BLOOMINGTON — Jennings County junior Kayla Truesdell did not have the type of day she was expecting Saturday at Indiana University during the Hoosier State Relays, the unofficial state indoor track and field meet.
Truesdell, who was seeded third in the shot put in the big-school division heading into the meet, did not make the finals and finished 10th after throwing 38 feet, 3 inches. Simisola Akinrinsola of Ben Davis won with a 45-4 1/4 throw.
Competing in an indoor meet is much more compressed in space than an outdoor meet, and Truesdell said the noisy environment threw her game off a bit. Truesdell’s seeded mark was a 41-9, which would have given her a fifth-place finish.
“Sometimes you have your days; sometimes you don’t,” Jennings throwing coach Justin Smith said. “It’s probably been the worst we’ve thrown all season so far. On to outdoor season and bigger and better things.”
Trusedell was the only local athlete to compete in the big-school division. Columbus North had qualified pole vaulter Brigham Kleinhenz and two relay teams on the boys side, but did not make the trip to Bloomington because of weather-related travel concerns.
In the small-school division, Brown County medaled in a pair of relays. Marino Dolph, Jordan Dolph, Jackson McPheeters and Wyatt Wyman finished sixth in the boys distance medley relay (11 minutes, 0.19 seconds); and Wyman, McPheeters, Marino Dolph and Tim Kilburn took seventh in the 4×800-meter relay (8:29.77).
Brown County’s Vivien Crimmins finished 11th in the girls 60 hurdles (10.17). Eme Koester, Emma DeBord, Maris Wyman and Anna Fleetwood took 13th in the 4×800 relay (10:59.85); and Wyman, Fleetwood, DeBord and Koester were 23rd in the distance medley relay (14:23.13).
“It was a good day,” Brown County boys coach Kirk Wrightsman said. “We got a couple of medalists, and now we’re ready for the outdoor season. We’re just hoping for some better weather.”
