Indy Star

 

By Nat Newell

 

Hannah Farley was 2 when she'd race around the dining room table on her toy tricycle so fast that her mother, Diane, was convinced she'd go careening through one of the nearby windows at any moment.

"She liked that quickness," Diane Farley said.

Nothing's changed.

Three years ago, Hannah Farley shocked track and field followers across Indiana by winning the high school state championship in the 400-meter dash as a freshman out of little Park Tudor.

Coach Ryan Ritz had long battled an attitude among his athletes that the season inevitably ended in the sectional against state powers such as Lawrence Central, Lawrence North and North Central.

Farley, however, just focused on going as fast as she could, as if the dining room table were 400 meters around.

Perhaps the only person who thought Hannah Farley would win a state championship as a freshman was her sister Abby. She joined Hannah on the varsity last season as a freshman and helped Park Tudor to fifth place at the state meet, the highest finish by a school usually classified 2A since Hammond Bishop Noll placed third in 2000. The Panthers will try to continue that tradition beginning with the Lawrence Central Sectional at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

"Hannah really opened the door to where people believe they can follow in her footsteps," Ritz said. "Maybe not make it to state but to make it out of sectionals. Pre-Hannah, the mindset of 99 percent (of our athletes) was the season ends at sectionals. They're looking at Hannah and saying, 'What is she doing to have this success?' They see her set goals and work hard, and they follow in her path."

Hannah Farley has won three consecutive 400 titles, placed second in the 200 last year and could add the 100 this season. Abby Farley was fifth in the 800 and each ran a leg of the team's sixth-place 1,600 relay team.

"The minute the gun goes off, (Hannah) lets loose," said Diane Farley, whose son, Henry, Abby's twin, reached the regional in the 800.

"She surprised so many people (as a freshman). It was amazing. Abby was also a surprise.

"With a school like Park Tudor, you don't have a lot of competition in the regular season, but she got out there in the state meet and found it in herself. It was neat to see that change."

While the Farleys are certainly competitive, there's little sibling rivalry. Henry Farley proudly wears a shirt with "Hannah's Little Brother" on it to her meets. Hannah and Abby have played soccer and basketball together but Hannah is more likely to run with Henry as she finds better competition in her events on the boys team. They have a 4-year-old sister, Gretchen, whom Hannah expects to break all her records at Park Tudor.