By George Bremer, Herald Bulletin Sports Writer
ANDERSON, Ind. -- The indoor season is fast becoming a staple of Indiana high school track and field.
Instead of training endlessly in the gym for two months, schools have found the increasing number of indoor meets to be a valuable preparation tool.
The indoor season culminates Saturday with the Hoosier State Relays at Purdue’s Lambert Fieldhouse. The meet has come to be referred to as the indoor state championships, and Madison County will be well-represented.
Prefacing a spring outdoor season with a lot of promise, some of the area’s biggest stars will compete this weekend in West Lafayette.
“It’s hard to get (the team) fired up this time of year,” Pendleton Heights boys coach Ryan Potter said. “This meet becoming as big as it is gives them something to shoot for.”
Anderson University hosted two qualifying meets this month, and no area athlete embraces the AU facility more than Highland senior Derrick Hill.
The state runner-up in the high jump leapt a personal best 7 feet 1 inch at AU on Saturday. That qualifies him for the state meet and is the best height in Indiana this year.
“There’s something about the facility at AU,” Highland boys coach Cary House said. “He does very well there.”
Highland’s Lawrence Cotton cleared 6 feet 8 at the AU meet, giving him the third-best height in the state this year.
“It’s pretty awesome to have two of the best high jumpers in the state at our school,” House said.
Hill’s performance in particular motivated several Pendleton Heights athletes. The Arabians competed Saturday at the Mideast Indoor Championships hosted by Wabash College.
Hill cleared the 7-foot mark on Thursday, and the news quickly spread throughout the PH camp. Athletes began asking Potter if he’d heard, and he had a simple response.
“I bet he’s been working every single day,” Potter told them. “I bet he doesn’t take days off.”
Motivation wasn’t a problem at Friday’s practice, and two Arabians relay teams went on to post personal bests Saturday.
The 1,600-meter relay team of Brian McNeil, Sam Bayliss, Maliachi Broadwater and Nathan Hendershot ran a blistering time of 3 minutes, 33.5 seconds. That time was nearly two seconds faster than defending state champion Ben Davis’ run at AU, though the Giants’ team including none of the returning runners from last year’s state finals.
Hendershot, the 2009 state runner-up at 800 meters, also anchored the 3,200-relay team that ran 8:19.14, the sixth-fastest time in the state this year. Cameron Mandrell, Bayliss and Hunter Mills ran the first three legs of that relay.
“It’s exciting,” Potter said. “The 3:33 this early in the year with a couple of sophomores really got me fired up. I knew the 3,200 time was going to be good, but the 1,600 was a real nice surprise.”
Broadwater, who has set a goal of reaching the outdoor state finals this summer, nudged Potter after the 1,600 and said, “How about that?”
“It makes them run that much harder at practice,” Potter said.
Other area athletes expected to compete Saturday include Highland seniors Sam Nunn (55-meter dash, long jump) and D.J. Taylor (3,200-meter run), an outdoor state finalist a year ago.
Highland also will compete in the 800-meter and distance medley relays. The 800 team will include Nunn, Cotton, Malcolm Wilkins and Isaiah Johnson. The medley team consists of Taylor, Nunn, Jordan McCool and George Rowland.
Highland’s Holly Mathews also qualified in the 55-meter dash.
One local star who won’t participate Saturday is Pendleton Heights senior Ellie McCardwell. The defending state pole vault champion cleared 11-6 at AU on March 6 to qualify for the Hoosier State Relays, but she’s nursing a shoulder injury and will stay off the pole until after the Arabians’ spring break.
“She probably could have gone,” Potter said. “But the indoor season isn’t our main goal.”
