The 2019 track and field season will come to a close this Friday, May 31st with the IHSAA boys state championships in Bloomington. Here are our all-state picks by event:
4x800 meter relay:
Fishers
Carroll (Fort Wayne)
North Central (Indy)
Westview
Carmel
Homestead
Indianapolis Cathedral
Leo
Westfield
It was a huge state-wide breakthrough in the 4x800 meter relay last week during the regional round as the weather finally cooperated and many coaches elected to stack their lineups to get into the final heat at the state finals in Bloomington. Carroll (Fort Wayne) boasts the top seed coming in but we are taking the Fishers Tigers to win the 4x800 meter relay by a narrow margin. North Central (Indy) will need all of the team points they can get and we have the defending champions coming home in the 3rd place slot as the team race begins to take shape . We like the experience of small school Westview (3 of 4 returning from last year’s fourth place squad) to round out the top four.
110 meter hurdles:
Malachi Quarles - Franklin Central
Trey Sebben - Portage
Jalen Peterson - Avon
Kyle Hazell - West Lafayette
Camreron Williams - Andrean
Quincy Armstrong - Kokomo
Jakob Pearson - Carmel
Ronald Elliott - Fort Wayne Wayne
Kairal Johnson - Homestead
Quarles solidified his perch atop the state leaderboard with an astounding :13.79 last week at the Warren Central Regional. He is a heavy favorite coming into this race Sebben boasts the state’s second fastest time coming into the state finals while Peterson and Hazell had a photo finish at the Lafayette Jefferson Regional.
100 meter dash:
Noah Malone - Hamilton Southeastern
Jalen Bowman - Evansville Central
Jordan Hodge - Warren Central
Jahn Riley - Pike
Tayson Parker - Northwestern
Tyler Thomas - Andrean
Steven Edwards - Kokomo
Mike Adams - Ben Davis
Dimitri Nicholson - Chesterton
We like Malone to take home the first sprint title of the day and earn the title “Fastest Man in Indiana.” His times have been steady all season long, culminating with a personal best last week in Lafayette.
1600 meter run:
Cole Hocker - Indianapolis Cathedral
Spencer Carpenter - Westview
Jack Gilliard - Bloomington South
Austin Hackett - Edgewood
Lucas Guerra - Highland
Caleb Beimfohr - Harrison (West Lafayette)
Ethan Meyer - Fishers
Luke Combs - Lapel
Jack Kovach - Brebeuf Jesuit
After Hocker, there are a lot of question marks surrounding the 1600 meter run and the strategy to a state medal. Will someone try to run with Cole early and suffer? How will the 4x800 meter guys rebound against the guys with fresh legs? We expect Hocker to cruise and approach the low 4 minute range but its anyone guess beyond that.
4x100 meter relay:
Ben Davis
Warren Central
Brownsburg
Hamilton Southeastern
Portage
Merrillville
Pike
Evansville Central
North Central (Indy)
The Giants have been getting faster each week and we like them to win the 4x100. Warren won the 4x200 indoors and boasts an elite anchor in Jordan Hodge. All of the relays have been coming on these past couple of weeks so this one could go any which way. This is the first instance of the meet in which lane assignments play a factor and premier lanes in the second section get Hamilton Southeastern and North Central (Indy) to the awards platform.
400 meter dash:
Matthew Hanlon - Crown Point
Brett Otterbacher - Valparaiso
Jahn Riley - Pike
Tahj Johnson - Oak Hill
Micah Camble - New Albany
Daunte O’Banion - Madison
Ryan Farmer - Lowell
Preshawn Boyd - Fort Wayne South
Damian Clay - North Central (Indy)
Perhaps the closest race of the day, the 400 meter dash is a battle that will come down to the wire. Look no further than the seed times based on regional performances. Three athletes seeded less than a tenth apart and your defending state runner-up (Johnson) in the middle of the track.
300 meter hurdles:
Quincy Armstrong - Kokomo
Malachi Quarles - Franklin Central
Trey Sebben - Portage
Logan Sandlin - Carmel
Devern Rayner - Lawrence Central
Chris Flick - Carroll (Fort Wayne)
Jalen Peterson - Avon
Sam Hohlt - Center Grove
Kyle Hazell - West Lafayette
We like Armstrong to go wire to wire this season in the 300 meter hurdles as he posted fast times back in April and has yet to be dethroned. Quarles finishes his day with 18 points while others double back and score in both hurdle events.
800 meter run:
Cole Hocker - Indianapolis Cathedral
Gabriel Sanchez - Lowell
Mitchell Curl - West Lafayette
Luke Griner - Wawasee
Joseph Romanyk - Zionsville
Dustin Hudak - Lowell
Carson Bakker - Covenant Christian (DeMotte)
Jaylen Castillo - Fishers
Rodney O’Neal - Indianapolis Cathedral
No event, especially on the distance side of things was more eye popping last week at the regional round than the 800 meters. It may come down to fresh legs as many runners have made decisions of whether or not to test tired legs. Some will be coming off of a relay leg, others the 1600 meter run. Should be an interesting watch as those final all-state spots will come down to tenths of seconds in many cases.
200 meter dash:
Noah Malone - Hamilton Southeastern
Jahn Riley - Pike
Jordan Hodge - Warren Central
Jalen Bowman - Evansville Central
Tayson Parker - Northwestern
Jarod Brock - Carroll (Fort Wayne)
Lamar Echols Jr. - Pike
Pierce Thomas - Brownsburg
Zaimar Burnett - Marion
Malone takes down Riley for his second win of the day and both earn their third medal in as many events. The top four is the same as the 100 meter dash but the order switched Parker comes home with his second track medal of the day while Echols steals a couple of key points for Pike.
3200 meter run:
Jesse Hamlin - Fort Wayne Snider
Caleb Futter - Christian Academy of Indiana
Reece Gibson - Fort Wayne Concordia
Ryan Ruppert - Homestead
Alex Frey - North Central (Indy)
Ian Shaw - Bloomington South
William White - Harrison (West Lafayette)
Jacob Wiggers - Hamilton Southeastern
Pat Campbell - Carmel
This will be a sight to behold as many elite distance runners will get a chance to showcase themselves without the shadow of Cole Hocker. Hamlin and Gibson have been battling all season and have traded victories while Futter has dominated the southern Indiana scene. Ruppert and Frey, among others, scratched the 1600 with the intent of going for the gold in the 3200 so things will be interesting.
4x400 meter relay:
Fort Wayne Soiuth
Lowell
Fishers
Pike
New Albany
Valparaiso
Ben Davis
West Lafayette
North Central (Indy)
In our preview, we stated that nearly a dozen teams are separated by less than two seconds in the 4x400 meter relay, so essentially there are two finals. We see a couple of teams from section 2 sneaking on to the awards platform to end a great night of track and field. South SIde returns all four from last year’s fourth place team...did we mention we place a high value on experience?
Long Jump:
Pierce Thomas - Brownsburg
Tayson Parker - Northwestern
Sammy Sommers - Oak Hill
Kyle Srewart - Evansville Central
Dominic Day - Ben Davis
Kynton Grays - Cardinal Ritter
Shomari Rogers-Walton - Noblesville
Quinten McTroy - Highland
Elijah Price - Warren Central
The top three in our projections are all returning medalists from last year in the event where state meet experience matters MOST. Stewart was impressive from the gun in April and Day has gotten better week in and week out after a late start due to an extended basketball season. We’re saying it takes nearly 23 feet just to MAKE the final in the long jump Friday.
Discus Throw:
Ethan Alyea - North Central (Indy)
Justin Wozniak - Michigan City
Reis Thomas - Brownsburg
Caden Paquette - Penn
Liam Hesting - Columbia City
Wyatt Puff - Fishers
Jason Swarens - Terre Haute South
Jaden Hayes - Southridge
Hayden Tobias - Fishers
Alyea picks up 10 big early points for North Central (Indy) who will need each and every one of them. The only all-state returnee from 2018 needs to match his best effort of the season from early in the month. Other contenders in Brownsburg and Fishers also pick up key points to kick start their team title hopes.
Shot Put:
Jason Swarens - Terre Haute South
Ryan Stefanko - MIchigan City
Nathaniel James - Avon
Ethan Alyea - North Central (Indy)
Hayden Tobias - Fishers
Tucker Smith - Columbus North
Martes Lewis - Merrillville
Brandon English - Portage
Isaiah Tipping - Wawasee
Swarens, Alyea and Tobias make it two for two as they also take home hardware in the shot put. Stefanko, the top returnee of 2019 takes home another medal for the Wolves of Michigan City while Tucker Smith finishes off an amazing freshman campaign with a medal.
High Jump:
Lawrence Mitchell - Pike
Kamryn Garrett - Lawrence Central
Kevin Krutsch - Penn
Ndubisi Eze - New Albany
DeAndre Alsup - Harrison (West Lafayette)
Logan Benson - Western Boone
Lane Hawkins - Bedford North Lawrence
Garrett Voegerel - Southridge
Marcos Barbosa - Brownsburg
The much anticipated grudge match between Mitchell and Garrett comes to fruition as the two battle into the night. Less than two inches separates places 3-9 as misses come into play in a hotly contested battle in the high jump pit.
Pole Vault:
Nathan Stone - Lawrence North
Sam Wood - Churubusco
Riley Johnston - Hobart
Eric Wheatley - Borden
Gavin Holz - Oak Hill
Logan Sandlin - Carmel
Tyler Sierks - Homestead
Joe Painter - East Noble
Alex Schipper - Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger
Stone steals the show as he enters late and is the last one with the pole in his hand at the night’s end. Those behind him show that the event is in good hands as all eight will return in 2020.
Team Standings:
Pike
Fishers
North Central (Indy)
Hamilton Southeastern
Brownsburg
Based on the above projections, Pike is the team to beat with the remaining schools listed rounding out the top 5.