Fatima's Haller regains state title in 3,200-meter run

Brianna Haller of Fatima crosses the finish line of the Class 3 3,200-meter run Friday in the state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium.
Brianna Haller of Fatima crosses the finish line of the Class 3 3,200-meter run Friday in the state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium.

Fatima junior Brianna Haller showed last year's result in the 3,200-meter run was only a minor setback.

After winning the event as a freshman and finishing second last season, Haller returned to the top of the podium Friday in the Class 3 state track and field championships at Adkins Stadium. She placed first in a time of 11:20.12.

"I wanted to get back my title after last year," Haller said.

Shortly before districts last season, Haller learned she had an iron deficiency, which slowed down her times a bit. She ran an 11:20 in the 3,200 at state two years ago, but dropped to 11:45 last year.

Friday's race quickly turned into a two-person battle between Haller and Warsaw's Ashlee Kuykendall. The two ran side by side way ahead of the pack until the final lap.

"On the last 800, we were kind of leap-frogging it," Haller said. "She would start to get ahead, and then I thought, 'Nope, I can't let her get ahead of me.'

"On the last 400, I realized if I want to get first, I have to push now."

Kuykendall fell behind Haller's pace with about 200 meters to go, finishing second in 11:22.49. The next runner didn't cross the finish line for another 19 seconds.

Fatima freshman Kendall Haller, Brianna's younger sister, finished sixth in 11:52.08. Even though Brianna Haller was out in front the entire race, big sister tried to keep an eye on her younger sibling as much as possible during the eight laps.

"I know I worried about her a couple of times," Brianna Haller said. "Our coaches say, 'Don't look back,' but I was curious as to where she was. I tried to listen for people telling her where she was at."

Brianna Haller, who won the Class 2 girls cross country individual championship in the fall, is also the top seed heading into today's 1,600-meter run, which is scheduled to begin at 12:15 p.m.

"That would be the ultimate goal," Brianna Haller said of the possibility of winning three individual state titles in one season. "But I know tomorrow it's going to be pretty tough because all of the girls are right there (with me)."

Through five events, the Fatima girls are atop the Class 3 team standings with 21 points. Hallsville is second with 12 points and Lincoln College Prep, Father Tolton, Cardinal Ritter and Bowling Green are tied for third with 10 points each.

The Haller sisters also closed the final two legs of the girls 4x800-meter relay for the Lady Comets, who finished second in the first race of the day in a time of 9:52.66. Katelyn Vanderfeltz and Alyssa Struemph ran the first two legs for Fatima.

"My freshman year, our anchor (runner) rolled her ankle the day before state, so we had to put in an alternate. Last year, we dropped the baton," Brianna Haller said. "This year, we finally had a successful race."

Bowling Green repeated as state champion, winning in a time of 9:51.64.

Blair Oaks, which held the lead through the first 800 meters of the race, finished third in 10:01.98. The Lady Falcons used the same four runners - seniors Taylor Scott and Rachel Isenberg, junior Emily Yaeger and sophomore Kayla Jones - as last year's eighth-place relay at state.

"We trained a lot and we were seeing our progress all throughout the year," Scott said. " I was leading off this year, so it was different than last year when I took a fall as anchor. But this year, being my senior year, I was all pumped up."

The Blair Oaks girls are tied for seventh with nine points, three of which were scored in the girls discus Friday.

The Tri-County Conference showed its dominance in the Class 3 girls discus, qualifying five for state from four schools. Four of the conference throwers reached the podium.

"We're all like a big family," said Blair Oaks sophomore Annette Peterson, who finished sixth with a personal-best throw of 122 feet, 9 inches. " We're competing against each other, but at the same time, it's like we're a team."

Hallsville's Hannah Ricketts finished third with a throw of 128-0 to lead the conference group. California had a duo reach the podium as well, with senior Cameron Meyer taking fourth at 125-5 and senior Audrey Pickering making all-state in seventh with her final throw of the day, which traveled 110-11. Eldon sophomore Haley Clifton was 11th at 108-2.

"I was happy with my throw," said Meyer, whose personal best in the discus is 128-1 when she finished third last year at state. " It definitely brought a big wave of relief over me because then I just knew that I could let it rip after that."

Meyer and Pickering will compete together one last time in the shot put, which starts at 3:30 p.m. today. Pickering is the two-time defending state champion in the event.

"To have her on the podium with me, hopefully we can do that in the shot put too," Meyer said.