These Evansville-area high school track and field girls are headed to state

EVANSVILLE, Ind —   All Madison Farmer needed was just three more inches in her shot put.

It separated her between a state finals appearance in Indianapolis and her junior season at Harrison coming to an end.

But she fell short.

Farmer placed fourth in shot put in last year's regional and also had a fifth-place finish for discus in the same meet. Her senior season at Harrison is ending on a little bit of a happier note, though.

Farmer finally got her redemption in shot put as well as discus at Central Stadium on Tuesday night,

She had a lesser distance in her shot put this year with a 37-foot-1 inch toss, but she threw for six more feet in her discus than in the previous regional. She took third for shot put and second for discus.

Farmer felt relieved once she learned she was going to state, something she's been training to achieve for years.

"I was super excited about discus, but I knew that I still had to put some more work in for shot (put), so I didn't get too excited," Farmer said.

Farmer may have advanced, but according to Harrison coach Larry Rollins, her job is still not finished. The goal is to medal at Bloomington.

"I'm happy with the progress that she's made," Rollins said. "But at the same time, now we're on to being able to get up and get on the podium."

Rollins credited the extra work that Farmer put into her training this year as the main difference in going to state. Farmer realized she had the potential to be a state finalist and started to work even harder to achieve that goal.

"Just that little salt in the wound (from not making state last year) added fuel to the fire," Rollins said.

Bosse's Alexia Smith breaks another meet record, advances to state in two events

Alexia Smith continues to amaze.

A week after the Bosse junior broke a sectional record in the 400-meter dash, she set the regional record with a time of 56.49 seconds. She also won long jump with a distance of 18 feet, 1 inch.

Her time improved from last week to this week in the 400, but Smith said she can be even better. She was even more excited for her teammate, Gerilon Kelly, advancing to state with her by winning the 200-meter dash.

"We push each other every single day," Smith said. "So I'm not surprised that she won today."

Like Smith, Kelly also had impressive showings on the track over the last few weeks.

She placed third in the City meet for the 200 and also had a second-place finish for the 100 in the same meet.

Kelly herself was surprised that she was going to state for the 200.

"It felt good," she said of her win. "I'm glad that we're going to state."

Memorial's Jacqueline Brasseale goes to state for the final time

Memorial coach Brandon Artis was happy that Brasseale punched her ticket to Bloomington for the 1,600 and 3,200-meter runs. Yet, because of injuries she's been battling, Artis' goal for Brasseale is to compete but not to be pushed too hard.

"She deserves it," Artis said of Brasseale advancing to state. "She works harder than anybody I know. And we're just proud of her."

The first time Brasseale advanced to state was her freshman year. She ran on Memorial's 4x400 and 4x800 meter relay teams, and the Tigers finished ninth and seventh, respectively, in Bloomington.

"I'm so grateful for the upperclassmen who made my freshman year so much fun," Brasseale said of the experience. "It definitely spurred my love for running."

Brasseale went to state again last year and finished in eighth place for the 1,600-meter run. Now in her senior year, Brasseale is thankful she's advancing for the third time.

Memorial will miss Brasseale as she prepares for her final meet. He will also miss the amount of preparation that Brasseale puts into her meets and how her mentality and mindset motivate her fellow teammates.

"We will miss her a lot because she's our leader," Artis said. "She's just really involved and her family is just really involved in our program. She leads by example. I don't know what I'm going to do next year without her."

"Each and every girl on the team has made this season so much fun," Brasseale added. "I'm so grateful for all the lessons that Memorial has taught me."

Courier & Press sports reporter Treasure Washington can be reached via her email, treasure.washington@courierpress.com, and on Twitter @Twashington490.

CENTRAL GIRLS TRACK REGIONAL

Team: Floyd Central 86.33, New Albany 70, Forest Park 43, Bosse 40, Castle 34, North 29, Reitz 28, Heritage Hills 27, South Knox 20, Signature 19,Gibson Southern 18, Memorial 18, Princeton 18, Tecumseh 17, Barr Reeve 17, Corydon Central 16, Harrison 14, Mt. Vernon 13.33, Jasper 13, Central 10, Wood Memorial 10, Pike Central 9, Boonville 8, Mater Dei 8, North Posey 8, Northeast Dubois 7, Providence 6, Vincennes Lincoln 5.33, Perry Central 5, Tell City 4, Rivet 2, Southridge 1

Individual winners

100: Amaya Royal (Castle) 12.42

200: Gerilon Kelly (Bosse) 25.55

400: Alexia Smith (Bosse) 56.49*

800: Savanna Liddle (Floyd Central) 2:20.21

1,600: Jaydon Cirincione (Floyd Central) 5:00.28*

3,200: Jaydon Cirncione (Floyd Central) 11:06.29

100 hurdles: Rachel Mehringer (Forest Park) 14.90

300 hurdles: Rachel Mehringer (Forest Park) 45.72

4x100 relay: North 49.51

4x400 relay: Reitz 4:09.51

4x800 relay: Floyd Central 9:30.82

High jump: Josie Page (Wood Memorial) 5-06

Pole vault: Reece Davis (Floyd Central) 11-03

Long jump: Alexia Smith (Bosse) 18-01

Shot put: Amelia Tandy (New Albany) 37-09

Discus: Hannah West (Mt. Vernon) 117-03

*-new meet record

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: These IHSAA Evansville-area track and field girls are headed to state