Greenwood’s Luttrell vaults to first in state and school history

​By Steve Page
Correspondent

Many Southside student-athletes fared well in the IHSAA State Finals for track and field, but none better than Amy Luttrell.
The Greenwood senior cleared 12 feet, 9 inches to win the pole vault on Friday, enjoying the weather on the Indiana University campus.
“Amy Luttrell is our first girls track and field state champion in school history!” noted coach Blaine Williams.
Even school superintendent Dr. Terry Terhune was impressed, exclaiming, “Amy Luttrell state champion in pole vault! Awesome performance!”
Greenwood had its moments, both in the bright sunshine on Friday and in the wind and rain on Saturday.
Junior William Riley reached the finals in the boys’ 100 and 200. He was right there in the 200, finishing second only to Bloomington North’s Jaidyn Johnson, who finished in 21.77 to 22.00 for Riley. In the 100, he placed fourth in 10.88.
There’s more.
Whiteland senior Ivan Weaver was runnerup in the 400 with a time of 48.45 seconds. Sophomore teammate Kervenson Clerger was sixth in 49.13.
The Center Grove 4x100 relay team, all juniors – Ben Tapak, Daxon Sauer, Finn Sauer and Brady Dicken – raced to second in 42.35 seconds.
Franklin Central senior Joey Ashman ran third in the 800 at 1:52.52.
The FC quartet of sophomore Hudson Moritz, sophomore Kervenson Clerger, senior Joey Ashman and senior Ivan Weaver took third in the 4x400 relay at 3:17.45, outleaning Center Grove’s Ben Tapak, Brevin Hulubar, Daxon Sauer and Austin Hennessy, who finished in 3:17.70.
CG senior Carter Pheifer took fifth in the pole vault at 15-3. The event, along with the high jump and long jump, had been moved indoors to a nearby building.
There, Perry Meridian senior Isaiah Needam took fourth in the long jump at 22-5.5, two spots ahead of Whiteland senior Benian Walls, 21-11.75.
Roncalli senior Seth Brosseau took sixth in the shot put at 57-5.75, a vast improvement over his adventure in the wind-blown and rain-soaked discus. In that, his best throw was 115-6.
The competitors in the first flight of the discus experienced the worst of the weather, having to throw in a circle that was basically underwater. Many of those first throwers couldn’t even get their discus out of the ring, many clanging off the posts that hold the protective netting.
“I practiced with a wet ring all week, but I wasn’t expecting this,” said Brosseau, who came in as the second seed.
“My foot was sliding. I just couldn’t get any traction. But there’s always next year.”
Another highly rated competitor who suffered was Center Grove hurdler Dallas Johnson, who blew a hamstring in the 110 finals. He limped to the finish.
“I could feel it going,” he said. “I’ve battled a lot of injuries this season. I have a stress fracture in the same leg. It’s just tough to go out like this.”
On the girls’ side, Whiteland senior Rori Jackson, sophomore Madison Fleury, junior Bella Fuentes and freshman Lena Shipp teamed up to take seventh in the 4x800 at 9:17.04.
“They broke the school record by eight seconds,” said Whiteland coach Brandon Bangel. “They did a great job.
We’ve had a great day here; a great day.”

Amy Luttrell clears the bar as the Greenwood senior wins the state pole vault championship with a vault of 12-9. (PHOTO COURTESY GREENWOOD ATHLETICS)

Madison Fleury looks back as she reaches to take the baton from Whiteland teammate Tori Jackson on the first exchange of the 4x800 relay. They teamed up with Bella Fuentes and Lena Shipp to set a school record of 9:17.04.

Greenwood junior William Riley battles for the lead near the finish of the 200 on Saturday. He took second place in 22 seconds flat.
​(SOUTHSIDER VOICE PHOTOS BY STEVE PAGE)

Runners from Center Grove (red) and Whiteland (green) battle as they make the final exchange in the 4x400 on Saturday. The Flashes finished third and the Trojans fourth, both less than a second from first.