The indoor track at Portage High School looked like a scene from the "Fast & Furious" as track teams from Portage and Chesterton did their best to qualify for the IATCCC Indoor State Finals this weekend at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion, Indiana. In the past, the IATCCC had time/height/length requirements that athletes had to hit in order to qualify for the state finals. As the meet has grown, meet organizers decided to "up the ante" and made qualifying more difficult. To qualify this year, you and/or your relay team must be ranked in the Top 24 in that particular event which will make the meet very competitive. The Tuesday March 12th meet between Chesterton and Portage was the last night to qualify, so the coaches and athletes had to lay it all on the line in hopes of qualifying or improving their seeding at the state meet.
The Portage Boys had a great night on the track. Their 4 x 200 team clocked in a time of 1:32.72 which will be the 3rd fastest time in the state going into the meet. The 4 x 400 relay team ran a time of 3:28.94 which will also seed them 3rd this Saturday.
The Portage Girls also had a very successful night. The 4 x 200 team of Shakiea Boyd, Arissa Salas, Rochelle Stubblefield, and Jade McKnight clocked in a time of 1:51.12 which put them in the meet with the 20th seeded time in the state. The 4000 Meter Distance Medley team of Paige Pizer, Keanna Crum, Tori Ostrander, and Kyra Ball also qualified by posting the 16th fastest time in the state finishing their race in 13:21.62. With her throw of 36"-6.5' Junior Tara Kostelnik grabbed the 19th position in the state in the shot put. Shakiea Boyd posted a time of 9.15 in the 55 Meter Hurdles which qualified her in the 17th position in that event. Western Michigan signee Jade McKnight will lead the Lady Indians into the State Finals as she will be ranked 5th in the long jump with her jump of 17"-5.5'. Jade also qualified in the 55 Meter dash with a time of 7.52, which gets her in the meet as the 24th fastest time in the state.
The finals will begin at 7am (Region Time) on Saturday March 16th. You can check the IATCCC website for information. Results will be posted on DirectAthletics.com after the conclusion of the meet. The meet will also be streamed live at IndianaRunner.com starting at 6:45am.