Springs Valley Community High School

Last spring was a great one for the Springs Valley track and field team. A pair of Orange County championships, a Patoka Lake Athletic Conference championship, and historic State Tournament performances were highlights as were dozens of impressive individual accomplishments. Some athletes have moved on from the team — State Finals qualifiers Kannon Chase, Conner Grimes, and Elijah Dixon and regional qualifiers Kennedy Land and Allie Cooper are the most notable of the bunch — but there are more than enough returners who have been successful to believe that the Blackhawks are primed to shine again in 2023. “We’re extremely excited. On the boys’ side I think this is the most depth we’ve ever had as a coaching staff. We’re excited to see if that’s confirmed by watching them (in meets), but we’re seeing in practice that there are a lot of kids who are faster than last year,” Springs Valley coach Derek Freeman said. “Overall we’re just very excited.” On the boys’ side, Springs Valley returns five All-PLAC performers and four regional qualifiers, and those athletes span a number of events. Larron Childers is back after winning the discus at the PLAC Meet and finishing second at the Bedford North Lawrence sectional. He also had a good season in the shot put, placing second in the conference and eighth at sectional. Ezra Mills and James Walls were a part of the 400-meter relay team that won the conference and advanced to regional. They’ll be big in the sprints with Walls also competing in the hurdles and Mills in the jumps. Jaheim Hamilton is also back after winning a conference championship in the 300-meter hurdles. The strength of Springs Valley’s boys might be in the distance events though. The Blackhawks’ cross country team advanced to semi-state for the first time in program history this fall and the athletes who powered that run are ready to continue adding to their accomplishments. Grant Brown won the conference in the 3,200-meter run, but didn’t qualify for regional. He’ll expect to right that this spring. Alan Marshall wasn’t able to earn an All-PLAC spot last spring, but he did qualify for regional in the 800-meter run. He’ll also be looking for improvement. Then there’s also Carson Brown, who rocketed his way into a Class 1A All-State selection during cross country, and Max Pendley, who just picked up cross country in the fall and became a key piece. That quartet could possibly form quite the 3,200-meter relay team. “I made a joke in our coaches’ meeting last night that I think we need to have the distance kids fitted for saddles because we’re going to have to ride them for a lot of points,” Freeman said. “The sprinters and throwers are going to carry more than I thought, but (the distance group) is going to give us a lot of options because they’re going to be able to do everything so well.” The Springs Valley girls will certainly miss Land and Cooper, both of whom were superb sprinters, but they’ve also got some returning athletes to be excited about with three All-PLAC competitors and five regional qualifiers still in tow. Brynne Buchanan and Miya Campbell teamed up with Land and Cooper to win the 400-meter relay at the conference meet and finish second at sectional. They’ll serve as the backbone of what could be an exciting group of sprinters this season and Buchanan should also contribute as a hurdler. She finished second in the 100-meter hurdles at the conference meet last year. Macy Hall is back after qualifying for regional in the high jump. She also finished second at the conference meet last year and could also contribute in the long jump and 300-meter hurdles among other events. Springs Valley also has a strong group of throwers this season. Sarah Drabing broke the school record in the discus last season, also winning the event at the conference meet and qualifying for regional. Ella Meehan had quite the year as well in 2022, finishing second at the conference meet and winning a sectional championship in the shot put despite only being a freshman. Aubrey Bledsoe, who finished sixth at sectional in the discus, Leigh Carnes, and Jordyn Land will provide plenty of competition as well. “They haven’t scratched the surface. I think last year they were starting to figure things out and this year they’ve figured out that they can be good. I think they’ve got to push their potential and keep grinding away,” Freeman said. “I think they’re going to reach new heights, set some records around here, and they could go to places we’ve never seen throwers go.” The Blackhawks will kick off their season on Thursday, traveling to Jasper to take on some serious competition. Evansville North, Evansville Memorial, and South Spencer will all be there as will, of course, the host Wildcats. As they hit the track, Freeman and his staff will be looking for any hints on how they can best organize the athletes they have available. “We have a lot of athletes, now where do they go? What’s their best event? What’s their best chance to advance in the postseason or score the most points at conference and things like that? We’ve got to figure that out and find the right places,” Freeman said. “That’s on our shoulders, so we’re in that boat where we’re going to try each meet to figure out where they go and that’s exciting because there’s potential for them to be good in a lot of places.” Springs Valley Blackhawks Last season: Boys 1st, Girls 2nd at PLAC, Boys 2nd, Girls 6th at Sectional, Boys 3rd, Girls 26th at Regional Coach: Derek Freeman Athletes to know: Grant Brown (Jr.), Brynne Buchanan (Sr.), Larron Childers (Jr.), Sarah Drabing (Sr.), Macy Hall (Sr.), Alan Marshall (Jr.), Ella Meehan (So.), Ezra Mills (Sr.) Meets to circle: May 5 at PLAC, May 9 at Orange County, May 16 at Girls’ Sectional, May 18 at Boys’ Sectional