KNOX - As weather tempted to call off the final run of the Hoosier North Athletic Conference Girls Track and Field Championships, mother nature called a halt to the threatening skies in exchange for some fireworks. Knox High School was the site of the 2024 edition of the final curtain for both Knox and LaVille. Following this school year, the Redskins and Lancers will join Bremen, Glenn, Jimtown, and Tippecanoe Valley to form the Indiana Northern State Conference. Behind 10 individual and relay titles, Pioneer proved why it was the top team, winning the title with 157 points. "We ran a few teams earlier in the season, each team had some great athletes, but Pioneer was the most dominant force," said LaVille coach Erin Ecker.  "They had a few girls that could win 2-3 events and that is hard to compete with." Panther stars Keirsten Nies and Aspen Moolenaar shined brightly, showing off their double individual championships.  Nies won the 800m run and high jump.  Moolenaar picked up blue ribbons in the 100m hurdles and 300m hurdles. Triton finished as runner-up with 115 points behind a pair of field championships out at the discus and shot put arena. Winamac, LaVille, and North Judson-San Pierre battled with the Trojans near the top. The Warriors closed in third with 98 points, the Lancers tallied 85 points, and the Blue Jays finished with 84. WHS earned titles after victories by Maggie Smith in the 400-meter sprint and the 4X800 relay team of Avery Wegner, Kelsey Wegner, Kadence Hoover, and Smith. "We got lucky with the weather," said Ecker.  "It was cleared out by the time we started, but we still had to fight the wind.  "Usually, that's a meet where we can rack up several personal bests, but the wind down the 100 stretch was tough through most of the meet, of course, every team dealt with that." LaVille was so close to capturing a couple of events. In the 4X400 relay, Pioneer clocked in at 4:22.62 just ahead of the 4:24.20 time from the Lancers - less than two seconds. As Smith was winning the 400 meter sprint, LaVille's London Kwiatkowski was right on her heels.  Smith won in 1:02.08, while Kwiatkowski crossed the finish line at 1:03.98. The next closest for LHS was Moriah Richhart in the shot put.  Richhart's top toss was 35-feet, 8-inches, just behind Viers' effort of 41'-5". "... In several events, we finished exactly where the heat sheet projected us and there were a few performances that performed well in many events," explained Ecker.  "We had several HNAC Honorable Mention recipients. The 4x400M Relay team (London Kwiatkowski, Mikalah Kuskye, Mckenna Deason, Brooke Edison) had a strong race but came up short on the heels of Pioneer. Kwiatkowski had a strong race earning her the honor in the 400M. Moriah Richhartt was the only field event athlete to earn the nod with her second-place finish at the shot put." There are always the athletes that your team leans on, but it makes it so special when they overachieve. "As expected Edison, Kuskye, and Deason contributed strong finishes in multiple events leading our scoring drive," Ecker said of the team leaders.  "Some of the fun surprises of the night included the 300M hurdle race, Myleigh Tolbert, finished ahead of her seed mark. Ava Barrett-Heaton took nearly 30 seconds off of her best 3200M time. Hallie Hulsey stepped in for a teammate in the 800M Run and contributed to the scoring effort. Sarah Tharp and Ava Fuchs were at the bottom of their flight, and both advanced to (long jump) finals. Tharp jumped in the rankings with a fourth-place finish." With seven events since April 18, LaVille has been busy.  Not just the usual triangular meets, but events like the Goshen Relays, Lancer Relays, and Rippy Invitational help keep LHS competing with some of the best the area has to offer. "As the Sectional approaches, we are definitely battle-worn," concluded Ecker. "Last night we filled the events to be as competitive as possible. Next week we will pair down some events so athletes can focus on events that have the potential to advance or improve personal bests driven by high-caliber competition." Each event winner earns All-HNAC First-Team honors, while runner-up finishers each conference honorable mention recognition. Ecker's crew will recover a bit and fine tune the mechanics before the Indiana High School Athletic Association gets under way next week.  South Bend St. Joseph will host an IHSAA Sectional on May 18. Field events are scheduled to begin at 5 p.m. EDT.  There will be a total of 12 teams competing at St. Joseph HS.  * * * * * 2024 HOOSIER NORTH ATHLETIC CONFERENCE Girls Track & Field Championships At Knox High School Team scores Pioneer 157, Triton 115, Winamac 98, LaVille 85, North Judson-San Pierre 84, Knox 42, Caston 18, Culver Community 18 RUNNING EVENT SUMMARY 4X800 Relay - 1. Winamac 11:15.17. 2. Triton. 3 Pioneer. 4. LaVille (Keb, Wagoner, Brant, Baker). 5. Caston. 6. Knox. 100H - 1. Aspen Moolenaar (P) 16.46. 2. Hannah Flores (NJ). 3. Addison Albright (T). 4. Marissa Iverson (W). 5. Ally Campbell (W). 6. Maleah Johnson (CC). 7. Mackenzie Menting (LV). 8. Avert Haselby (P). 100 - Rachel Harding (P) 12.09. 2. Mariah Lowe (NJ). 3. Kaitie Hutsell (C). 4. Chloe Chan (P). 5. Giselle Villegas (CC). 6. Lydia Hammond (T). 7. Avaleigh Wright (NJ). 8. Samantha Howard (K). 1600 - Kyleight Lehiy (NJ) 5:50.92. 2. Violet Montgomery (P). 3. Brooke Edison (LV). 4. Kadence Hoover (W). 5. Rory Heckaman (T). 6 Kelsey Wegner (W). 7. Jessica Keb (LV). 8. Kylie Jameyson (P). 4X100 Relay - Pioneer 51.38. 2. Knox. 3. Knox. 4. LaVille (Kuskye, Richhart, Deason, Singleton). 5. Culver Community. 6. Winamac. 7. North Judson-San Pierre. 400 - Maggie Smith (W) 1:02.08. 2. London Kwiatkowski (LV). 3. Amelia Brackman (K). 4. Chloe Chan (P). 5. Avery Wenger (W). 6. Morgan Heckaman (T). 7. Camila Hernandez-Rios(C). 8. Mikalah Kuskye (LV). 300H - Aspen Moolenaar (P) 50.48. 2. Hannah Flores (NJ). 3. Addison Albright (T). 4. Brooke Edison. 5. Jocelynn Faulkner (T). 6. Marissa Iverson (W). 7. Myleigh Tolbert (LV). 8. Kandace Kroft (W). 800 - 1. Keirsten Nies (P) 2:37.37. 2. Kyleigh Lehiy (NJ). 3. Rory Heckaman (T). 4. Violet Montgomery (P). 5. Kelsey Wegner (W). 6. Maggie Smith (W). 7. Ragen Wagoner (LV). 8. Kaia Burkett (NJ). 200 - 1. Michelle Harding (P) 27.43. 2. Mariah Lowe (NJ). 3. Giselle Villegas (CC). 4. London Kwiatkowski (LV).  5. Riley Taylor (K). 6. Katie Reichard (T). 7. Mackena Deason (LV). 8. Eliana Andrejewski (CC). 3200 - 1. Violet Montgomery (P) 12:47.78. 2. Kadence Hoover (W). 3. Claire Goodman (W). 4. Kylie Jamerson (P). 5. Ava Barrett-Heaton (LV). 6. Kayla Poff (T). 7. Alyssia Johnston (LV). 8. Jianna Allport (K). 4X400 Relay - 1. Pioneer 4:22.62. 2. LaVille (Edison, Deason, Kuskye, Kwiatkowski). 3. Winamac. 4. Triton. 5. North Judson-San Pierre. 6. Knox. FIELD EVENT SUMMARY Pole Vault - Aspen Moolenaar (P) 9-6. 2. Rilee Bernich (T). 3. Jocelyn Faulkner (T). 4. Jianna Allport (K). 5. Avery Wegner (W). 6. Reagan Mitchell (LV). 7. Hallie Hulsey (LV). 8. Ally Campbell (W). Discus - 1. Addyson Viers (T) 103-8. 2. Cheryl Barnes (K). 3. Sadie Popejoy (W). 4. Avery Viers (T). 5. Reagan Bollenbacher (LV). 6. Dennilyn Markin (LV). 7. Breana Amezquita (C). 8. McKinley Dusek (NJ). Shot Put - 1. Addyson Viers (T) 41-5. 2. Moriah Richhart (LV). 3. McKinley Dusek (NJ). 4. Avery Viers (T). 5. Breana Amezquita (C). 6. Ashlynn Jennings (W). 7. Brooklynn Dillman (P). 8. Emily Weaver (W). High Jump - 1. Keirsten Nies (P) 5-0. 2. Rachel Harding (P). 3. Marissa Iverson (W). 4. Mariah Lowe (NJ). 5. Avery Viers (T), Hannah Flores (NJ), and Amelia Blackman (K). 8. Brooke Edison (LV). Long Jump - 1. Mariah Lowe (NJ) 16-3. 2. Katie Reichard (T). 3. Chloe Chan (P). 4. Michelle Harding (P). 5. Sarah Tharp (LV). 6. Hosannah Chupp (T). 7. Madison Singleton (LV) and Bianca Huizar (W). 8. Ava Fuchs (LV).