JOHN CURTIS - Daily Union Sports Editor
A quartet of Shelby Area girls finished in the Top Ten at the Top Times preseason track meet held at EIU on Saturday.
Shelby Jackson, Central A&M; senior, had the best finish of area athletes pitching the shot put 35 feet, 10 inches, good enough for second place in Class A. Senior teammate Lauren Adcock of Central A&M; had the next best showing, placing fifth in the Class A 200 meters with a time of 27.81 seconds.
Katelyn Duckett, Shelbyville senior had a seventh place finish in the Class A mile, running a 5:38.74. The fourth area athlete to crack the Top Ten was sophomore Breeanna Strauch of Cowden-Herrick, placing tenth in the 55 meter hurdles, also cracking ten seconds (9.97).
Three of the girls also finished high enough to score points for their teams. Jackson and Adcock combined to give Central A&M; 12 points and a 30th place finish as a team in Class A. The only team in the greater Decatur Area to finish higher than A&M; was Argenta-Oreana, which finished 22nd (18 points).
Duckett scored two points for Shelbyville with her finish. Shelbyville finished 61st as a team. Strauch's finish kept her out of the finals and didn't get the Hornets any points. There was another Shelby area team that had Top 20 finishes, but no team points.
Neoga had a 12th place finish from Erin Walk in the high jump, clearing 4-10. Taylor Walk of Neoga had a 14th place finish in the triple jump (29 feet, 1.5 inches). Ashley Deters finshed 16th in the 800 meters (2:43.03).
Teammate Courtney Cornell had a 17th place finish in the 1600 meters (5:52.60). Two other teammates also had 17th place finishes. Ashley Pruemer was 17th in the 55 meter hurdles (10.27) and Emma Baker was 17th in the quarter (1:08.39). Amanda Baker also finish in the Top 20, scoring 19th place in the high jump, clearing 4-8.
Neoga also had a tenth place finish in the 4x200 relay (1:57.97) and an 11th place finish in the 4x8 relay.
*Watch for web updates and the Daily Union print edition for the complete story, all area girls' stats, and photos.
