One of the first meets of 2023 was held at the indoor track on the campus of Trine University this Saturday. The Thunder Open serves as one of the few opportunities to compete in January, and athletes from across the state made the journey up to Angola to take advantage.
Kate Henselmeier stole the show in the sprint events. The Center Grove Senior swept the 60, 200, and 400 meter dashes with times of 7.93, 26.36, and 58.21. Though Henselmeier's times were not quite as fast as those she posted at the Galleria Games in December, she was still more than fast enough to win each event convincingly.
Another multi-event winner was Grace Bragg, who took victories in both the 800 and 1600 meter runs with times of 2:27 and 5:23. This was only the second time Bragg has run the 1600, with wins in both outings.
"I'm still getting used to how to run the mile," Bragg said after the race. "It was a good experience and I'm slowly growing."
Perhaps the most impressive performance of the day came from the seventh grade distance runner Madison Riggins. Riggins finished second to Bragg in the 1600 meter run before comfortably winning the 3200 meter run in 12:12.
On the boys side, the only multi-event winner was Alex Meyer who won both the Long Jump and the High Jump. Pablo Sutter won the 1600-meter run before finishing second in the 800, and Sam Yarnell finished second in the 1600-meter run before winning the 3200-meter run at the end of the day.
Trine University will host a second Thunder Open on February 18th before hosting three HSR qualifying meets in March.
Find race footage from the Thunder High School Open #1 at the following link- Race Video