Tell City girls strong in throws, distance races

TELL CITY - Despite a lack of numbers, Tell City girls track coach Katie Chinn hopes her team's strength in the throws and distance races will offset a lack of experienced sprinters.

The Marksmen have 16 girls on their roster, one more than last year but three fewer than the previous year.

"We'll probably be strongest in the throws and distance events," said Chinn, in her first year as head coach after serving as assistant coach the last two years.

She noted the Marksmen have their top three throwers back from last year, though "Dana (Sibrel) and Katie (Kalin) kind of got a late start because their basketball season went so long (the basketball Marksmen won their sectional)."

Sibrel won the discus in the 11-team Perry Central sectional last year with a 110-foot-4 throw. She placed second in the shot put.

Junior Julie Davis, another returning thrower, also qualified for the regional by placing fourth in the shot put at the sectional last year.

And this spring she has thrown the discus "over 100 feet in practice," said Chinn.

The Marksmen did not have any runners qualify for the regional last year, as one of their top ones, Elizabeth Kohnert, missed the sectional with an injury.

But Chinn thinks Kohnert and some of her distance runners have a chance to advance this year.

Sidney Strobel, Tiffany Davis and Marianne Krueger helped the Marksmen qualify for the cross country semistate last fall and will anchor the distance races, though Strobel and Krueger will also run some other events.

Strobel, a freshman, wants to run the 400-meter dash and take a shot at the school record held by her stepmother, Kim Strobel (then Sabelhaus) since 1989.

Strobel will also run the 800 and Davis and Krueger will run it at times.

Davis and Krueger "will probably be the top two" in the 1600 and 3200, said Chinn.

She said Strobel may also run the 1600 occasionally, though it may be difficult for her to run it and the 400 in the same meet because there is only one event between them.

Kohnert may run the 400 "when she doesn't do the 200," said Chinn. Brittany Waninger and Natalie Cole are other candidates there.

Running the 100 will be "mostly freshmen," said Chinn, listing Katie Elder and Katie Ernst and foreign exchange student Anita van Munster as the top candidates.

All three are inexperienced in that race, so "it's going to be a huge learning game," said Chinn.

Kohnert returns in the high jump after clearing 5 feet, 1 inch last year.

Kohnert, Krueger and Cole will man the long jump.

Freshman Laura Denoncour and senior Katie Bryant, who missed much of last season with a stress fracture, will man both hurdles races.

Elder also wants to try the 300 hurdles and Krueger could run them at times. "I could put Marianne in almost anything," said Chinn. "I was looking at who our top two people were in each event last year and she was listed in eight events."

Strobel, Davis, Krueger and either Andyn Rowe or Kohnert will run the 3200 relay.

Cole, Kohnert, Strobel and either Krueger, Davis or Denoncour are slated to run the 1600 relay.

Three Katies - Bryant, Elder and Ernst - will be joined by van Munster in the 400 relay.

With the Marksmen's lack of depth, "I think bigger meets will help us more than dual meets," said Chinn.

The Marksmen finished fourth in the eight-team PAC meet last year (there are nine teams in it this year) and "it would be nice to be in the top half of the field again," said Chinn.

"It's the same kind of thing" in the sectional, she said. "The distances were so tough last year, but hopefully we'll get some people out (to the regional) this year."