As many of you know, Indoor Track is an experience all of it’s own.With a large group of athletes competing in relatively close quarters it can be quite loud and distractions abound. Just as you start your jump or throw, it is not uncommon to have the entire crowd erupt into cheering or shouting for something ELSE going on in the facility. Keeping focus can be difficult. For runners, there is not only the shorter track to get used to (one lap is often just 200m) but there is also the feel of the bouncy surface and banked turns!

Also, given that there are very few opportunities to compete indoors for High School athletes, these meets draw competitors from all over the state and group competitors from the 1A through 6A divisions. This can make each meet like some sort of “State Meet”! Certainly challenging but also quite fun. This year’s meet had 45 teams entered.

We had a couple of athletes competing in last Saturday’s Magic City Invitational.
Senior, Ben Dailey certainly has his eyes towards the decathlon as he entered several events.

• In the Pole Vault he went 11′, equaling his indoor best from the end of last year.
• He also entered the 60m Hurdles where he advanced to the finals and finished just outside of the points with a 7th place time of 9.68. This bettered his mark of 10.11 from last season.
• He also set a new indoor mark for himself by entering the High Jump. His final height of 5’4″ was just 4″ below his outdoor PR!

Monrovia Middle School 8th grader Gabrielle Griner was also up to the challenge.
Facing a field of 15 High School girls in the Pole Vault, she passed the first two heights and came in at 7′ 6″, clearing it on her first jump. She then cleared 8′ on her first jump as well, locking in a 6th place point scoring finish in her first ever indoor meet!
She had three very close jumps at 8’6″, a mark that could very well fall at her next meet!

Congradulations and GO SENATORS!