Adriene Shaevitz spends a lot of time off her feet.
During the fall, there’s all that jumping as an outside hitter for the Bloomington South volleyball team. Then in the winter and spring, the junior is seeing how far she can leap in the long jump and how fast she can clear 10 hurdles spaced over 100 meters. Her speed is also a big asset to the 400 relay team.
She’ll be a handy asset for the Panthers at Tuesday’s Bloomington North track sectional, having made the decision to devote more time to her craft instead of playing club volleyball this year. That extra focus and the ability to put in more work without having to worry about tired legs has led to big things.
“She has had a really great season and was focused and sort of has turned the corner on training,” South coach Jill Rensink said. “She had the ability to really be coachable and it’s paying off in a good way.
“She’s really been big on learning and soaking up and being a sponge for information and technique.”
Going into the postseason, it’s a matter of maximizing her potential for scoring points at state. South has three top-notch athletes going well over 16 feet in the long jump with juniors Violet Hall (top seed in the 200 dash and long jump and a 5-2 high jumper) and Helena Cutshall (No. 2 seed in the 100), who is improving daily after surgery to repair a torn ACL early in the soccer season.
All three are definite options for the top-seeded 400 relay, the only area team under 50 seconds this season. Shaevitz is the leadoff, strong out of the blocks, naturally, and a strong runner on the curve.
Hurdles breakthrough for Shaevitz
Shaevitz made it to regionals last year in the 100 hurdles but couldn’t match her times from sectional. The work she put in this year led to a big race in late April at home, going 15.11 to break the school record 15.3 set by Chloe Rolen, now a heptathlete at Indiana State.
She did that one better and then some a week later at the Edgewood Invitational, flying to a 14.71, a time that would have medaled at state last year. A clipped hurdle late cost her in the Conference Indiana finals (second in 15.09) but a week later, she finished in 14.94 at the North Twilight Meet.
The record races were jaw-dropping but also predictable.
“We saw it coming,” Rensink said. “She had a couple of races where she was close but not really clean over the hurdles. All of a sudden, you get a clean race, it changes everything. I wouldn’t be surprised if she breaks it again. That’s a big jump but it’ll be nice to see what she can do with a lot of competition.”
The top three in last year’s regional race are all Division I athletes now. At least two others, from South Ripley and Columbus North, have been sub-15 this year as potential regional competitors.
The improvement in the hurdles is due to more consistency and dedication in practice.
“She’s working hard on the hard days and getting out of her comfort zone,” Rensink said. “She’s embracing harder workouts. She made the decision this is what she wants to do and wants to get better at it. She wants to learn.”
Jumping of all sorts runs in the family.
Her older brother Alex, a basketball standout, decided to give track (and football) a try as a senior and was good enough at high jump (making state) and long jump to get a chance to compete with the Franklin College squad after his hoops season with the Grizzlies was over.
“They are pretty different,” Rensink said. “Hurdling is her forte. She has a lot of natural speed and natural ability in that area. So it was sort of an easy transition into long jump. She’s our third or fourth best 200 runner and in the top four in the 100.”
High jump she tried once this year. As for the 300 hurdles, Shaevitz gave them a run as a freshman and wasn’t enjoying them. But with her improving 200 speed, it’s something she might be looking at next year. Rensink is hoping she’ll jump at the chance.
North Sectional: What to know
Competing teams include Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Edgewood, Eastern Greene, Lighthouse Christian, Owen Valley, Bloomfield, Brown County, Clay City, Cloverdale, Eminence, Linton, Martinsville, Shakamak and White River Valley. The meet will begin at 5:30 p.m.
The Panthers, looking for their first sectional team title since 2018, will have nine No. 1 seeds, including all three relays, while Edgewood has three and North two.
The top three in each event and anyone else who meets the state standard automatically advance to regional. The field will be filled out to 16 in each event with the top four remaining results from the sectionals at North, Columbus North, Madison and Seymour.
BLOOMINGTON NORTH SECTIONAL
Top area seeds (state standard in parenthesis)
100 (12.24): 1. Macey Crider, Edg, 12.65; 2. Helena Cutshall, BS 12.88; 3. Layla Wolff, M 12.99; 4. Daisy Rogers, BN 13.05; 5. Ember Howell, WRV 13.10; 6. Alaina Bunnell, BS 13.15; 7. Kayla Bush, M 13.31; 8. Rilynn Williams, BN 13.36.
200 (25.34): 1. Violet Hall, BS 25.40; 2. Crider, Edg, 26.96; 3. Rogers, BN 27.24; 4. Jossilyn Draughn, BN 27.58; 5. Emily Fluke, M 27.70; 6. Leanna Hash, BC 27.87; 8. Maya Jackson, BS 28.07.
400 (57.44): 1. Lucah Feagans, BN 1:00.44; 2. Jackson, BS 1:01.78; 3. Avery Rayl, Edg 1:01.94; 4. Emma Rice, BN 1:02.13; 5. Asyria Ford, Clv, 1:02.50; 6. Kaitlyn Spurgeon, M, 1:03.06; 7. Daniela Albarranoroza, Edg, 1:04.06; 8. Addison Mayle, OV 1:04.43.
800 (2:14.68): 1. Ellie Barada, BS 2:06.24; 2. Mary Asplund, BS 2:15.52; 3. Lilyanna Blais, EG 2:24.70; 4. Ellie Vagedes, Edg 2:24.99; 5. Hayden McGuire, BN 2:25.59; 6. Ellie Patrick, BN 2:28.20.
1,600 (4:58.87): 1. Lexi Kollbaum, BS 4:54.28; 2. Hannah Crain, Edg 5:08.27; 3. Blais, EG 5:11.48; 4. Lilah Reed, BN 5:21.99; 5. Kate Linneweber, WRV 5:32.33; 6. Julienne Hoover, BS 5:25.37; 7. Maggie McCormick, Edg 5:37.30; 8. Payton Lukowski, OV 5:40.04. Laura Barco, M, NT.
3,200 (10:47.57): 1. Aurelia Martoglio, BS 10:48.05; 2. Crain, Edg 11:02.07; 3. Jasmine Martoglio, BS 11:03.56; 4. Hope Cooper, BN 11:30.18; 5. Esther Crane, EG 11:33.25; 6. Ruth Bartlett, BN 11:49.54; 7. Avi Grille, Edg 12:06.75; 8. Lukowski, OV 12:39.52. Barco, M NT.
100 hurdles (14.81): 1. Adriene Shaevitz, BS 14.71; 2. Rayna Nelson, BN 17.20; 3. Erin Rubeck, Clv 17.30; 4. Khaliya Francke-Council, Edg 17.54; 5. Sophia Winkle, BN 17.73; 6. Kyleigh Grimes, BC 17.79; 7. Daeyana Nguyen, BS 17.89.
300 hurdles (45.44): 1. Kelsey Davis, Edg 49.24; 2. Clara Hawk, EG 49.61; 3. Erin Rubeck, Clv 50.32; 4. Emma Peterson, M 50.62; 5. Danielle Yang, BS 51.68; 8. Franke-Council, Edg 52.04.
400 relay (48.41): 1. Bloomington South 49.77; 2. Martinsville 50.81; 3. Bloomington North 50.93; 4. Edgewood 52.33; 5. Linton 53.85; 8. Owen Valley 55.51.
1,600 relay (3:58.35): 1. Bloomington South 3:59.01; 2. Bloomington North 4:08.72; 3. Martinsville 4:!5.87; 4. Edgewood 4:23.45; 5. White River Valley 4:26.45; 6. Brown County 4:26.73; 8. Owen Valley 4:31.31.
3,200 relay (9:23.63): 1. Bloomington South 9:15.90; 2. Bloomington North 9:48.22; 3. Edgewood 10:19.01; 4. Martinsville 10:20.92; 5. Owen Valley 10:24.43; 7. Eastern Greene 11:07.60.
High jump (5-4): T1. Kenli Sullivan, BN 5-2; Hall, BS 5-2; T3. Libby Hostetter, WRV 5-1; Mallori Bettenbrock, CC 5-1; T5. Kena Maddox, EG; Charly Eddins, BC; Maggie Feltner, Daeyana Nguyen, BS 4-10.
Long jump (18-0¼): 1. Hall, BS 17-4; 2. Shaevitz, BS 16-11¼; 3. Fluke, M 16-6½; 4. Rogers, BN 16-3; 5. Wolff, M 16-0; 6. Rubeck, Clv 15-6; 7. Nelson, BN 15-5; 8. Davis, Edg 15-4¾.
Shot put (42-9¼): 1. Becca Robbins, L 39-7½; 2. Anna Barnes, BS 36-11½; 3. Ava Norton, Edg 33-6½; 4. Aubri Burkett, OV 33-0; 5. Ella Green, BN 32-4¼; 6. Aliyah Samm, Shk, 30-6¼.
Discus (127-3): 1. Robbins, L 142-5; 2. Barnes, BS 124-10; 3. Mikayla Prater, Edg 109-3; 4. Norton, Edg 98-9; 5. Emma Hyatt, CC 97-11; 6. Liliam Waldrep, BS 96-6; 7. Burkett, OV 86-8½.
Pole vault (11-3): 1. Ella LaRoche, Edg 10-0; T2. Emeleia McLauchlin, BS 9-0; Samm, Shk, 9-0; T4. Deliliah Kilbride, Edg; Kady Eichhorst, L; Anya Figert, BS 8-0; 7. Maddox, EG 7-0..
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Bloomington South track: Hurdles record big leap for Adriene Shaevitz
