Tuesday’s Johnson County meet was the first regular outdoor competition of the spring for Center Grove’s boys and girls. If there was any rust, it certainly didn’t show.
The Trojans rode some strong individual performances and some unmatched depth to comfortable victories in both meets, with the boys outpointing runner-up Franklin 175 to 129 and the girls topping Whiteland, 163.5 to 116.
“I don’t think we handled the weather very well tonight — I don’t think I handled it very well — but the kids look okay,” Center Grove boys coach Eric Moore said. “I think it’s exciting to see these young kids out here, and the blend of older kids we’ve got with them. It’s going to make for a fun year.”
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Center Grove’s girls got big performances out of Julia Riley and Kiyah Yeast. Riley set a meet record in the long jump with a leap of 17 feet, 11½ inches and then teamed with Ashley Wheat, Riko Williams and Yeast to establish another mark in the 4×100 meter relay with a time of 50.14 seconds.
Yeast also coasted to victory in the 100 and 200 meters and was part of the Trojans’ winning 4×400 relay. Center Grove’s boys and girls took first in all six relay events on the day.
“I’m actually really happy with my results today,” Yeast said. “Those times are around where I ended last year, so for me to be running those early season, especially in the cold, that’s showing progress for me.”
Center Grove’s girls also got a win in the 300 hurdles from freshman Mackenzie Kramer.
On the boys side, the Trojans got individual wins from Lucas Roehling (long jump), Jacob Keith (high jump), Matt Fleener (400) and Sam Hohlt (300 hurdles).
Franklin’s boys finished a strong second thanks to Nick Riggles, who won the 110-meter hurdles and was named the top athlete of the boys meet, and Riley McCann, who eked out narrow victories in the 100 and 200.
“Just keep pushing, keep going until I can’t run anymore, because my legs are like noodles,” McCann said of his approach. “I didn’t even honestly think I was going to win either of them, but I guess I pulled it out.”
Andrew Bixler added a win in the 3,200 for the Grizzly Cubs.
David Ryan finished first in the 800 for the Whiteland boys, who took third. Fourth-place Greenwood got first-place finishes from Nick Young in the shot put and discus as well as a victory from Ethan Pine in the 1,600.
“It was good to come out here and be a double county champion,” Young said. “It kind of eluded me for a couple of years.”
Reagan Emberton swept the shot put and discus for the Whiteland girls, who edged Franklin by just 2.5 points for second. Freshman Isabella Jackson cruised to victory in the high jump for the Warriors.
The Grizzly Cubs got a pair of victories from freshman Lillian Lacy in the 800 and 1,600, while teammate Emma Treibic won the 3,200.
Greenwood’s Hanna Anderson was named the top athlete in the girls meet, winning the 400 and accounting for nearly half of her team’s 64 points.
The day, however, belonged to the Trojans, who hope to use Tuesday’s victories as a springboard going into next week’s conference meet.
“I think it really shows that we’re ready to compete with some really good teams,” Center Grove girls coach Wes Dodson said. “We’re going to be pretty tough.”
