Link 5th at regional meet (06/02/03)

Kristina Link had one of her best throws of the season. It still wasn’t enough to earn a state berth.

Link came close to extending her year as she was the top Jay County finisher at the Lawrence North girls track regional Saturday, but she fell short with a fifth-place finish in the shot put. The top three competitors in each event earned a trip to the state meet.

The host Wildcats won the meet with 69 points, led by victories in the 1600- and 3200-meter relays. Indianapolis Brebeuf was second with 55, and Indianapolis Chatard was third with 52.

Link was solid in her first two attempts at the meet, starting with a toss of 37 feet, six inches. She let the shot fly five inches further on her second attempt, which was enough to seed her fourth heading into the finals.

That throw of 37 feet, 11 inches would stand as her best of the day, and she was surpassed by one competitor in the final round to slip to fifth. That earned four team points, and she was the only athlete to score for the Patriots on the day.

Katie Norris of Bishop Chatard took the title with a launch of 40 feet, 11 inches.

The next best individual finish Jay County finish came from fellow senior Danielle Michael in the high jump.

Michael cleared everything easily up to five feet, but then she began to struggle.

She missed her first jump at five feet before clearing the bar on her second try. But that was as far as she would go.

Michael clipped the bar with her heel on her first try at five feet, one inch, and didn’t come close in her next two tries. Her final height of five feet placed her in a tie for ninth with Amy Fruehwald of Indianapolis Park Tudor.

Muncie Central’s Ruth Campbell was first at five feet, five inches. Molly Coffin of Cowan advanced from the Muncie Southside sectional by finishing third with a leap of five feet, three inches.

Campbell also advanced to the state meet in the long jump, placing second with a leap of 18 feet.

Michael had made it to the regional in the 100-meter hurdles, but did not finish the race because of a back injury. She was replaced in the 1600-meter relay by Jill Roughia.

The 3200-meter relay team of Roughia, Nicole VanSkyock, Amber Golden and Megan Franks also place ninth. They were second in their heat, finishing just off the Jay County school record with a time of 10:29.97.

Lawrence North picked up the win in a meet record time of 9:23.67.

VanSkyock wasn’t far behind in her individual event, placing 10th in the 1600-meter run. She was in the lead pack for the first lap, but slid back to eighth place midway through the race.

She ended up with a time of 5:40, about a second behind Rachel Kriese of Southport.

Katie Koehler of Lawrence Central won the event in 5:17.54.

Roughia, Golden, Jessica Heitkamp and Jamie Bruggeman placed 13th in the 1600-meter relay in 4:33.52, and Heather Manor was 14th in the discus with a toss of 100 feet, three inches. Lawrence North took first in the 1600-meter relay in a record time of 3:54.84, and Katie Norris of Indianapolis Chatard was first in the discus at 134 feet, three inches.

Others advancing from the Muncie Southside sectional included Muncie Central freshman Vanneisha Ivy with a winning time of 45.20 in the 300-meter hurdles. She teamed with Campbell, Kamille King and Quishia Sims to take third in the 400-meter relay in 48.73.

Christina Poulson of Delta also advanced to the state meet, placing second in the 100-meter dash in 12.35.[[In-content Ad]]