Wiley breaks three records at NH sectional
NEW HAVEN—Addy Wiley delivered one of the greatest performances the local track sectional has ever seen Tuesday at New Haven, setting new sectional records in the 800, the 1600 and the 3200 and nearly breaking the state record in the 800 despite winning by large margins.
Wiley’s time of 2:06.72 in the 800 was 19 seconds better than her teammate, Ella Colclesser and 3.5 seconds faster than Julia Dvorak’s time in 2019, which was the sectional record. The state record in that event was set in 2019 by Pike’s Elizabeth Stanhope (2:06.62).
The University of Colorado commit was featured on the front sports page of the Indianapolis Star this week, with Star writer David Woods, a longtime track and field journalist, chronicling Wiley’s childhood battle with cancer and her incredible accomplishments. The defending state champion in both the 800 and the 1600, Wiley also broke Bailey Beery’s sectional record in the 3200 by three seconds and won the race by more than 56 seconds.
Wiley was already the record holder in the mile, but she broke that too, shaving three seconds off her time. She is now just eight seconds away from the state record in that event.
As written in Wednesday’s edition of the DDD, Adrienne McKean had an exceptional day herself, winning the 100 and the 200. She was easily the best sprinter in the field throughout the entire year and the same can be said in the high jump. McKean did not need a single season best to win any of the three events.
“To win three events is big for anyone,” said SA head coach Clint Anderson. “Adrienne has had a great season and last night was just a continuation of that. She’s performing at a really high level right now.”
The Starfires’ star-studded lineup performed well throughout the night and managed to finish in third place, just like they did last season.
“I am happy for all our regional qualifiers,” said Anderson. “To have such a small squad finish so high is a testament to the hard work these kids put forth. They do it so often, it’s an expectation of the program.”
This year’s 100 M hurdles race was an especially good one, with Brooklyn Bixler, the defending sectional champ, neck and neck with Marissa Van De Weg and Homestead’s Ryann Parrish. Bixler had the fastest time in the prelims, but Parrish edged her in the finals.
Van De Weg got her revenge in the 300 hurdles, though, winning the event ahead of Parrish and Bixler.
The three could finish in a totally different order next week in Marion. Sierra Schmidt continued to get better week after week with a new personal record in the discus to finish second behind Abby Zelt of Heritage, but she will need to be even better next week as the Northrop sectional will bring top-notch competition to the regional.
The regional will bring four sectionals together and be held at Indiana Wesleyan in Marion. The meet will begin at 6 p.m. Tuesday. A top-three finish is needed to guarantee a spot at the State Finals.