Senior Kaylee Dade aiming to stay on the runway to Indy and launch at the right time to make the state meet in the long jump and two Chesterton relay races

Tom Keegan
Onwardtrojans.com

Finding a favorite event in track and field can grow challenging for athletes as versatile as Chesterton senior Kaylee Dade.
She is capable of scoring points for in meets running the 100 meters, 200 meters, 400 meters, 4x100 relay and 4x400 relay and when competing in the long jump and high jump.
That doesn’t mean she doesn’t have a favorite, which also happens to be the one she considers her best.
“Definitely, long jump,” Dade said. It’s the most fun I’ve had doing any event. I’ve done basically all of them throughout the years, and that’s the most fun I’ve had. It’s freeing, and it’s less stressful, and I know how to jump, and I know how to control my body. To be able to go far, compete at it, and be able to experience the atmosphere, it’s just fun.”
Dade’s long jumping prowess took a leap ahead of the rest of her skills at the Portage Last Chance indoor meet, where she jumped 17 feet, 5 inches on March 22 to qualify for the Hoosier State Relays. She ran into problems fouling there and that remains an area where she strives to become better.
“I was kind of in my head about it,” Dade said. “I have an issue with being consistent on the runway, so it’s one of the big challenges I have with long jump.”
In younger years, Dade ran the hurdles but doesn’t anymore. The high jump isn’t in the picture as much now as in previous years as she has become more a part of the sprints. She is a strong candidate to land one of the 4x100 spots to join junior Kenedi Bradley, the fifth-place finisher at state last spring. Seniors Ava Kontos and Sydney Morris and freshman Addison Pack also are appealing options to run on a relay team that if the baton exchanges are smooth at the regional meet has a strong chance to make it to state.
“I’m thinking I’m probably top two or three,” on the team in terms of 100-meter speed, Dade said. “And I’m really just trying to keep improving, getting better, working on handoffs. That’s the most difficult thing for me because I’ve never really done it before.”
Dade has more career experience running the 4x400, where the exchange can be more cautious because the race is four times longer, giving runners time to make up for a slower handoff.
A smooth, well-timed exchange is a beautiful thing to watch and looks even better on the stopwatch, as long as it’s legal. Yellow triangles mark the beginning and end of the exchange zone. If either runner is not in the zone when the handoff is executed, that’s an automatic disqualification.
Turning to look at the teammate handing the baton would slow runners too much in the 4x1, whereas in the 4x4 there is time to do so. Leaving too soon means having to stop and wait, a lethal mistake in the 4x1.
Dade shared details of preparing for a smooth exchange: “The 4x1 handoff is blind, so you mark your spot on the track, and then as soon as you see them hit that spot, you just go and when they say ‘Stick!’, you put your hand back flat and they put the baton in your hand.”
As for what marking the spot entails, Dade said that the lead runner starts running when the trail runner comes within 18 steps of her, so she marks a spot on the track 18 steps back, and when her teammate reaches that spot, she starts running. Then it’s a matter of timing her running speed properly, based on the relative speed of the girl handing her the baton, so that the exchange can take place with the runners in sync.
“It becomes second-nature as soon as you understand your speed compared to the runner coming from the back, “Dade said. “You have to gage to see how fast you need to come out.”
There is a lot more to it than in the 4x4, which is a good thing considering how strenuous running that distance is on the body to run one lap around the track, especially in the final event of the day after already competing in multiple events. But Dade doesn’t look at the final running event of track meets through that prism.
Whereas Dade readily admits she has mental hurdles to clear in the long jump, she appears to have an ideal mindset for the 4x4. She doesn’t emphasize how grueling it is. Instead, she soaks in the excitement of the moment, watched by competitors from all other events because their days are done.
“The atmosphere, all the people cheering you on, and you know this is your last race, this is all you have to compete in, this is what you’ve been training for throughout the week,” she said. “Just being able to compete in that and having everyone cheer you on, it’s a great feeling.”