Photo by Travis David | Shakamak's Ema Janouskova (left) and Elayni Stone battle for positioning during the 800-meter run on Friday at the Keith Jones Invite. Janouskova placed second in the event with Stone close behind. Both helped the Lady Lakers to a second-place finish in the team standings.

BY TRAVIS DAVID

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CLAY CITY — Despite having one of the smallest teams in the field, the Shakamak girls track and field team put up big numbers during the annual Keith Jones Track and Field Invitational Friday night.

The Lady Lakers totaled 116 points to claim second place behind Southwestern Indiana Athletic Conference rival Linton-Stockton.

Short-handed North Knox placed fifth in the field of eight teams, while the Ladybirds placed seventh.

In the boys’ meet, Eastern Greene ran away from the hosts to claim the team title, while the Warriors placed fifth, Lakers sixth and T-Birds eighth. 

For the Lady Lakers, the meet was highlighted by a record-breaking performance by the 3,200-meter relay team. The quartet of Elayni Stone, Ema Janouskova, Aubree Langford and Isla Kaufman posted a winning time of 10 minutes, 45.87 seconds. Not only did the team dominate the field, winning by more than a minute of second-place Linton, the Lakers’ quartet also shattered the school record in the event by over 18 seconds.

Stone accounted for the only individual blue ribbon for the Lakers. The junior overtook Eastern Greene’s Lilyanna Blais in the final 15 meters to claim the 400 with a time of 1:04.15.

Stone also placed second in the long jump with a top leap of 15 feet, 1.5 inches and was third in the 800 with a time of 2:41.32.

Janouskova also had a big night for the Lakers. The vibrant foreign exchange student set a personal record in the high jump and placed 4th by clearing 4-10. Janouskova also placed second in the 800 with a time of 2:39.85 and finished the meet by posting another personal record in the two-mile with a time of 14:06.60 which was good for 3rd. 

Kolette Slough earned a red ribbon by placing second in the pole vault. The senior cleared 7-0.

Brayln Calvert was third for the Lakers in the 300 hurdles with a time of 54.45 while freshman Brylee Faulk was fourth in the 200 with a time of 29.24.

The top individual performance of the night went to North Central’s Kathryn Ison. The Indiana State University signee picked up a trio of blue ribbons in addition to sixth in a fourth event. Ison tallied 33 of the Ladybirds’ 36 points for the meet.

The senior swept both hurdle events, winning the 100h with a time of 15.75 and dominated the field in the 300h with a time of 48.99. In the long jump, Ison had a best leap of 16-06.5, winning by nearly 18 inches. She capped her night by clearing 4-10 in the high jump which was good for sixth.

The Lady Warriors were paced by Briley Utt in the throws. Utt came away with a second-place finish in the shot with a top heave of 30-10. Teammate Alyssa Chattin placed fourth in the event with a mark of 28-11. Utt also tossed the discus 95-04 which was good for third place. The senior’s top mark was nearly 12 feet better than her seed mark.

Rorri Bottum placed fourth in the 3,200 with a time of 14:28.58, while Jade Ritcher cleared 4-10 to place fifth in the high jump.

Injuries prevented the Lady Warriors from competing at full strength.

On the boys side, Carlon Armes was the Warriors’ top individual performer. Armes cleared 9-0 in the pole vault to claim third place.

Austin Jones (9.25) and RJ Kaetzle (9) combined for 18.25 points for the Warriors. Jones placed fourth in the high jump (5-04) and seventh in the 800 (2:20.73). Jones also ran on a pair of relay teams for the Warriors.

Kaetzel was fourth in the 200 with a time of 24.05 and was seventh in the 100 (12.03) in addition to placing in a pair of relays.

Spencer Dean and Rayden Rehmel paced the Lakers with a pair of third-place finishes. Dean earned third place in the long jump with a top leap of 18-07.5. Dean was also fifth in the 100 with a time of 11.98.

Rehmel battled stomach issues to place third in the 3,200 with a time of 11:12.77. Despite not feeling 100 percent, Rehmel still managed a time that was five seconds faster than his seeded time. 

Competing in the pole vault for the first time, Aidan Barber finished fifth by clearing 7-06. The Laker freshman only had two days of practice in the event and cleared the opening mark in his second attempt. 

Jacob Miller was the T-Birds’ top performer, placing fifth in the 400 with a time of 59.27.