All-RTC4 girls track: After getting back to state, Valley hurdler Shepherd is Athlete of the Year

Val T.
Jul 24
5 min read

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

**RTC4 Girls Track Athlete of the Year Betty Shepherd**

For the third straight year, our RTC4 Girls Athlete of the Year is a 300-meter hurdler. And for the second time during that span, it is Tippecanoe Valley’s Betty Shepherd.

Shepherd also was our Girls Athlete of the Year in 2024 when she made state as a sophomore. She did not make state in 2025 as friend and rival Audrey Wagner from Rochester was our Athlete of the Year.

But that did not mean that Shepherd had a bad year in 2025. In fact, she was faster than she was in 2024.

And with Wagner having graduated, Shepherd frequently ran the 300 hurdles by herself. She won the Indiana Northern State Conference title by almost five full seconds over the competition. She won the sectional by almost a second and a half, and only the runner-up was within three seconds of her. And she saved perhaps her best race for the regional at Goshen, running a 45.67 and finishing third to clinch her berth at state.

She finished her prep career by running a 46.50 and finishing 21st at state.

In addition to the 200 hurdles, Shepherd was also the conference champion in the 100 hurdles and a 100-foot discus thrower and a regional qualifier in both of those events.

Shepherd was also our All-RTC4 Volleyball Player of the Year in the fall and becomes the fourth athlete since we started naming award winners in 2020 to be named Athlete of the Year in two sports in the same academic year. She joins Rochester’s Madilyn Calloway (cross-country and track in 2020-21), Pioneer’s Hailey Cripe (volleyball and softball in 2021-22) and Rochester’s Tanner Reinartz (tennis and baseball in 2024-25).

As for the year in girls track, it took a hardy soul to compete. The spring weather, which is always capricious, was seemingly even more inconsistent this year than normal. As much as running, jumping and throwing are synonymous with track meets, so are two teenagers huddling underneath a blanket.

The top teams in our area included Rochester and Pioneer, and we had another state qualifier in North Miami sophomore shot putter Andrea Hoover.

The following is our All-RTC4 girls track team. We thank area coaches for sending us their results and for sharing their insights and observations with us. Having said that, this list is ours and ours alone, and we take full responsibility for it.

We place special emphasis on the conference and postseason meets more than weekday dual meets and indoor meets. Those are the meets in which all the athletes participate in their best events and should be in top shape.

We try to put athletes in their best events, but we might move athletes around to different events in order to get the best kids recognized.

Sprinters

Maddie MacLain (Rochester) – MacLain was unusually busy at meets for a freshman, excelling in both the sprints and the jumps. She made it to the sectional final in the 100, running a 13.27. She also was a part of Rochester’s record-setting 4 x 100 relay, a 14-foot long jumper and an eight-foot pole vaulter.
Sadie Popejoy (Winamac) – Popejoy won the 100, 200 and 400 at the Hoosier North meet. Her best event is probably the 200. She is also a top discus thrower.
Maddie Bailon (Rochester) – Bailon was eighth in the 100 and sixth in the 400 at conference and then was fifth in the 200 at sectionals. She is explosive around the curve in the 200.

Distance runners

Avery Wegner (Winamac) – Wegner had a memorable Hoosier North meet, winning the 800 and 1,600 before setting a personal best and capping off her night with a third win in the 3,200. She was also a regional qualifier in the 800, able to consistently run a sub-2:25.
Allyson Calloway (Rochester) – Calloway was fourth in a really tough conference race in the 3,200 meters, and she then qualified for her third straight regional in the 3,200. She consistently broke 12:30 in that race and was also underrated in the 800 and 1,600.
Adison Hayes (Rochester) – Hayes, a sophomore, was sixth in the 3,200 at both conference and sectionals and had her time down to 13:12 by the end of the season. Her style is not flashy, but she runs a consistent pace and wears out competitors who are not in as good shape as she is.

Hurdlers

Betty Shepherd (Tippecanoe Valley) (Athlete of the Year) – While many runners wilt over the second half of the 300 hurdles, Shepherd gets stronger. It typically took state-caliber athletes to beat her. It could be decades before Valley has another hurdler run a 45.67 in the 300 hurdles.
Aspen Moolenaar (Pioneer) – Moolenaar is a great combination of strength and speed who won the Cass County Star of Stars and four individual titles at the Hoosier North meet. She has gone under 17 in the 100 hurdles and under 50 in the 300 hurdles. Moolenaar is also one of Pioneer’s best pole vaulters ever and a great long jumper.
Kyla Conley (Rochester) – Conley is both a talented sprinter and hurdler who finished fourth at the Three Rivers Conference meet in the 100 hurdles. She has gone under 18 seconds in the 100 hurdles, and she is also a member of the school record-setting 4 x 100 relay team.

Jumpers/pole vaulters

Kyra Doran (Rochester) – We could have also put Doran on our hurdlers list, but we think the long jump is her best event. She beat a very tough field to win the sectional with a jump of 16-7 ¼ , and that came after she jumped 16-5 to win conference.
Grace Sailors (North Miami) – A former state qualifier in the high jump, Sailors won the conference title in that event this spring and then went over the bar at 5-2 to finish second at the sectional. She is also a top thrower and 100 hurdler.
Grace Colvin (Caston) – Colvin cleared 4-8 at conference in the high jump and tied for sixth in the sectional when she cleared 4-10.

Throwers

Andrea Hoover (North Miami) – Hoover threw the shot 35-2 to win conference and 36-10 ¾ to win the sectional, but that did not prepare us for a heave of 40-5 ½ at the regional that qualified her for state. She is only a sophomore, and she figures to have a good rivalry with the Pioneer and Caston throwers moving forward.
Emilee Juby (Pioneer) – Also a member of Pioneer’s conference champion golf team, Juby, a sophomore, won her own personal conference title when she won her showdown against Popejoy in the discus at the conference meet. And then she got even better at the sectional, throwing 107-8 to finish second and advance to her first regional.
Lyla Gebhardt (Caston) – Gebhardt, a sophomore, emerged at the Star of Stars when she won the discus, and she later finished fourth at conference and fifth at sectional. She has already thrown over 100 feet and will get more consistent with more reps.

Honorable mention