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Indianapolis Star
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Indianapolis Star
'I'm speechless.' Kya Crooke breaks 39-, 40-year-old records at IHSAA girls track state meet
INDIANAPOLIS – Kya Crooke pleaded with her mother for tickets to see R&B artist SZA in St. Louis. In ordinary parental fashion, Julie Crooke initially told her daughter no since the concert was three days before the IHSAA girls track state meet. The Heritage Christian senior persisted. With her persistence came a pledge. 'I told my mom, 'No, I have to be at that concert; I promise I'll do good at state,'' Kya said. Julie granted permission. In turn, her daughter did better than good. Crooke set state meet records in the long jump (20-4.75) and high jump (6-0.25) Saturday at the IHSAA girls track and field state meet at North Central. The long jump record stood for 39 years, and the high jump record, 40. 'That record has been around for so long, so it's been my goal this whole season to work toward breaking the long and high jump records,' Crooke said. 'Coming out here and being able to do that, I can hear the people clapping with me. It's just really cool to see.' IHSAA girls track and field state meet: Results, event winners, record breakers 'We did this as a team.' Carmel wins girls track state title without winning single event Crooke said she was anxious before her jumps but talked to friends to calm her nerves and 'have fun,' claiming, 'That's when I'm at my best.' Her best left her dad, Val, at a loss for words. 'I'm speechless. To have the last meet of her senior year and to break the long and high jump records, that girl has something special,' Val said. "I just sat back and watched; I didn't even have to coach anymore.' Val trained his daughter since she began track and field. He ran track on his native Caribbean island of St. Kitts and later attended college at Anderson University. When Crooke was in middle school, Val and Julie started the SocaSpeed track club. With four state titles, including one in soccer her freshman year, Crooke said it's 'awesome to be the person the girls at Soca could look up to.' 'We talk about the little brown and black girls that get to see someone high jump and say, 'I want to do that,' and there are girls in St. Kitts now going, 'What in the world, that girl is going crazy,'" Val said. "Now, I am going to have a ton of young ladies in the islands that want to high and long jump.' Val's confidence and excitement in his following comment released a strong Carribean accent. 'St. Kitts got the sprints covered,' he said. 'We got the jumps now.' Crooke hopes to compete for St. Kitts in future international competitions. After every meet, she sends videos to her grandparents and extended family on the island, and they often ask Val for ways to livestream her events. 'There's a whole other country behind me,' Crooke said. The City Female Athlete of the Year appreciates her domestic support as well. Born and raised in Indiana, Crooke acknowledged her parents, high school coaches and teammates for 'pulling for her to be the best I can be.' She praised Indiana for granting multiple opportunities, like the Indiana All-Star track meet, for its athletes to gain experience and showcase their talents. Crooke will attend Arizona in the fall, where she'll be trained by decorated jumps coach Bobby Carter. As Crooke builds a ladder of achievements in track and field, Val recognizes his daughter's inclination to carry others up with her. 'She understands she has a plan and purpose for her life and gets to walk in it and bring people along. It's not about her, it's about others,' Val said. 'At the end of the day, this is all about her love for Christ, so to see that play out in her athletics, where she gives God the glory for all of her successes, it brings tears to my eyes.' 'Let's try everything.' Heritage Christian's Kya Crooke City Female Athlete of the Year For Crooke, her actions must reflect that she represents someone beyond herself. 'I had to learn that whether I'm doing bad or amazing, people are watching and can see how I handle certain situations. Track is my ministry, so I like people to see something different in how I handle things and ask, 'Why did I do it that way?'' Crooke said. 'My athletic ability is a gift from God, and I love that I can show that through a sport I love so much. "The biggest compliment I've received these past two years from people is that they can see Christ through me on the track, and that's really why I'm out here. I want to continue to do that out in Arizona and whatever else is planned.'
Indianapolis Star
27-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
'Let's try everything.' Heritage Christian's Kya Crooke City Female Athlete of the Year
To say the high jump comes easy to Kya Crooke would not be fair. To do so would discredit the hours and hours of work Crooke put into becoming one of the best high jumpers in the country, with legitimate goals of reaching the 2028 Olympic Games. To say Crooke is a natural at the high jump is more accurate. Because, well, Crooke is a natural at about everything she tries. She was riding a two-wheel bicycle before she was 2 years old (no training wheels). She broke her mother's high jump school record the first meet of her freshman year (it would have been in middle school if those meets counted). She could have played soccer in college. Maybe even tennis. Or basketball. 'My wife Julie and I wanted them to try everything,' her father, Val Crooke, said of Kya and her younger sister Kenzie and younger brother Kaden. 'We always reinforced the idea of, 'Let's try everything.' … I think that's the biggest thing that makes her great at what she does. She had a chance to do all of those things.' Crooke, a senior at Heritage Christian, made her name as a track and field athlete, already owning state titles in the long jump and high jump with her final high school meet still to come. But her accomplishments are not limited to that endeavor. Or even just competing in sports. You might see her on the other side of the microphone someday as a reporter for an NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball game. You would be hard-pressed to find a more well-rounded person than Crooke, who is the City Female Athlete of the Year. The honor, which dates to 1950 and grew to include female athletes in 1979, is regarded as one of the top awards for Indianapolis-area senior high school athletes. But her true sports' love is track and field. Specifically, the high jump. 'Every single time I step on the track it's never like, 'Ugh, I have to be here,'' Crooke said. 'I want to be out here. I want to continue to get better. I want to be at practice. I love being around my teammates. I love being at meets. It's not like a job; it's something that I love to do. I think that's why I continue to get better – you continue to get better if you love what you are doing.' Other finalists for the award, which is voted on by the Marion County athletic directors, were Bishop Chatard's Anna Caskey and Cathedral's Kate Kubacki, both multi-sport athletes in their own right. The award is geared toward athletic achievement, but the winners also exhibit impressive credentials in academics and their personal lives. Generally, multi-sport athletes are given consideration over single-sport athletes, though that is not always the case. Two weeks ago, Crooke had what she described as a 'Wow' moment with a 6-foot, 2-inch high jump that ranks first in the United States and second in the world for the under-20 age group. That jump is just ¼ inch from the all-time Indiana high school girls' record set by Angie Bradburn of Norwell in 1985. Bradburn also holds the state meet record of 6-0. Crooke, who will continue her track career at the University of Arizona, had a breakthrough last year, winning the high jump for the first time at 5-11 in a competitive event that included defending champion Josie Page of Wood Memorial, who went 5-10. As a sophomore, Crooke won the long jump state title and was runner-up in the 300 hurdles. But Crooke had bigger sights than even a state championship. 'I was stuck at 5-10, 5-11 for a long time and it was getting a little frustrating because I was so close to 6 feet,' Crooke said. 'Once I hit that 6-foot barrier, it just kind of flipped something and I was able to keep on getting better. I'm excited to see how that keeps going. It was awesome to see that big PR. My biggest goal for this season is to get that state meet record (6-0). Just being able to do that on the day will be something I'm preparing for.' Val and Julie Crooke did not anticipate their oldest child would get into the high jump. Track? Yes. Val Crooke ran track growing up on the Caribbean island of Saint Kitts before going to college at Anderson University. Julie (maiden name Reinwald) was a soccer star, going on to play in college at Liberty University. Val's background was in the sprints. So, when Kya said she wanted to try high jump one summer with her club team, her dad told her to go ahead and give it a shot. But he did not have much to add – at first. 'We were like, 'Well you are fast and can jump far,'' Val said. 'But we knew nothing about high jump.' Val got himself up to speed on the high jump but gives most of the credit for Kya's rapid advancement to coach Vic Johnson and the work Kya put in on her own. 'I've learned to just shut up and be quiet,' Val said with a laugh. 'I'm dad most of the time and coach sometimes. Vic is 'coach' all the time. We've had a great relationship from that standpoint. I've gotten really good learning from Kya and other coaches. I feel like I'm pretty solid now (coaching high jump). You have to study and understand it's not just about how high you can jump. It's about the other details.' As soon as Kya tried the high jump, she knew it was for her. And despite her dad deflecting any and all credit, she said the father-daughter time on the track has been one of best things about her experience in the sport. Val has connected with Arizona high jump coach Bob Carter, a technician of the event who has coached four collegiate record holders and several Olympians during his lengthy career. 'Every ounce of free time my dad has, he's studying high jumpers and getting information from coaches,' Kya said. 'He's getting information from 'Coach Bob', where I'll be in the future. The amount of work he's put into just learning the high jump to make me better is amazing. Him and Vic are best friends, so they work really well together. There's no clashing or anything. It's been really cool to have the opportunity to be coach by my dad and coach Vic.' Crooke actually came into high school wondering if soccer might be her sport to pursue in college. If not for her excellence in track, it might have been. She scored 35 goals as a freshman at Heritage Christian, helping the Eagles to a Class A state championship. She kept playing all the way through her senior year. 'I really thought I was going to play soccer in college,' she said. 'I really did. It ended up not working out but I'm glad I was able to finish it out and keep playing soccer.' The only reason it did not work out is because she was so outstanding in track and field. Kya's mother, Julie, dabbled in the high jump in high school but did not stick with it because of soccer. But she did high jump 5-4 ¾ in 1994 without any real idea of what she was doing. 'I asked the coaches, 'Can I try this?'' said Julie, who graduated from Heritage Christian in 1995. 'The record was from like 1976 and was 5-2. I said, 'I can jump that.' Even though I didn't really know how to high jump.' Kya could already long jump 13 feet, 4 inches by age 10. She surpassed her mother's high jump record in seventh grade, though she would not 'officially' break the record until the first meet of her freshman year. Kya took second at the state meet that year, jumping 5-7. As Kya has continued to pile up the honors and awards, she has become a role model to younger athletes at Heritage Christian and within the Soca Speed Track Club, which Val and Julie started when Kya was in elementary school. But her position as a role model goes beyond what kids see on the track. 'She has a really sweet spirit,' Julie said. 'Even when she was little, she could sense when a person felt left out and she'd be like, 'Come on.' One of the things I love about her is she loves to cheer on other people. She gets locked in but she's not all about herself. Even after she got 6-2 in the high jump, she was calling kids from the club team to see how they did at their junior high meet. She puts others above herself, which is neat because that is not common.' Crooke has the top time going into the regional at Lawrence Central on Tuesday in the 100 (12.35 seconds), along with having the top marks in the high jump and long jump. Younger sister Kenzie, a sophomore, qualified for the regional in the 300 hurdles (45.55). 'She puts in the work,' Kenzie said of her older sister. 'Every practice, she goes 100%. She definitely does push me. I really look up to her and love watching her compete every week. I'm really excited for her but I'm going to miss her a lot. I'm kind of nervous for when she leaves. We're so close and I love talking to her every night.' But Kenzie knows her sister is on to bigger and better things. Kya has goals of competing in the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles and competing at a high level in college at Arizona. And when she is done competing years down the road, she would love to work as a broadcaster covering professional football, basketball or baseball, and big track meets. And because she is Kya Crooke, there is no doubt she will put in the work to accomplish those goals. She also will not forget the people who helped her get there. 'Prayers with my teammates is probably one of the most special things I'll remember,' she said. 'And all of my teammates on the track team. For a lot of them, track is not their No. 1 sport. We get kids from soccer, football, basketball. It's such a big mix of kids and relationships I've been able to build, even though Heritage Christian is a pretty small school. I also love that I got to compete with my sister for two years. That is really cool. I'm sure I'll get a call when she breaks my records.'
Indianapolis Star
21-05-2025
- Sport
- Indianapolis Star
Standouts on and off field: 3 finalists for Indianapolis City Male Athlete of the Year
The Marion County Athletic Association will soon name its City and County Athletes of the Year, an award that dates to 1950 and grew to include girls' achievements in 1979. The awards are geared toward athletic achievement, but almost every winner over the years has exhibited impressive credentials in and out of their athletic, academic and personal areas. Generally, multi-sport athletes are given consideration over single-sport athletes, though in some cases a single-sport athlete has been so outstanding that he or she has been selected as the winner. Here are the three finalists for City Male Athlete of the Year (Bishop Chatard's Sam Feeney won last year): More: 3 finalists for Indianapolis City Female Athlete of the Year More: 3 finalists for Marion County Male Athlete of the Year Briscoe, a four-year letterman and Kent State recruit, was a finalist for IndyStar Mr. Basketball and an Indiana All-Star after finishing fourth in scoring in the program's history with 1,181 points. He also set program records with 953 rebounds and 375 blocked shots. Briscoe, the City Player of the Year as a sophomore and junior after leading the Tigers to a pair of City tournament titles, missed 10 games early in the season of his senior year due to an ankle sprain. He returned to averaged 15.8 points, 9.4 rebounds and 5.1 blocked shots per game and help the Tigers to the Class 3A state finals. In 91 career games, he averaged 13.0 points and 10.5 rebounds. Briscoe was named to the honor roll all four years at Attucks. He has goals of playing in the NBA and working in sports management for his career. Sargent is a seven-time letterwinner in football and track and field and has plans to continue his track career at Indiana University. Sargent ran on the Trojans' 4x400 relay team that took second in state as a junior. He was the City champion in the 200 meters and 4x400 relay as a sophomore, junior and senior and won the 100 meters as a senior. Sargent was a sectional champion in the 200, 400 and on 4x400 relay team as a senior and helped his teams to City titles all four years. Sargent helped his football teams to state titles as a sophomore and junior. His 4x400 relay team set the school record this spring with a time of 3:15.38. Slaughter, a seven-time letterwinner in football and track and field at Cathedral, has plans to attend Tennessee State and play football in college. Slaughter was named the City football athlete of the year after catching 43 passes for 562 yards and six touchdowns as a senior. Over three seasons, he caught 102 passes for 996 yards and 13 TDs. Slaughter also passed for two TDs and averaged 32.5 yards on kickoff returns. In track and field, Slaughter is a three-time City champion and a five-time state qualifier as a sprinter. He ran on the 4x100 relay team as a junior that finished fourth in the state. Slaughter was Class 6A all-state in football and holds three state records in track.
