BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Rochester junior Kennedy Jackson advanced to the IHSAA girls track state finals by

finishing in second place in the shot put at the Kokomo regional Tuesday.
Jackson’s throw of 39-0 ½ was a personal best. Whitko freshman Gwen Howard won the title with a throw of 41-0 ¼. Howard was second to Jackson at the Three Rivers Conference meet on May 6 and then beat Jackson at the Bremen sectional on May 17.
Jackson was the lone RTC area athlete to advance to state.
Rochester scored 19 points and finished in 12th place among 29 schools who scored. The Kokomo regional covers an area consisting of 49 schools.
Pioneer scored three points and finished in a tie for 25th place.
Tippecanoe Valley had three athletes participate but did not score.
Rochester
In addition to Jackson, other Rochester scoring athletes included senior Madilyn Calloway, who finished fifth in the 1,600 meters in 5:28.68; Zoe Seward, who finished fifth in the 3,200 meters in 11:26.07; and Kenzie Bradley, who took sixth in the 100 meters in 13.26 seconds.
Calloway’s time was a personal best and marked the first time she had ever run 1,600 meters faster than 5:30.
Seward’s time was also a personal best. It was 10 seconds faster than her personal best, set during a meet at Jimtown last month, and 23 seconds faster than her sectional time. It was also 27 seconds faster than her time at the 2021 Goshen regional, where she finished sixth.
Bradley was competing at her first regional in the 100 meters. She ran a 12.94 in the heats to advance to the final.
South Bend Adams’ Angel Thomas won in 12.33 seconds, and South Bend Washington’s Brooklyn Williams (12.64) and Manchester’s Olivia Auler (12.77) also advanced to state.
Seward scratched in the 1,600 meters, and Calloway scratched in the 3,200 meters to preserve their legs. Both, however, competed in the 4 x 800 relay and helped the Lady Zs to a 12th-place finish in 10:28.24. Araceli Ochoa and Kendyll Bradley joined them on the relay.
Rochester’s other regional relay, the 4 x 100 quartet of Kenzie Bradley, Savanah Eccles, Lilly Watson and Kami Burkett, was disqualified.
Tippecanoe Valley
Sophomore Chesnee Miller finished 10th in the long jump with a leap of 15-11 ¼ and 12th in the 800 meters in 2:31.23.
Miller jumped nearly five inches further from her jump at Bremen. Her 800 time was the second fastest in school history, behind only her time of 2:29.99 at Bremen.
Senior discus thrower Chloe Shepherd and freshman high jumper Carlee Snyder also participated after receiving callbacks.
Shepherd’s top throw of 98-2 was good for ninth place.
Snyder did not clear the opening height of 4-10.
Pioneer
Freshman Keirsten Nies accounted for two of Pioneer’s points by finishing seventh in the high jump after clearing 5-0.
Of the 20 jumpers that competed at Kokomo, Nies was one of only five freshmen, and she was one of only two freshmen who cleared the opening height. All six jumpers who finished ahead of her were juniors and seniors.
Violet Montgomery accounted for the other point by taking eighth in the 3,200 meters in 12:04.60.
Montgomery also took 10th in the 1,600 meters in 5:39.65.
Other Pioneer athletes participating in individual events included Mackenzie Rogers, who took ninth in the 400 meters in 1:02.99, and senior Kennedy Corn, who threw the discus 85-10 and finished 15th in her final prep meet.
Pioneer’s 4 x 400 relay finished 13th in 4:25.00, and the 4 x 800 relay placed 15th in 10:52.09.
The 4 x 400 relay consisted of Anna Shewalter, Blair Grigsby, Nies and Rogers. The 4 x 800 relay consisted of Montgomery, Makenna Strycker, Shewalter and Rogers.
Culver Academy won the regional with 97 points, 16.5 more than runner-up Warsaw.
The top three finishers in each event or those meeting a difficult state qualifying standard advanced to the state finals at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the Indiana University campus in Bloomington on June 3.
Boys regionals are set for Thursday. Rochester, Valley and Pioneer qualifiers will travel to Goshen while Winamac athletes will head to Valparaiso. The boys state finals are scheduled for June 4.
Kokomo girls track regional results: 1. Culver Academy 97, 2. Warsaw 80.5, 3. Penn 74, 4. South Bend Adams 47, 5. Northridge 34, 12. Rochester 19, t-25. Pioneer 3, Tippecanoe Valley 0
Scoring on 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for all events
State qualifiers (top three) plus all Rochester, Valley and Pioneer athletes
100 m
1. Thomas (SB Adams) – 12.33 seconds, 2. Williams (SB Washington) – 12.64, 3. Auler (Manchester) – 12.77, 6. Kenzie Bradley (RHS) – 13.26
200 m
1. Thomas (SB Adams) – 25.66 seconds, 2. Williams (Elkhart) – 25.75, 3. Figueroa (CGA) – 26.11
400 m
1. Bird (CGA) – 59.92 seconds, 2. Beshara (Mishawaka) – 1:00.11, 3. Rivera (CGA) – 1:00.67, 9. Mackenzie Rogers (PIO) – 1:02.99
800 m
1. Economou (Penn) – 2:17.00, 2. Moore (Northwestern) – 2:21.24, 3. L. Frick (SB St. Joe) – 2:21.55, 12. Chesnee Miller (TV) – 2:31.23
1,600 m
1. Moore (Northwestern) – 5:04.37, 2. Rastrelli (Warsaw) – 5:08.85, 3. Smith (Penn) – 5:09.34, 5. Madilyn Calloway (RHS) – 5:28.68, 10. Violet Montgomery (PIO) – 5:39.65
3,200 m
1. Eubank (Penn) – 11:09.26, 2. Stabnik (Penn) – 11:10.49, 3. Rastrelli (Warsaw) – 11:19.48, 5. Zoe Seward (RHS) – 11:26.07, 8. Violet Montgomery (PIO) – 12:04.60
100 m hurdles
1. Scott (Lewis Cass) – 15.04 seconds, 2. Douglas (SB Adams) – 15.52, 3. E. Frick (SB St. Joe) – 15.65
300 m hurdles
1. Scott (Lewis Cass) – 46.12 seconds, 2. Spiller (CGA) – 46.90, 3. E. Frick (SB St. Joe) – 47.45
4 x 100 m relay
1. Culver Academy – 50.47 seconds, 2. SB Adams – 50.56, 3. NorthWood – 50.65, DQ. Rochester (Kenzie Bradley, Savanah Eccles, Lilly Watson, Kami Burkett)
4 x 400 m relay
1. Warsaw – 4:05.49, 2. Northridge – 4:05.63, 3. Culver Academy – 4:06.63, 13. Pioneer (Anna Shewalter, Blair Grigsby, Keirsten Nies, Mackenzie Rogers) – 4:25.00
4 x 800 m relay
1. Penn – 9:34.51, 2. Warsaw – 9:46.94, 3. NorthWood – 9:52.18, 12. Rochester (Madilyn Calloway, Zoe Seward, Araceli Ochoa, Kendyll Bradley) – 10:28.24, 15. Pioneer (Violet Montgomery, Makenna Strycker, Anna Shewalter, Mackenzie Rogers) – 10:52.09
Long jump
1. Spiller (CGA) – 17-0 ½, 2. Daniels (Kokomo) – 16-10, 3. Harper (Whitko) – 16-8 ¾, 10. Chesnee Miller (TV) – 15-11 ¼
High jump
1. Spiller (CGA) – 5-5, 2. Axsom (Elkhart) – 5-4, 3. Hart (Warsaw) – 5-3, 7. Keirsten Nies (PIO) – 5-0, DNP. Carlee Snyder (TV)
Discus
1. Miller (CGA) – 139-11, 2. Sanner (Warsaw) – 138-9, 3. Yoder (Wawasee) – 132-9, 9. Chloe Shepherd (TV) – 98-2, 15. Kennedy Corn (PIO) – 85-10
Shot put
1. Howard (Whitko) – 41-0 ¼, 2. Kennedy Jackson (RHS) – 39-0 ½, 3. Sanner (Warsaw) – 37-11 ½
Pole vault
1. Bourdier (CGA) – 10-3, 2. Niebbia (Warsaw) – 10-3, 3. Pletcher (Penn) – 10-0
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