Columbus East High School

The 2026 IHSAA Girls Track & Field Sectional at Columbus North High School turned into a two-night battle against the weather for the Columbus East High School Olympians. Sectional competition began Tuesday, May 19th, but heavy afternoon rains quickly took control of the evening after only four events had been completed. Rain - 1 Track - 0. The remainder of the meet was postponed until Wednesday, May 20th, where athletes once again dealt with scattered rain showers throughout the night. Despite the wet and challenging conditions, the sectional was successfully completed, and several Olympians punched their ticket to the upcoming IHSAA Regional at Bloomington South High School on May 26th. Leading the way for Columbus East was junior Kai Scott, who earned a third-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 49.38 to secure an automatic regional berth. Scott also competed in the 100-meter dash, placing sixth in the finals with a time of 13.53. The Olympians also advanced both sprint relay teams to regional competition. The 4x100-meter relay team captured a runner-up finish with a strong time of 51.99, while the 4x400-meter relay team added another automatic qualifying spot by placing third in 4:27.19. Several other Olympians narrowly missed automatic advancement but turned in strong performances throughout the sectional meet. Sophomore Sophie Glick placed fourth in the 400-meter dash in 1:04.19 and added a fifth-place finish in the 200-meter dash with a time of 27.91. Glick also cleared 4-10 in the high jump to finish sixth overall. In the throwing events, Sophia Gallion recorded a fourth-place finish in the shot put with a throw of 33-0, while Isabella Leonard added a sixth-place finish in the same event at 29-9 and later placed ninth in the discus with a toss of 89-11. Claire Behnke competed in both sprint events for the Olympians, finishing seventh in both the 100-meter dash and 200-meter dash finals. Indee Pellegrino added an eighth-place finish in the 400-meter dash and also tied for eighth in the high jump. Distance runners Meg Going, Abigail Collins, Elizabeth Sztaba, and Trinity Burns battled through difficult conditions in the distance events. Going finished eighth in the 800-meter run, while Collins and Sztaba placed ninth and 11th respectively in the 1600-meter run. Sztaba later added a 10th-place finish in the 3200-meter run, with Burns finishing 12th. In the field events, Kiersten Collins led the Olympians in the long jump with an eighth-place finish at 14-6.5, while Emma Tempest competed in both hurdle events, highlighted by a 10th-place finish in the 300-meter hurdles. Under IHSAA advancement rules, the top three finishers in each event automatically qualify for regional competition, along with any athlete or relay team meeting the state standard. Additional at-large qualifiers may also be added statewide to fill each regional field to 16 competitors.