Beckham Races Way On To Podium
By TIM CREASON
BLOOMINGTON – Give Mia Beckham credit. She could have played it safe.
But this was the IHSAA girls state track finals, and you don’t win championships that way. So when the field broke apart on the second lap of the 1600-meter run, she knew where she had to be:
At the front.
“My last couple meets, I started making a different move than I had before, because I knew this (state finals) would be all-out,” said the Warsaw High School junior, who ended up seventh in the final sprint to the finish line at Indiana University’s track in Bloomington Saturday night.
“I go out on the second lap hard, and then it’s all guts on the last lap,” she said. “I knew I had to get up there.”
A final time of 5:02.09 and a spot on the IHSAA awards podium was the reward for Beckham, who surged into second place, just behind Greencastle’s Emma Wilson, just before the halfway point.
As the fast pace and very warm – no, hot – weather took its toll, competitors began dropping out of contention. But Beckham hung in there, before giving up a few spots to runners with better leg speed on the final anguished sprint down the homestretch.
Wilson, the pre-race favorite, took first in 4:56.34. Angola’s Josey Korte moved up to second. But then seven other runners finished in a four-second span between third place and ninth place, including Beckham.
“I kept telling myself, ‘It’s all mental,’” the Tiger junior said. “Getting through was all mental.
“I guess it worked out. I’m really happy with my finish,” said Beckham, the only Warsaw athlete to earn a medal at this year’s state finals. “I wanted a better time, I wanted to get under five minutes, but next year, hopefully.”
Warren Central claimed its second consecutive girls team title, winning the final event of the night, the 4 x 400 relay, to edge Hamilton Southeastern, 55-46. Brebeuf finished third in a meet where the top five finishers were all from the Indianapolis metropolitan area.
Warsaw, thanks to Beckham, finished with three points. Wawasee failed to score.
It was a huge night for Erica Stutsman of NorthWood. The junior raced to a third-place finish in the 800.
Pike senior Lynna Irby won the 100, 200 and 400-meter dashes to give her 12 individual state championships in her career, the most by any Indiana high school athlete. She set a state record in the 100, clocking 11.41 seconds.
Meanwhile, Warsaw came painfully close to a second medal in the 400-meter relay, as the quartet of Maygan Bellamy, Makayla Clampitt, Abbi Curtis and Shunterra Davis clocked 48.99 to finish 13th overall.
Only the top nine finishers earn place awards, and the Tigers fell short by 29-100ths of a second.
It was a similar story in the 4 x 800 relay, where Anjie Sanchez-Vijil, Anna Craig, Remi Beckham and Dayton Groninger clocked 9:28.24 to place 11th. The Tigers actually won their section, the first of two heats to be contested, but 10 relays in the other heat ran faster.
Sanchez-Vijil clocked a 2:20.24 split to get the Tigers started on the right foot, and Groninger closed it out with a gutsy 2:19.9 anchor.
Wawasee had a couple field event entrants. Alexis Manges threw 114 feet on her second attempt to finish 22nd in the discus, while Hannah-Marie Lamle was 23rd in the long jump, reaching 16 feet, 4 ½ inches.
Warsaw’s high jumper, junior Lexie Day, cleared 5 foot, 3 inches to place 15th.
The evening finished with the 4 x 400 relay, where Warsaw’s Maygan Bellamy, Kenzie Martz, Angie Sanchez-Vijil and Remi Beckham clocked 4:00.08, good for 16th overall.
Manchester senior distance ace Rae Bedke was sixth in the 3,200.
IHSAA GIRLS STATE TRACK FINALS
At Bloomington
Team scores (Top 20): Warren Central 55, Hamilton Southeastern 46, Indianapolis Brebeuf 33, Ben Davis 31, Indianapolis Pike 30, Fort Wayne Northrop 29, Crown Point 29, Zionsville 27, Fishers 27, Carmel 22, Noblesville 22, Valparaiso 21 ½, West Lafayette 21, Indianapolis North Central 21, Greencastle 20, Lafayette Jeff 20, Culver Academies 14, Avon 13, Evansville Reitz 12, Gary West 11, Kokomo 11.
Other area: Penn 8 … NorthWood 7 … Mishawaka Marian 4, Manchester 4 … Warsaw 3 … Central Noble 2.
4 x 800 relay: 1, Noblesville (Maria Anderson, Susanna Sharples-Gordon, Abigail Little, Kat Dombroski) 9:07.69. 2, Penn (Lorena Daugherty, Emma Jankowski, Jemmia Pennix, Ashleigh Macleod) 9:16.83. 3, Carroll-Fort Wayne 9:18.91. 4, Franklin Central 9:19.01. 5, Crown Point 9:19.95. 6, Westfield 9:20.28. 7, Carmel 9:20.55. 8, Indianapolis Brebeuf 9:20.59. 9, Zionsville 9:20.97.
Other area: 11, Warsaw (Angie Sanchez-Vijil, Remi Beckham, Anna Craig, Dayton Groninger) 9:28.24.
100 hurdles: 1, Kayland Jackson (Warren Central) 14.00. 2, Kristen LaCosse (Crown Pt) 14.36. 3, Mia Mackenzie (Hamilton Southeastern) 14.64. 4, Nakita Turner (Indianapolis Brebeuf) 14.67. 5, Breanna Phillips (FW Northrop) 14.76. 6, Aneise Phillips (FW Wayne) 14.78. 7, De’Aira Simmons (Lawrence Central) 14.87. 8, K’Ja Talley (Warren Central) 14.88. 9, Emily Robertson (Westfield) 14.96.
Other area: 22, Rylin Bagarus (Mishawaka) 15.94 … 24, Joselyn Mwenifumbo (South Bend Adams) 16.13.
100: 1, Lynna Irby (Indianapolis Pike) 11.41 (STATE RECORD). 2, Kyara Simmons-Avant (Ben Davis) 11.77. 3, Semira Killebrew (Indianapolis Brebeuf) 11.79. 4, Camille Christopher (Hamilton Southeastern) 11.87. 5, Tionna Brown (Kokomo) 11.99. 6, Diamond Mitchell (Avon) 12.0. 7, Christian Antonise (Gary West) 12.04. 8, Kiyah Yeast (Center Grove) 12.22. 9, Tamia Perryman (Fishers) 12.26.
Other (trials): 18, Janiyah Barnes (Concord) 12.63 … 24, Oniste Thomas (Concord) 12.83.
1600: 1, Emma Wilson (Greencastle) 4:56.34. 2, Josey Korte (Angola) 4:57.69. 3, Ava Gilliana (Valparaiso) 4:59.87. 4, Margo Hornocker (Oak Hill) 5:00.54. 5, Megan Slamkowski (Guerin Catholic) 5:01.24. 6, Presley Warren (Evansville Reitz) 5:02.10. 7, Mia Beckham (Warsaw) 5:02.30. 8, Abby Green (Carroll-FW) 5:02.44. 9, Rachel Anderson (Carmel) 5:03.46.
Other area: 12, Morgan Dyer (Elkhart Memorial) 5:07.55.
4 x 100 relay: 1, Hamilton Southeastern (Olivia Burgess, Tierra Sydnor, Mia Mackenzie, Camille Christopher) 47.19. 2, Indianapolis Brebeuf 47.21. 3, Fishers 47.27. 4, Warren Central 47.61. 5, Ben Davis 47.98. 6, Merrillville 48.34. 7, Crown Point 48.55. 8, Jeffersonville 48.69. 9, Avon 48.70.
Other area: 13, Warsaw (Maygan Bellamy, Makayla Clampitt, Abbi Curtis, Shunterra Davis) 48.99 … 21, Concord (Janiyla Holloway, Janiyah Barnes, Shenais Colton-Flores, Oniste Thomas) 49.62 … 23, South Bend Washington (Tanaisa Jefferies, Lauraine Davidson, Deana Griffin, Makayla Pebbles) 50.10.
400: 1, Lyna Irby (Indianapolis Pike) 53.81. 2, Antonise Christian (Gary West) 54.74. 3, Courtney Jones (Indianapolis North Central) 55.44. 4, Mikeisha Covington (Warren Central) 56.02. 5, Breanna Phillips (FW Northrop) 56.50. 6, Reagan Hune (Carmel) 56.70. 7, Katie Dietrick (Indianapolis Chatard) 56.81. 8, Maria Anderson (Noblesville) 57.21. 9, Dejah Johnson (Warren Central) 57.33.
Other area: 13, Jasmine Hudson (Concord) 57.97 … 18, Rachel Crawford (Plymouth) 58.90 … 21, Jemmia Pennix (Penn) 59.61.
300 hurdles: 1, Addison Coy (Culver Academies) 42.30. 2, Ella Robinson (Zionsville) 42.98. 3, K’Ja Talley (Warren Central) 44.10. 4, Kristen LaCosse (Crown Point) 44.49. 5, Kennedy Batts (Warren Central) 44.67. 6, Mia Mackenzie (Hamilton Southeastern) 44.94. 7, Kyara Muhammad (FW Northrop) 45.04. 8, Dylan Kirkwood (FW Northrop) 45.19. 9, Carlee Lefebvre (North Miami) 45.19.
Other area: 23, Jillian Kissinger (Goshen) 49.69.
800: 1, Madison Kiser (Pioneer) 2:11.96. 2, Claire Sievern (Evansville Reitz) 2:12.54. 3, Erica Stutsman (NorthWood) 2:13.21. 4, Lauren Rinehart (Brownsburg) 2:13.41. 5, Katherine Modrall (Indianapolis Brebeuf) 2:13.91. 6, Kamya Lapsley (Fishers) 2:14.41. 7, Jenna Barker (Seton Catholic) 2:14.70. 8, Julia Dvorak (Homestead) 2:14.85. 9, Erin Sullivan (Southport) 2:15.51.
Other area: 10, Ashleigh Macleod (Penn) 2:15.78 …. 13, Emma Jankowski (Penn) 2:17.53
200: 1, Lynna Irby (Indianapolis Pike) 23.41. 2, Mikeisha Covington (Warren Central) 24.06. 3, Kyara Simmons-Avant (Ben Davis) 24.36. 4, Tionna Brown (Kokomo) 24.64. 5, Semira Killebrew (Indianapolis Brebeuf) 24.81. 6, Camille Christopher (Hamilton Southeastern) 24.85. 7, Alanah Owens (McCutcheon) 25.34. 8, Tamia Perryman (Fishers) 25.85. 9, Jhala Henry (Jeffersonville) 26.12.
Other area (trials): 11, Janiyah Barnes (Concord) 25.53 … 24, Alayna Bailey (Elkhart Memorial) 26.32.
3200: 1, Emma Wilson (Greencastle) 10:43.94. 2, Shelby Riehle (LaPorte) 10:44.24. 3, Miya Wai (Fishers) 10:48.38. 4, Logan Ferngren (Valparaiso) 10:50.67. 5, Christina Geisler (Carmel) 10:51.88. 6, Rae Bedke (Manchester) 10:52.96. 7, Grace Williams (Bloomington North) 10:53.39. 8, McKenna Cavanaugh (Christian Academy) 10:55.20. 9, Jordyn Boyer (Lowell) 10:55.22.
Other area: 12, Lauren Frank (Penn) 11:16.44 … 17, Morgan Dyer (Elkhart Memorial) 11:24.04.
4 x 400 relay: 1, Warren Central (Mikeisha Covington, Dejah Johnson, K’Ja Talley, Tiler Tyler) 3:48.55. 2, Indianapolis North Central 3:52.16. 3, Fort Wayne Northrop 3:53.40. 4, Fishers 3:54.43. 5, Zionsville 3:55.09. 6, Culver Academies 3:55.30. 7, Merrillville 3:55.77. 8, Homestead 3:57.51. 9, Westfield 3:57.74.
Other area: 16, Warsaw (Maygan Bellamy, Kenzie Martz, Angie Sanchez-Vijil, Remi Beckham) 4:00.08 … 18, Penn (Jemmia Pennix, Elli Mott, Megan Darr, Ashleigh Macleod) 4:00.98.
High jump: 1, Shelby Tyler (Noblesville) 5-10. 2, Katie Isenbarger (Zionsville) 5-8. 3, Haylea Crandall (Crawford County) 5-7. 4, Khrea Goss (Ben Davis) 5-6. 5, Addie Wanner (South Adams) 5-5. 6, Tie between Janea Bell (Franklin Central) and Corwin Erwin (Munster) 5-5. 8, Meleah Leatherman (Central Noble) 5-4. 9, Amiyah James (Carmel) 5-4.
Other area: 15, Lexie Day (Warsaw) 5-3 … 23, Chloe Bontrager (Fairfield) 5-0.
Long jump: 1, Paige Saylor (Indianapolis Roncalli) 19-1. 2, Kaitlyn Davis (Washington) 18-11 ½. 3, Kristen LaCosse (Crown Point) 18-9 ½. 4, Jai-Lyn Norwood (Lawrence Central) 18-7 ¾. 5, Katie Isenbarger (Zionsville) 17-10 ¼. 6, Lexie Moriarity (East Noble) 17-9 ½. 7, Alexis Grider (FW South Side) 17-9 ½. 8, Kyara Muhammad (FW Northrop) 17-9. 9, Faith White (North Miami) 17-8 ¼.
Other area: 23, Hannah-Marie Lamle (Wawasee) 16-4 ½.
Shot put: 1, Essence Henderson (Lafayette Jeff) 46-11 ¾. 2, Victoria Farley (Portage) 45-6. 3, Ashley Weatherly (West Lafayette) 43-5. 4, Madison Ochs (Valparaiso) 43-3 ¾. 5, Alicia Tiney-Williams (FW Northrop) 42-10. 6, Katrinia Hopkins (Avon) 41-5 ¾. 7, Aiyana Adams (Ben Davis) 41-5. 8, Simisola Akinrinsola (Ben Davis) 41-4 ¾. 9, Dontrice Barbee (Bloomington No) 41-3 ¼.
Other area: 20, Cece Robinson (Plymouth) 38-0 ¾ … 25, Jordan Ware (Elkhart Central) 36-2.
Discus: 1, Essence Henderson (Lafayette Jeff) 158-1. 2, Kaia Harris (West Lafayette) 139-7. 3, Princess Carter (Lawrence North) 135-5. 4, KayJah Avant (Indianapolis North Central) 133-7. 5, Kloee Fitch (Lakeland) 131-9. 6, Haley Nichols (Avon) 129-0. 7, Reagan Emberton (Whiteland) 127-5. 8, Sadie Hill (Perry Meridian) 127-5. 9, Madison Ochs (Valparaiso) 125-9.
Other area: 14, Nicole Horvath (Plymouth) 119-11 … 22, Alexis Manges (Wawasee) 114-0 … 25, Jordan Ware (Elkhart Central) 110-2.
Pole vault: 1, Kennedy Drish (Hamilton Southeastern) 12-0. 2, Kara Deady (Carmel) 11-9. 3, Kylie Falcone (Center Grove) 11-9. 4, Maria Siciliano (West Lafayette) 11-6. 5, Jessica Bray (Hamilton Southeastern) 11-3. 6, Mary Costello (Mishawaka Marian) 11-3. 7, Maddie Wilson (Castle) 11-3. 8, Tie between Madison Fields (Brown County) and Brittney Clark (Valparaiso) 11-0.
Other area: 17, Amanda George (Penn) 10-6.
MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD: Madison Kiser (Pioneer).