All-RTC girls track: After making state, Rochester’s Calloway is Athlete of the Year

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

This might be a repeat from the fall, but it deserves repeating: RTC is honoring Rochester junior Madilyn Calloway after she made the IHSAA state finals.

Calloway was the RTC girls cross-country runner of the year in the fall after making state, and we are giving her the same honor in track after she made state in the 3,200 meters.

Calloway scored the most team points of any Rochester athlete when the Lady Zs won the Three Rivers Conference title at Maconaquah on May 7. She seemed to excel at just about any distance from 400 meters on up.

She shifted her attention to the 1,600, 3,200 and the 4 x 800 relay for the sectional. She focused on the 3,200 and the relay for the regional.

And she wound up making state in the 3,200. She was the only state qualifier in girls track from the RTC area.

Here is the rest of the first All-RTC girls track team. We emphasize the conference and sectional meets, and we give greater weight to those athletes who advance beyond the sectional.

We thank coaches for their insights throughout the season, but this list is ours and ours alone. Please direct any and all complaints at us.

First team

Sprinters

Kenzie Bradley (Rochester) – The fastest girl in our area is Bradley, a junior who is technically proficient.
Alexis Sheets (Winamac) – Sheets was the Hoosier North champ in the 400 meters, and she also was versatile enough that she was Winamac’s top 100 and 200 meter runner, and she was also versatile enough to start at shortstop on the Winamac softball team.
Taylor Darnell (Culver) – This is an extremely close call, but we are going to give the nod to Darnell over Pioneer’s Mackenzie Rogers. Darnell had an impressive sectional meet and seemed to be running her best at the end of the year.

Distance runners

Madilyn Calloway (Rochester) – She could probably run under 2:30 in the 800 or 5:30 in the 1,600 if she just focused on those individual events. Of course, that is not how high school track works. She carried a heavy load in the big meets – where running the 1,600 and the 3,200 was expected – and typically excelled.
Zoe Seward (Rochester) – Calloway might have made state in the 3,200, but she didn’t win the TRC in that event. That title went to Seward, who was down to 11:54 by the end of the season and could be a state threat along with Calloway in 2022.
Kate Collins (Winamac) – Collins won the 800 and the 1,600 at the Hoosier North meet and made it to regional as part of Winamac’s 4 x 800 relay.

Hurdlers

Macie Nelson (Rochester) – Nelson was second in both the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles at the TRC meet and later made regional in the 100 hurdles. This is a sophomore loaded with potential.
Emily Basham (Rochester) – While Nelson is a little better in the 100 hurdles, Basham seems a little more comfortable in the 300 hurdles. Basham was one of the unheralded athletes who was key to Rochester’s conference title.
Anna Lela (Pioneer) – Lela, a junior, was fourth in the Hoosier North in both the 100 and 300 hurdles. She was also Pioneer’s best long jumper.

Jumpers/pole vaulters

Blair Grigsby (Pioneer) – The weather was seemingly terrible all spring, and one event that seemed to get affected more than most was the high jump. Yet Grigsby, a freshman, fought through and was clearing 4-10 by the end of the season. Is five feet in her future?
Kami Burkett (Rochester) – Burkett suffered a knee injury that required surgery during basketball season, but by the end of track season, she was back and long-jumping 14-9. She qualified for regional in both the long jump and 200 meters.
Sidney Wagner (Tippecanoe Valley) – A senior and a Trine basketball recruit, Wagner cleared 7-6 in the pole vault and 4-8 in the high jump. She was a dual threat.

Throwers

Kennedy Jackson (Rochester) – Jackson threw the discus over 100 feet and the shot put over 35 feet this year. That’s a rare combination. She also was a regional qualifier in the shot put.
Chloe Shepherd (Tippecanoe Valley) – Shepherd was fifth at the sectional in the discus with a throw of 96-3.
Esther McKaig (Pioneer) – McKaig, a senior, was consistently in the 30-foot neighborhood in the shot put, and she scored points for the Lady Panthers at both the conference and sectional meets.

Honorable mention