Columbus North’s Lily Baker takes the baton from Julie Klaus in the 4x800-meter relay in the May 24 Franklin Regional.
The Republic file photo
Columbus North will go into Friday’s Girls Track and Field State Finals with hopes of medaling in all four distance events in which it is entered.
But the focus, at least for now, is on the opening race, the 4×800-meter relay. Junior Brianna Newell, senior Katherine Rumsey and juniors Julie Klaus and Lily Baker are seeded first in that event and will look to bring home a title.
“I think we have a good shot of winning the 4×800 with how we’ve run so far this season,” Baker said. “We hadn’t really run a fast time until regional, but we went out and ran a 9:13 with some competition at the start. So I feel like maybe if we have some competition throughout the whole race, we can use our finishes to go faster and pull us to the win.”
Baker, Newell and Klaus were on the 4×800 relay team that finished third at state last season. Baker, Newell and Rumsey were on the state champion cross-country team in the fall, while Klaus was out with an injury.
“We knew we had three of the four back, so we’ve really been focusing on the 4×800 since last year,” North coach Rick Sluder said. “They put themselves in an excellent position to compete for a title, and we definitely are going there with that in mind. We’re going to try to compete right up front, and we think we can run with everybody.”
Baker also is seeded fifth in the 800 based ho her school-record regional time of 2:14.80.
“I don’t really know what to expect,” Baker said. “I just want to run well and see what happens.”
Newell is seeded 10th in the 1,600 at 5:08.16. The top nine earn spots on the medals stand.
“I’m hoping to get All-State because right now, I’m ranked 10th, so I’m right there,” Newell said. “The competition will pull me along, and then I think our 4×800 has a really good chance of winning it all, which would be awesome.”
Katherine Rumsey
Rumsey (11:01.29) and junior Julia Kiesler (11:06.38) are seeded eighth and 15th in the 3,200. Rumsey’s personal-record of 10:54 would put her sixth.
“I’m definitely hoping to PR and place in the top nine,” Rumsey said. “I think I have a really good chance. Both Julia and I, we’re both right in the mix. Between sixth and 12th, there’s a lot of us right in that similar range, so we’re just going to work together the second half of that race to really make sure we get those top-nine spots.”
Julia Kiesler
Kiesler’s PR of 10:51 would put her in the No. 5 spot.
“My PR is right around the possibility of a medal, so if I can just go in there and run with some competition and chase people down, I’ll be able to set myself up for a medal,” Kiesler said
Brown County junior Hadley Gradolf is seeded 24th in the 3,200 in at 11:29.25.
Sluder thinks the Bull Dogs can medal with top-nine finishes in all of their events at Indiana University’s Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex.
“This is kind of exciting where we’re taking five individuals in three different events, and each one has the ability to bring home a medal,” Sluder said. “It’s not a longshot. Katherine and Julia are in the back end of the medals, but they didn’t have much competition in the regional. If they run their season-bests, they’ll be right in the competition for medals. Same with Bri. Lily has an excellent shot of placing top-five, and really Julie, two seconds, and she’s right in the mix for a medal.”
