Photo by Kent Graham (Kailee Swart gets ready to jump at the 2022 IHSAA State Meet)
Girls Pole Vault
Current Record: 13-6.25 Ellie McCardwell 2009
Kailee Swart of Cathedral is back this year and likely for some vengeance after taking 4th when she had come into the meet seeded 1st. This season, she has cleared 13-6.75, which puts her half an inch above the state meet record. The question will be, can she put together a solid series on Saturday to get to that height again. The overall state best mark for outdoors is 13-9 from Katie Veith in 2006, so we could also very well be on all-time state best watch as well. Field events are very much unpredictable, as Swart saw last year, so only time will tell if she can do it.
Girls Shot Put
Current Record: 50-09 Tori Bliss 2011
The girls shot put competition in general should be a great one, with 5 girls seeded with marks of 45ft or better. Hadley Lucas will be the girl to watch in the throws though, having put up a mark of 50-11 earlier this season, that state meet record is definitely in question for her on Saturday afternoon. Shelby Wingler is not too far off as well, having thrown 49-2.5 at the sectional meet. Girls Discus
Current Record: 168-06 Adriana Brown 2013Just like in the shot, Hadley Lucas is once again back and will be wanting to defend her state title from last year. She will have many of the exact same ladies as her competition here as well. Lucas has tossed a 166-2 this year, so an extra two feet is definitely within reach for her.
Girls 100H
Current Record: 13.92 Rachel Mehringer 2022
The current state record holder is in a great spot to break her own record again. Mehringer ran her all-time state best of 13.67 at the regional meet. It seems to be a no-brainer that she will break her own record and by a pretty decent margin as well. The real question will be how much the rest of the field will be able to help push her.
Girls 800
Current Record: 2:06.26 Addy Willey 2022
This event has the potential to be a very exciting one. At the regional meet last year, we saw Farley and Southerland dip under that state meet record running 2:05 and 2:06 respectively. So it appears that there is a good chance Addy Wiley's state meet record will only last one year and one of these two ladies will get the chance to have their name up there. The rest of the field having gone between 2:11 and 2:16 should help to push that pace and potentially be an aid to many PRs with Farley and Southerland leading the charge. The only question we'll have to wait and see answered is who will be able to claim the title.
Girls 3200
Current Record: 10:03.16 Lily Cridge 2022
With Cridge unable to compete and defend her title this year, thoughts speculated as to how competitive this event will be. Now the overall race looks to be competitive...for 2nd place. In that 1st place spot is Sophia Kennedy who ran a 10:00.56 at the regional meet last week. That's 30 seconds faster than the next fastest seed in the race. That time is also the best 3200 mark in state history, not including converted full 2-mile marks. Kennedy is the major favorite in this event and to break that meet record as well. The only questions now will be by how much, and will she attempt to break that 10 minute mark and leave her mark on distance running history?