Another year, another strong season.
That has become the norm for Cathedral High School girls track and field, and it remained that way for an experienced Irish team in 2023.
Senior Kailee Swart won the state pole-vaulting title, and her state-record performance – along with strong relay teams and several standout individual performances – led the Irish to a 10th-place finish in the Indiana High School Athletic Association State meet.
Swart set a state record with a vault of 13 feet, six and a half inches. The team state finish was the second-best in school history. The Irish won the state title in 2021.
“We had some really amazing seniors,” Irish track and field coach John O’Hara said. “A few of them had not experienced state finals. I would say our senior class did an amazing job.”
The Irish in 2023 were led by one of the strongest pole-vaulting teams in the state, a group led by Swart – who will attend traditional pole-vaulting power South Dakota. She also won sectional and regional titles, setting meet records at the sectional (12-feet-10.5) and regional (13-2.25) meets.
“Any event that has a board, a bar or a baton, I always say you never know what's going to happen,” O’Hara said. “But when it comes to Kailee, her starting height a lot of times was when everybody was already done. It was a pretty phenomenal thing. It was a testament to her and her hard work, her effort, her family, all the sacrifices that everybody's made for her and the ones that she's made for herself.“
Freshman Makenna Carpenter finished sixth at the state meet in the pole vault at 11-09.00.
“They were incredible this season and worked really hard to keep up with that,” O’Hara said of Swart and Carpenter.
Sophomore Kate Kubacki placed fourth in the 300-meter hurdles in 44.13 at the state meet.
The Irish relays were also strong in 2023, with the 4x800 team of sophomore Addison Stanley, junior Lucy Marquart, senior Catherine Holtrup and senior Grace Bragg winning the regional meet in school-record time of 9:30.44 and placing 15th at the state meet in 9:33.44. The Irish 4x400 – Stanley, senior Sidney Sanders, Bragg and Kubacki – finished 10th at the state meet in 3:59.02 after finishing second in 4:00.36 in the regional.
“Those were kind of the three groups we relied heavily on,” O’Hara said. “You obviously want kids to achieve as much as they possibly can in their individual event for the team, but when you do have strong relays, it creates like a team within a team.
“You kind of have this specific group where you can really hone in on some different nuances. When your relays are strong, typically your team is strong and we were really pleased with those groups.”
Senior Karsyn Kramer finished 11th at the state meet in the long jump at 16-10.75, with the Irish also finishing fourth as a team in the sectional meet, second in the regional meet and second in the Indianapolis City meet. The girls junior varsity also won the City Meet.
Placing for the Irish in the regional meet were: Holtrup (3200, 11:20.47, fourth), Marquart (3200, 11:23.38, fifth), junior Nichole Mayo (100 hurdles, seventh, 15.99), Kubacki (300, 45.06, third), Carpenter (pole vault, 11-03, fourth) and Kramer (long jump, 17-9.75, third).
Placing in the sectional meet: Sanders (400 meters, 1:00.03, second), senior Dearbhla Delaney (800 meters, 2:29.36, seventh), senior Brooke Wojcieszek (1,600, 5:37.02, sixth), sophomore Grace Higgins (1,600, 5:43.92, eighth), Holtrup (3,200, 11:23.09, sixth), Marquart (3,200, 11:30.72, seventh), Mayo (100 hurdles, 15.69, second), Kubacki (330 hurdles, 45.29, third), Mayo (300, 49.26, seventh), Carpenter (pole vault, 11-feet-0, second), Kramer (long jump, 17-feet-7, third), senior Nya Huff (discus, 100-feet-5, fourth) and sophomore Mallory Hanson (discus, 9-feet-11, sixth).
The 4x100 relay team – Wasiak, Bolin, Lilly Reman and Vines – placed fifth at sectional in 51.08. The 4x400 team won at sectional in 3:58.38, The 4x800 team finished second at sectional in 9:36.76.
“We try to take the approach of, ‘All boats rise at high tide,’’’ O’Hara said. “If your older athletes and your most achieving athletes are also raising the levels of everybody else, it's going to be a pretty special season. I would say over the last three seasons, trying to consistently get as many events to state and also trying to achieve high levels … not that it's the norm, but it's definitely a new target for our program to hit.
“Now it's like, ‘Hey, it's your turn to be the senior. I think they've taken that on greatly.’ ”
