to win her sectional. That time is the sixth best in Indiana this season and nearly twenty seconds better than anyone else in this regional.
Those arriving early to this regional will be treated to an exciting 4x800-meter relay. Penn and Warsaw come into this meet having run very similar times to win their sectionals. Penn ran a 9:38.7 and Warsaw was just a few seconds slower at 9:42.3 last week.
Girls Regional 2 at Goshen will begin at 600 Eastern Time,
Regional 3 - Laffayette Jefferson
Fishers' Ella Scally headlines Girls Regional #3 at Lafayette Jeff. Scally left everyone in the dust in the sprints last week at a loaded Hamilton Southeastern sectional, notching times of 12.15 in the 100-meter dash and 24.94 in the 200-meter dash. Those times rank third and fourth in Indiana this season, and should be enough to cruise through this regional.
The team competition at this meet will be a three way fight between Carmel, Hamilton Southeastern, and Noblesville. All three of those teams come out of Sectional 11, which was won by Hamilton Southeastern. Noblesville is looking for their first regional championship in school history, while Hamilton Southeastern could tie Bloomington South for the third most regional titles at 16.
One of Carmel's best chances to steal some points from Hamilton Southeastern will be in the distance events. Carmel's Annie Christie finished just a few seconds behind Halle Hill of Hamilton Southeastern in both the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run last week. Now, they will also have to contend with Hamilton Heights' Maria Mitchell, whose sectional winning time of 5:00.98 is less than two tenths slower than the time Hill ran last Tuesday.
Noblesville's biggest strengths are in the jumps and hurdles. Kiana Siefert won both hurdle events for the Millers last week, with a 46.19 in the 300-meter hurdles and a 15.26 in the 100-meter hurdles. Siefert's toughest competition at this meet will come in the 100, where she will contend with Benton Central's Tressa Senesac who became a sectional champion last week with a time of 15.25.
Noblesville high jumpers Rylee Hassan and Malina Miller went 1-2 at Sectional 11, both clearing heights of 5-4. Both should be right at the top of this event again this Tuesday, and you can expect Kelsey Smith to be in the mix as well.
The Regional from Lafayette Jeff will begin at 6:00 Eastern Time.
Regional 4 - Marion
Addy Wiley headlines Regional #4 at Marion High School. The reigning state champion in the 1600-meter run got the postseason started in a big way at the New Haven sectional last week. Wiley ran a 4:54.37 in the 1600, second only to Karina James' 4:54.19 this season. Wiley also won the 800-meter run last Tuesday, and her best time of 2:09.45 in that event is easily the best in the state.
Expect the team competition at this meet to be close throughout the night. Huntington North, Leo, Fort Wayne Northrop, Norwell and Fort Wayne Carroll all have a legitimate chance to raise the regional trophy at the end of the night. Huntington North, Leo, and Fort Wayne Carroll have all never won a regional and Norwell's last regional triumph was in 1983. Fort Wayne Northrop, on the other hand, owns the state record for regional championships with 26.
The bulk of Leo's points will come from sprinter Karis Davis. Davis easily won both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash at her sectional, and is the heavy favorite to do so again on Tuesday night.
Norwell and Carroll both bring great distance runners to this meet. Lauren Bales and Sarah Mahnensmith of Norwell cruised to 1-2 finishes in both the 1600-meter run and the 3200-meter run at the Marion sectional, but this week they will have to contend with Carrol's Shelby Christman, Ashlyn Minton, and Taylor Hansen.
One of the most entertaining races of the night will also be crucial to the race for the team championship. Huntington North and Leo come into this regional having run 4x400-meter relay times of 4:06 and 4:07 at last week's sectional, with Carroll not far behind at 4:10. It's not at all hard to imagine that the team title could come down to an exciting 4x400 at the end of the night.
The Marion Regional will get started at 6:00 Eastern Time.