Indiana State sprinter Katie Wise
This weekend was supposed to be an Indiana State sendoff for Katie Wise. In the Missouri Valley Conference meet, she would go for a four-year sweep of the 100 meters on her home track and perhaps lead the Sycamores women to a team championship.
It will not happen. No MVC meet. No NCAA Championships. No Olympic Trials.
Indeed, there is a question whether Wise will ever run another 100-meter race.
An injury to her left hamstring from the year’s first indoor meet never healed, so this season was erased. She could redshirt and return in 2017, even though she graduated Saturday, but she has student teaching in the fall. She is unsure whether to enroll in graduate classes.
What she is sure about: She does not want to quit sprints.
“I want to see how far I can get in track,” Wise said.
She comes from tiny Morgantown (pop. 988) and was a state champion for Indian Creek High School. However, her running style resembled a shuffle — she had virtually no knee lift — so college recruiters weren’t all that interested.
She defied convention.
Indiana State sprinter Katie Wise, left,
In 2014, as a sophomore, she finished fifth in the NCAA indoor 60 meters and ran 11.23 seconds in the 100 outdoors. The latter made her one of the world’s 10 fastest women age 20 and younger. She lowered her time last year to 11.15, albeit wind-aided.
As long as she did not get hurt, Wise told herself, 2016 would be her best year.
“She was probably more fit than she’s ever been,” Indiana State coach Angie Martin said.
Instead, Wise has spent four months rehabbing, visiting doctors and undergoing examination. She thought she was ready for the indoor MVC meet, then reinjured her hamstring. An MRI revealed more damage than expected.
She said Derrick White of Clermont, Fla., is among several coaches of who have reached out and asked that she join a pro training group. If Wise did that, though, she would not retain collegiate eligibility.
She would need to run near 11-flat in the 100 to make it as a pro in track, and might have done so this year, if not for injury.
It has been a particularly unlucky year for the Sycamores, who are hosts for the Valley meet at the year-old Gibson Track and Field Complex. They also lost Alethia Marrero (Ben Davis) to stress fractures in her shins. Marrero was fifth in the NCAA 800 last June and represented Puerto Rico in the Pan American Games.
All that’s certain is Wise will teach kindergarten in the fall at Maple Grove Elementaryin Bargersville, in the Center Grove district. She has tried to keep a positive outlook and said whatever she decides, she can’t go wrong.
“I’m not going to give up hope,” Wise said.
Bahamian hurdler out for Purdue
Devynne Charlton has Olympic aspirations.
Purdue was once poised to win its first Big Ten championship in women’s outdoor track and field since 1999. Michigan won February’s indoor title 109-102 over the Boilermakers, who are built for outdoors.
But Purdue heads into the Big Ten meet – Friday through Sunday at Lincoln, Neb. – without Devynne Charlton, who is a conference champion as a sprinter and hurdler. She injured her back at the end of the indoor season, redshirted and won’t be fit enough to represent her native Bahamas in the Rio Olympics.
In Purdue’s final tuneup, pole vaulter Jessica Harter set a school record of 13 feet, 9 ¾ inches. She ranks fourth in the Big Ten behind Indiana’s 1-2 duo of Sophie Gutermuth, 14-2, and Sydney Clute (Center Grove), 14-1 ¼.
Sports of all sorts
>> Gymnastics: InterActive Academy’s Zach Peters (Center Grove) won floor exercise and vault for 16-year-old boys in the Junior Olympics at Battle Creek, Mich. He was third in the all-around (80.65).
>> Soccer: Indianapolis native Perry Kitchen and former IU forward Lee Nguyen were among 40 players chosen to the preliminary roster of the U.S. men’s national team for Copa America. The final roster will be 23. The United States starts training camp Monday in Miami and has three preparation matches before the June 3 opener against Colombia at Santa Clara, Calif.
>> Swimming: Indianapolis’ Steve Rouch, 35, won a four-stage race in Arizona that is one of the world’s longest open-water swims. He swam 41.7 miles in Saguaro, Canyon, Apache and Roosevelt lakes in a cumulative time of 13 hours, 11 minutes, 29.53 seconds. The event drew 43 swimmers from 11 countries.
>> Track and field: Former Indiana State vaulter Kylie Hutson cleared 15-1 at Chula Vista, Calif., for her best jump in more than two years. The four-time NCAA champion ranks No. 5 among Americans and No. 11 in the world. … Indiana Tech senior Herb Gary (Ben Davis) won his conference high jump at 7-2 ¼, tying for best in the NAIA. … Purdue’s Chukwuebuka Enekwechi set a facility record of 229-9 in the men’s hammer and won the shot put at 65-9 ¾ in the Rankin/Poehlein Invitational. He ranks No. 7 and No. 2, respectively, in NCAA Division I.
Call IndyStar reporter David Woods at (317) 444-6195. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.
