Harding sisters, Nies, Moolenaar advance to regional as Pioneer ties for 4th at Kokomo

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Girls track

Competing for the first time after winning the Hoosier North title Thursday, the Pioneer girls track team scored 73 points and finished in a tie for fourth place in the 11-team field at the Kokomo sectional Tuesday.

No Pioneer athlete won an individual title, but four different Lady Panthers advanced to the Lafayette Jeff regional May 27 in a total of five events.

Michelle Harding advanced in two events, taking second in the 200 meters in 27.06 seconds and finishing third in the long jump with a leap of 15-10 ½.

Keirsten Nies and Rachel Harding finished second and third, respectively, in the high jump to both advance. Both Nies and Rachel Harding cleared 4-10 on their third attempt, but Nies got the edge for second place based on fewer overall misses.

Also, Aspen Moolenaar pole vaulted 11-0 and finished second. Moolenarr is one of only 20 pole vaulters in the state to have cleared 11-0 this season.

Moolenaar also scored in the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles, where she finished fourth in both events.

Other Pioneer individual scorers included Emilee Juby, who was fifth in the discus; Elizabeth Kennell, who was seventh in the 400; Kylie Jamerson, who was seventh in the 3,200; Brooklyn Dillman, who took seventh in the shot put; Avery Haselby, who finished seventh in the pole vault; and de España, who was eighth in the 800.

Pioneer also finished fourth in the 4 x 100 relay, fourth in the 4 x 400 relay and fifth in the 4 x 800 relay. The 4 x 100 relay consisted of Michelle Harding, Rachel Harding, Moolenaar and Keirsten Nies. The Harding sisters combined with Kennell and Gabriela de España in the 4 x 400 relay. The 4 x 800 relay consisted of Alaina Callaway, de España, Ellie Hines and Leah Zeigler.

Western won with 116 points. Northwestern, the Three Rivers Conference champion, was sixth with 60.

KOKOMO GIRLS TRACK SECTIONAL RESULTS: Western 116, Lewis Cass 89, Kokomo 85, PIONEER 73, Maconaquah 73, Northwestern 60, Logansport 53, Eastern (Greentown) 28, Tri-Central 23, Tipton 14, Peru 10

Scoring on 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for all events

Regional qualifiers (top three) plus all Pioneer results

100 m

1. Baker (NW) – 12.90 seconds, 2. Griffin (LC) – 13.17, 3. Ewing (WEST) – 13.31

200 m

1. Ewing (WEST) – 26.44 seconds, 2. Michelle Harding (PIO) – 27.06, 3. Hedrick (LC) – 27.07

400 m

1. Griffin (LC) – 1:00.17, 2. Pownall (WEST) – 1:03.19, 3. Trujillo (T-C) – 1:03.72, 7. Elizabeth Kennell (PIO) – 1:06.28

800 m

1. Griffin (LC) – 2:25.58, 2. Kantz (EAST) – 2:33.42, 3. Woodhouse (LOG) – 2:36.37, 8. Gabriela de España (PIO) – 2:45.26

1,600 m

1. Rush (LC) – 5:30.63, 2. Woodhouse (LOG) – 5:33.67, 3. Kantz (EAST) – 5:39.28, 9. Leah Zeigler (PIO) – 6:27.53, 13. Kylie Jamerson (PIO) – 6:34.38

3,200 m

1. Jordan (MAC) – 11:58.37, 2. Rush (LC) – 12:34.91, 3. DiPaola (WEST) – 12:40.55, 7. Kylie Jamerson (PIO) – 13:54.39

100 m hurdles

1. McKay (KOK) – 15.26 seconds, 2. Scheiffer (NW) – 15.70, 3. McKitrick (WEST) – 15.70, 4. Aspen Moolenaar (PIO) – 16.52, 16. Avery Haselby (PIO) – 20.57

300 m hurdles

1. McKay (KOK) – 46.22 seconds, 2. Thornton (KOK) – 46.50, 3. Scheiffer (NW) – 47.01, 4. Aspen Moolenaar (PIO) – 47.49, 14. Avery Haselby (PIO) – 1:00.17

4 x 100 m relay

1. Kokomo (Thorton, Huntsman, Williams, McKay) – 50.80 seconds, 2. Northwestern (Fischer, Lefforge, Scheiffer, Baker) – 51.41, 3. Western (Pownall, Ewing, Moore, McKitrick) – 51.51, 4. Pioneer (Michelle Harding, Rachel Harding, Aspen Moolenaar, Keirsten Nies) – 51.62

4 x 400 m relay

1. Lewis Cass (Hedrick, Gillem, Rush, Griffin) – 4:13.71, 2. Western (McKitrick, Marley, Shade, Pownall) – 4:16.03, 3. Maconaquah (Pier, Laber, Loshnowsky, Montgomery) – 4:20.64, 4. Pioneer (Rachel Harding, Michelle Harding, Elizabeth Kennell, Gabriela de España) – 4:27.36

4 x 800 m relay

1. Maconaquah (Jordan, Jones, Loshnowsky, Moeller) – 10:21.43, 2. Western (DePoy, Harlow, Shoaff, DiPaola) – 10:39.16, 3. Logansport (Hernandez, Dexter, Graham, Woodhouse) – 11:02.50, 5. Pioneer (Alaina Callaway, Gabriela de España, Ellie Hines, Leah Zeigler) – 11:48.48

Long jump

1. Williams (KOK) – 16-4 ½, 2. Hedrick (LC) – 15-11, 3. Michelle Harding (PIO) – 15-10 ½

High jump

1. Curry (LOG) – 5-0, 2. Keirsten Nies (PIO) – 4-10, 3. Rachel Harding (PIO) – 4-10

Discus

1. Walden (WEST) – 134-11, 2. Stewart (T-C) – 116-3, 3. Bruno (EAST) – 112-7, 5. Emilee Juby (PIO) – 103-9, 13. Chelsea Clark (PIO) – 74-6

Shot put

1. Walden (WEST) – 43-8, 2. Stewart (T-C) – 35-11 ¼, 3. Kretz (WEST) – 34-5 ½, 7. Brooklynn Dillman (PIO) – 31-11 ½, 16. Chelsea Clark (PIO) – 26-8 ¾

Pole vault

1. Baker (NW) – 11-6, 2. Aspen Moolenaar (PIO) – 11-0, 3. Beachy (MAC) – 9-0, 7. Avery Haselby (PIO) – 7-0