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Independence
Track and Field continue to be a strong force throughout
middle Tennessee area. This week they will get to put their
best against the rest of the state's top runners. In the
field events, Brittany Woods finished third in the high jump
and qualified for the state tournament. Her jump of 5'2" was
her personal best. The shock to most Independence fans and
fans of High School track and field in the state of
Tennessee is that Kathy Kroeger had to withdraw from the
Sectional and tournament due to a stress injury in her leg.
She will not be able to defend her 1,600 and 3,200 meter
runs for the fourth consecutive year.
In the second
day of qualifying the Eagles advanced 15 athletes to state
in eight different events. The boys will send 10 and the
girls will send 5 to MTSU this week. A huge accomplishment
was for the boys getting three relay teams to state. This is
the first time the boys team has ever sent more than one
relay team. Very exciting for the boys team as they have
qualifiers in six of the 112 track events contested at
state. After missing nearly the entire season with an
incredible array of misfortunate injuries and a long battle
with mono, Josh Helton made a very impressive return in the
800m final. Helton came from dead last with 200 meters to go
to charge into 3rd place and qualify for the state. Helton
had only been training for two weeks before the race. This
is Helton's fourth consecutive year to qualify for state and
this will be his tenth different race. He covered the half
mile in 2:00. The boys 4x400m relay took home the sectional
title as they managed to beat Brentwood for the a third
consecutive time and secure the #3 seed in the state meet.
The guys also made history in the 4x200. As this will be the
first time any Indy team has qualified in that event. "They
found a gear I'd not previously seen and vaulted all the way
to the #7 ranking in the state," Coach Finley. The
girls 4x800 qualified for state and broke the school record
in the 4x200 as well.
Girls state
meet is Thursday and the Guys are on Friday.
State Track Qualifiers
Girls High Jump: Brittany Woods
Girls 4x800 Relay: Jocelyn Giardinelli, Dacey Fisher, Nikki
Davenport, Maegen Gundy
Boys 400: Johnathan Norman
Boys 800: Josh Helton
Boys 1600: Ryan Pett
Boys 4x200 Relay: Jay Ryan, Brandon Boatman, Kaleb Markey,
RJ Ellison
Boys 4x400 Relay: Jay Ryan, RJ Ellison, Carter Johnson,
Johnathan Norman
Boys 4x800 Relay: Johnathan Norman, Josh Martin, Travis
Carter, Josh Helton |
