On the heels of their boys winning the Madison County Championship, the Anderson track and field teams honored their seniors Tuesday evening ahead of a triangular meet with Yorktown and North Central Conference rival Marion.
One by one, the 10 seniors on the boys team were introduced and each declared their favorite memory had occurred just four days prior when the team won their first county title since 2017.
It was also a time for the girls team, which has just one senior and placed second at the county meet, to look ahead at what it could accomplish. And they had to look no further than to their male counterparts for inspiration.
“It was a great time, it made me feel like I want to be there and I want to achieve that my senior year,” junior hurdler Cambre’Anna Austin said. “It makes want to push harder to get there.
“I feel good, I feel like I’m going to continue to PR and get better.”
She remarked that many underclassmen have adopted leadership roles for the Tribe as well, but the seniors have shown them the way.
“We do have a lot of juniors who lead, but our seniors are people we can look up to,” Austin said.
One who has led by example with blinding speed has been Zarion Turner, who repeated his county meet accomplishments Tuesday with wins in the 100-meter and 200-meter dash events.
Tuesday’s three-team meet was part of a busy eight day stretch that started last Friday at Madison-Grant and concludes this Saturday in Indianapolis at the Pike Invitational. That will prove to be a testing ground for athletes like Turner, who are looking for postseason advancement later in the year.
“I’m feeling pretty good, I eased up a little in the 100 because I don’t want to pull anything since we have Pike (Saturday),” he said. “Gonna see them big boys like Ben Davis. I’m not going to give up, I’m going to keep on trying.”
Turner, who recently decided to continue his track and field career next year at St. Francis, added a third victory in the 400-meter relay, running along with Trenten Coles, William Davis, and Collin Lewis.
The lone remaining win for Anderson came in the long jump when junior Jahlon Brown recorded a distance of 19-feet-5, edging his junior teammate Quentin Collier by six inches.
Brown also recorded third-place finishes in the 400-meter dash and the high jump and both enjoy pushing one another as they look to be stronger in competition.
“Q just pushes me. I just saw him jump a 21-7 (at county) and that just pushes me to try to beat him,” Brown said. “Tonight was an off day, I only jumped 19-5 today, but I’ll keep pushing.”
Collier, who was County runner-up in the 200 and the long jump, said the success has boosted the team’s confidence as the season shifts into high gear in May.
“I feel very confident,” he said. “I feel like, if we keep working hard, we can place really well.”
Anderson seniors honored were Kaleb Dean, Jayvin Campbell, William Davis, Laniyah Miller, Colton Fetty, Cooper King, Lewis, Elijah Schmitz, Kyin Stanley, Franky Tejeda, and Turner.
“It’s sad, I’m going to miss everybody,” Turner said. “When I was walking out, everyone was saying how much they were going to miss me and I’m going to miss the coaches.”
Anderson’s track teams will return to competition Saturday – along with Pendleton Heights – at the Indianapolis Pike Invitational.
This article appeared in The Herald Bulletin.