Northview's Allie True smashed per previous personal best in the 3,200 meters to qualify for the Evansville Central Regional [Click to enlarge]

Times Sports Editor

TERRE HAUTE -- Plenty of things went as expected at Tuesday's Terre Haute North Girls' track sectional.

Clay City's Rachael Narlock placed fourth to qualify in the high jump. [Click to enlarge]

The host team won its seventh straight championship with an impressive 174 points and both North Central (Farmersburg) sophomore Shelby Higginbottom and the Patriots' Amy Hamilton had big meets.

What came as a bit of a disappointment, at least for the Knights, is that they allowed a potential second-place team finish get away from them.

"We thought we could be second," said coach Ryand Tucker. "But Terre Haute South has a lot of great individuals and that helps out a lot in meets like these."

Northview did place third overall with 69 points, but there were several reasons to smile for both Clay City and the Knights.

Samantha Solomon came in to the meet seeded first in the discus and took care of business by winning the event with a throw of 111-4 ½.

"Sam did what she had to do tonight," commented Tucker on his rising sophomore thrower. "Her throw of 111 (feet) was pretty close to her personal record."

Maybe the effort that brought the biggest smiles came from one Allie True.

The junior distance runner has been battling with the 13-minute barrier in the 3,200 meters her entire three-year career for the Knights. In one of the biggest meets of her career, she broke it.

Shattered it might be a better description.

True ran to a 12:45.93, more than 20 seconds better than her personal best on the way to a third place finish and a berth in the Evansville Central Regional.

"I knew Allie was capable of that," said Tucker. "She's been working on that 13-minute barrier for quite awhile and she finally got it. Actually she really got it," said the coach with a smile.

Clay City coach Michael Owens was equally happy with his regional qualifiers, Andrea Ladd and Rachael Narlock.

Small school sprinters made a king size splash in the big sectional pool on Tuesday.

With Higginbottom, from single-A North Central, upholding her goal of winning the 100, 200 and 400 meters along with the long jump. The Eels' Ladd came through with a third place finishes in both the 100 and 200 meters to advance to the regional.

"Andrea has ran well all year long," said Owens of his senior. "It's hard to advance in sprints as a small school, but I think this just shows you how good (Higginbottom and Ladd) are. Andrea has been very consistent this year."

Ladd actually lined up next to Higginbottom (the top seed) in the 100 meters, which Moore believed helped Ladd's finish.

"I think it was beneficial for Andrea to run next to (Higginbottom). I think it probably pushed her," said Owens.

Narlock will make the trip to the regional in the high jump, tying for fourth place by clearing 4-10. Northview's Shandi Travis placed third, also clearing 4-10, but with fewer misses.

"I'm really happy for Rachael and Andrea," commented Moore. "I think this will be Rachael's fourth straight trip to the regional."

Northview's younger classes also performed well with freshman Annie Smiley placing second in the pole vault by clearing 8-0, the same height as the winner, Amber Wilcox of Terre Haute North.

She was also a member of the 4x100 relay team with Carlee Bell, Elle Kleiber and Sara Niehaus that placed third and will advance.

Northview's 4x800 relay team moves on as well with True teaming with Kylee Thacker, CJ Barnett and sophomore Shelby Sands for a third place.

Sands could be considered the hard luck athlete of the night, missing out on regional qualification by one spot in the 1,600 and by two spots in the 800.

Barnett moves on with her fourth place in the 1,600 meters, one of four events won by the Patriots' Hamilton.

The North senior won the 800, 1,600, 3,200 and was part of the winning 4x800 relay team for the Patriots.

Qualifiers advance to Tuesday's Evansville Central Regional beginning at 5:30 p.m. central time. Participants from the Mt. Vernon, Perry Central and Princeton Sectionals will also participate.

Readers are encouraged to comment on this story at www.thebraziltimes.com.

Terre Haute North Girls Track Sectional

Team Scores: T.H. North 174, T.H. South 101, Northview 69, Sullivan 67, West Vigo 63, Linton-Stockton 50.5, North Central (Farmersburg) 45, Clay City 27.5, Shakamak 18, S.Vermillion 6

Individual results

Top-4 advance to regional

3,200 R -- T.H. North, 10:22.54, 2. Sullivan 10:53.08, 3. Northview, 10:55.44, 4. West Vigo, 11:03.49, 5. T.H. South 11:11.66

100 -- 1. Higginbottom (NC) 13.11, 2. Burkins (THN) 13.52, 3. Ladd (CC) 13.53, 4. Dorsett (THN) 13.58, 5. Exline (SL) 13.95

100 H -- 1. Steppe (THS) 16.85, 2. Bradford (SL) 17.20, 3. Andis (Ln) 17.34, 4. Solomon (WV) 17.49, 5. Wilkey (THN) 17.54

200 -- 1. Higginbottom (NC) 26.39, 2. Burkins (THN) 27.54, 3. Ladd (CC) 27.63, 4. Vaeth (THS) 28.12, 5. Clark (WVV) 28.63

1,600 -- 1. Hamilton (THN) 5:19.69, 2. Porter (WV) 5:51.15, 3. Samson (THS) 5:52.86, 4. Barnett (Nv) 5:55.44, 5. Sands (Nv) 6:01.05

400 R -- 1. T.H. North, 51.72, 2. Sullivan, 52.31, 3. Northview, 52.70, 4. T.H. South, 53.17, 5. Linton-Stockton, 53.97

3,200 -- 1. Hamilton (THN) 11:53.78, 2. Jones (THN) 12:21.38, 3. True (Nv) 12:45.93, 4. Samson (THS) 12:53.81, 5. Porter (Wv) 13:26.34

800 -- 1. Hamilton (THN) 2:23.93, 2. Jones (THN) 2:29.35, 3. Thompson (SL) 2:34.27, 4. Samson (THS) 2:38.39, 5. Beard (Ln) 2:40.86, 5. Sands (Nv) 2:41.56

300 H -- 1. Steppe (THS) 48.32, 2. Bradford (SL) 50.08, 3. Wilkey (THN) 50.26, 4. Solomon (WV) 50.99, 5. Andis (Ln) 51.18

400 -- 1. Higginbottom (NC) 58.40, 2. Sanders (WV) 1:00.38, 3. Vaeth (THS) 1:01.78, 4. Green (Sh) 1:03.78, 5. Reed (THN) 1:03.84

1,600 R -- 1. T.H. South, 4:12.86, 2. West Vigo, 4:16.52, 3. T.H. North, 4:20.14, 4. Sullivan, 4:24.83, 5. Clay City, 4:28.83

LJ -- 1. Higginbottom (NC) 17-0 ¾, 2. Dorsett (THN) 16-7 ½, 3. Coutinho (THS) 15-6 ½, 4. Sanders (WV) 15-2, 5. Beard (Ln) 14-9 ¾

HJ -- 1. Liebler (THN) 5-0, 2. Shaffer (THN) 5-0, 3. Travis (Nv) 4-10, 4. Beard (Ln) 4-10, 4. Narlock (CC) 4-10

Discus -- 1. Solomon (Nv) 111-4 ½, 2. Bond (SL) 99-5 ½, 3. Bell (THS) 88-10 ½, 4. Reardon (SV) 88-6 ½, 5. Adams (THN) 83-4 ½

SP -- 1. Bell (THS) 37-1 1/2, 2. Rosselli (THN) 35-0 ½, 3. Sears (Ln) 34-4, 4. Adams (THN) 33-2, 5. Solomon (Nv) 32-7 ½

PV -- 1. Wilcox (THN) 8-0, 2. Smiley (Nv) 8-0, 3. Hunt (WV) 8-0, 4. Hasbrouck (THN) 7-6, 5. Hauger (SL) 7-0