Shepherd finishes 21st at state in 300 hurdles

NM’s Hoover takes 17th in shot put

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

Tippecanoe Valley senior Betty Shepherd finished 21st in the 300 hurdles at the IHSAA state finals at North Central High School in Indianapolis Friday.

Shepherd was timed in 46.50 seconds.

Shepherd ran a 46.12 to win the Bremen sectional May 19 and followed it with a personal best 45.67 at the Goshen regional May 26.

Eastern Hancock’s Isabella Sotelo won the title in 41.49 seconds.

Shepherd ran a 46.40 and finished in 18th place in 2024 in her previous state finals race.

Meanwhile, North Miami sophomore Andrea Hoover took 17th place in the shot put with a throw of 38-7 ¾.

Hoover achieved her distance on her first throw. She followed that with a throw of 36-4 ¼ before fouling on her third throw, ending her night. Only the top 10 after three throws earned three more throws.

Western’s Ellyse Walden won the title with a heave of 47-8 ½. 

Hoover won the Bremen sectional with a throw of 36-10 ¾ and was second at the Goshen regional with a throw of 40-5 ½.

Hoover was appearing in her first state finals. Hoover is the cousin of Hartley Hoover, the state runner-up at 215 pounds in wrestling back in February.

Carmel won the team title with 49.5 points. Bloomington South was second with 35.

The boys state finals begin at 3 p.m. Saturday at North Central. Rochester’s Harrison Dunwoody is part of the field in the 110 hurdles.