Women's Track & Field

HART SHINES TO LEAD WARRIORS AT REGIONALS

HART SHINES TO LEAD WARRIORS AT REGIONALS
Posted: Feb 18, 2023

Storm Lake, IA – The Indian Hills Women's Track & Field squad placed fifth overall at the 2023 National Junior College Athletic Association (NJCAA) Region XI Indoor Track & Field Championship at Buena Vista University.

The Warriors earned six top-three finishes in the meet, including a first-place performance from freshman standout Jahzara Hart (Raleigh, NC/Southeast Raleigh). Indian Hills also saw impressive performances from Haleigh Hadley (Gilbert, IA/Gilbert) in the long jump, Adalin Robinson (Riverdale, MD/Eleanor Roosevelt) in the 400-meter dash, and the women's 4x400-meter relay squad.

"We had some really good individual performances this weekend," stated head coach Brent Ewing. "I was proud of Jahzara Hart – I know she really wanted the 60m title but felt short. That's traditionally been her best event this year, but she displayed a lot of grit by bouncing back and winning the 200 with a very impressive time."

Hart became the first-ever 200-meter region champ in school history with a time of 24.93. Hart's effort earned 10 team points as Indian Hills recorded three of the top four places in the 200m event. Hart was joined by Zaniya King's (Ecorse, MI/River Rouge) second-place showing and Shanice Cox's fourth-place finish.

"Zaniya had a monster 200m performance as well," Ewing added. "Both Jahzara and Zaniya's times convert to season best times and move them up on the national leaderboard. Shanice had a big weekend as well for us."

Prior to Saturday's performance, the Warriors had only recorded one fourth-place finish at the region championship in the 200m event in school history. The three Warriors to place earned 23 total team points to score for Indian Hills.

Along with Hart's performance in the 200m event, the freshman sprinter placed third overall in the women's 60-meter dash with a time of 7.60. Hart became just the third top-three finisher at the region championship in school history joining Kylar Brown (2021) and MyKedra Craig (2019).

Hadley tied her own school record in the women's high jump to place second overall at the region championship. Hadley cleared a height of 1.70-meters. Hadley has now medaled in each of the last two years after finishing third at last year's region championship.

The women's 4x400-meter relay squad placed second overall for the third consecutive year for the Warriors. This year's quarter, comprised of Robinson, Cox, Hart, and Jadashia Catlin (Palm Coast, FL/Matanzas) crossed the line with a time of 4:02.87 to finish nearly nine seconds ahead of the third-place team.

Robinson led a trio of runners in the women's 400-meter dash with a third-place finish. Robinson crossed the finish line with a time of 58.50 while Catlin placed fourth overall with a time of 1:01.72. Cheyenne McGhee (El Paso, TX/El Paso) posted a sixth-place showing with a time of 1:03.31.

"Probably the biggest goal of mine this weekend was to get Adalin qualified for nationals in the 400. To see her go out and make it happen was a great feeling. She's got a lof of momentum right now and has consistently been getting better each week."

Robinson's time is the second-fastest for a Warrior athlete at the region championship in school history, trailing only Aimaya Robinson's time of 57.84 in 2022. The Warriors have now posted a top-three individual finish in four of the last five years.

The Warriors will now turn their attention to the 2023 NJCAA Indoor Track & Field National Championship  March 3-4 in Topeka, KS at the Washburn University Indoor Facility.