I would like to take this time to introduce a huge step forward for Rushville Consolidated Cross Country and Track and Field.
I am in the final stages of implementing the Lions Pride Running Club in Rush County. This would encourage youth to become more involved in the sport and develop confidence, teamwork, and sportsmanship across the area. I have more information on the club, as well as our 1st alumni Lions Pride 5K on June 25, but to kick off these opportunities, I want to mention how excited I am to see the progress of our track and field program.
As our track and field season comes into full swing, we had 11 RCHS athletes that qualified and competed at the indoor Hoosier State Meet (small school division) Saturday, March 26 at Indiana University.
Both the boys and girls DMR (distance medley relay) teams qualified in their division for the state meet. This race encompasses a true relay for track from long sprinters to mid distance to long distance racers. Our boys team was ranked 16th in the state small school division and qualifiers were junior Ryan Schindler, seniors Kyle Stanley and Carter Tague and sophomore Charlie Sterrett. The girls DMR team was ranked 21st and made up of sophomores Maddy Hankins and Mia Norvell, junior Olivia Wehr and senior Savannah Westphal.
The girls finished 18th in a time of 14:34.52 while the boys were 16th with a mark of 11:51.81 as junior Sam Barada filled in for Tague. Individually, freshman Jenna Lawler led the way with a 6th place-seeding in the shot put, while junior Katie Tabeling was ranked 21st in the shot put. Junior and reigning Eastern Indiana Athletic Conference champion Cyndi Tush was seeded 13th in the pole vault. Lawler placed 9th with a toss of 34 feet, 5.5 inches; Tabeling finished 19th (30-5.5). Tush recorded no height on Saturday. Rushville's outdoor campaign kicks off Tuesday at South Decatur.
Submitted by Amy Tush, director of Lions Pride and cross country/track & field coach at RCHS.