Edgewood's Raake has no time to waste, Bloomington area boys prepare for track regional
Zack Raake had his scouting report memorized as he lined up next to Sullivan's William Newby in the finals of the 100 dash at the Western Indiana Conference meet.
He's hoping to get a chance to take advantage of it again Thursday in the finals of the 100 at the Bloomington North Regional.
Last season, the Edgewood senior wasn't able to keep up with Newby, a two-time state qualifier (who ran a 10.97 in the 100 and 22.29 in the 200 at regional) and state medalist in the 200 in 2021. But now, having clocked an 11.06 on his home track in mid-April, there was a chance.
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The school record of 11.04 by Levi Beyers was now within his sites, but not right now, he thought. This time, he just wanted beat his nemesis. The gun went off, and the two sped off. Raake later noted it was the best start out of the blocks he's ever had.
"He whooped me all of last year," Raake said. "So at conference, I was really competing to win. And my plan was, I knew he had a tendency to maybe break down in the last 10 (meters) or so, maybe lean a little early.
"So my plan was to stick right next to him and I knew if I was next to him, he's lean before me. He did. I sorta lucked out honestly."
Raake won. But that's not all. A lot of dropped jaws must have stared at the clock: a 10.78 for Raake. A 10.81 for Newby.
"It's funny, my goal was 10.98 last year, a sub 11 anyway," Raake said. "The official school record was 11.04. I'd matched John McGlothlin's 11.06. I just competed and executed a good race.
"My coach said, 'Can you see your time?' I said, 'No.' He said, 'You ran a 10.7.' I said, 'No, I didn't. That's wrong.' Yeah, it was exciting."
Both are looking to get back together in the 100 finals Thursday, with Newby carding a 10.82 last week for the top seed. Raake is a seventh seed at 11.30 having also run the 200 (second in 23.25) and anchored the 400 relay and 1,600 relays to second at sectional.
Conner Grimes of Springs Valley (11.04), Kaden Zellers of Southwestern (Hanover) (11.19) and Joel Gooch of Parke Heritage and Jeremiah Brown of Jeffersonville (11.21) are also top contenders.
Raak's dropping the 200 this time, leaving section champ Reece Lozano of North (22.88) as Newby's top pursuer there. He's also ghosted the open 400.
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"Junior high, 400 was my bread and butter," Raake said. "I was running 53s. Freshman year wasn't going so well but at sectional I got down to 51.8. As a junior I was still 53 but all of a sudden, I'm running 11.2.
"This year, it was 50/50. I didn't know what I was going to do. I had a 51.7 in the 400. Then we had a real beautiful day at the Mustang Invite where I went from 11.25 to 11.06. So, OK, that's what we've been waiting for."
The road to state
Now there just one more leap to make for the area's boys' track athletes at Thursday's Bloomington North Regional.
Here's what you need to know and what to watch for as the area's best look to extend their seasons for one more week:
When: Field events and 3,200 relay will start at 6 p.m. with running trials for 100, 200 and 100 hurdles at 6:30. Running finals will begin at 7:20. At least 16 competitors have qualified for each event from sectionals in Bloomington, Bedford, Madison and Terre Haute South.
Advancement: Top three individuals in each event and those who also meet the state standard advance to the state finals on Friday, June 4 at Indiana University.
Returning champs
Besides Newby (100, 200), Jake Ottersbach of Charlestown (110 hurdles) and Gabe Garcia of North Putnam (300 hurdles) are it, save for a Sullivan 400 relay (44.37) that won last year with just one senior.
It's a crowded field with Maliek Bush of Jeffersonville winning the 110s last week in 14.53. Ottersbach posted a 14.59, way better than his winning time from last year. In all, five ran 15.03 or better last week, including North's Broc Murphy and South's D'Andre Black.
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Murphy is the top seed in the the 300s, with Zane Thompson of Bedford North Lawrence and Garcia all under 41 last week and Bush and Black under 42.
The favorites
Certainly some intrigue in the 800 and 1,600 with an expected rematch between Martinsville's Martin Barco and North's Kyle Clark, who went mano-a-mano in the last 100 of each race, with Barco winning both.
In the 3,200, North's Nolan Bailey and Ryan Rheam, who have been battling injuries that limit them to just the one race, made for a dramatic finish last week. They should be well ahead of the field again.
In the 400, South's Murry Ross-Harman is a second seed behind Xavier Alston of Orleans (50.80).
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Throws see North's Cody Mikulich as the only competitor in the discus over 160 last week, while Marcus Wynalda has a shot at state in both discus and shot put as a top three seed in both. He hit the state standard last week in the shot as did Linton's Drew Smith.
South's Sawyer Bailey is also a strong favorite in the pole vault, having posted a career best 14-0 last week. The second seed is only at 12-6.
North is a strong favorite again in the 3,200 relay but the tight race for second and third should include South, Northview, Jennings County, Brown County and Austin.
On the edge
North's Quincy Slaper is a fifth seed in the 800 at 2:03.06, but he's been under two minutes (1:59.26). South's Zander West earned a call back in the 800 and 1,600 with his season bests at 2:02 and 4:31.
In the 3,200, South's Jack Gildea (9:54.11) and Northview's Nerius White (9:54.25) and North's Jack Nelson (9:56.17) are likely to be fighting for the third and last spot.
In the throws, North's Max Wynalda is seeded fifth in the shot put with Edgewood's Chris Davis also topping 50 feet last week.
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North's Jallah Barbu earned spots in the long jump and 110 hurdles, but also got a call up in the 300s. He's been as far as 21-3 in the long jump, which gives him a shot there with only three going as far as 21 last week.
South is also a third seed in the 1,600 relay, where Seymour, Jeffersonville, Northview and Jennings County were all less than 2.1 seconds slower than the Panthers last week. The Panthers are also a third seed in the 3,200 relay,
Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.
BLOOMINGTON NORTH BOYS' TRACK REGIONAL TOP SEEDS
State standard in parenthesis
100 (11.03): 1. William Newby, Sullivan, 10.82; 2. Conner Grimes, Springs Vly, 11.04; 3. Kaden Zellers, SWHanover, 11.19; 4. Joel Gooch, Parke Heritage, 11.21; 7. Zack Raake, Edg, 11.30; 13. Sam Cosner, BSouth, 11.56; 16. Connor Shin, BNorth, 11.65.
200 (22.22): 1. Newby, Sullivan, 22.20; 2. Reece Lozano, BNorth, 22.88; 3. Gooch, Parke Heritage, 23.06; 4. Trevon Smedley, Salem, 23.10; 12. Joseph Powell, BNorth, 23.56; 16. Cosner, BSouth, 23.90.
400 (49.35): 1.Xavier Alston, Orleans, 50.80; 2. Murry Ross-Harman, BSouth, 51.47; 3. Lane Elsner, Jennings Co, 51.58; 4. Jaylan Johnson, Seymour, 51.68; 13. Aidan Ball, BNorth, 52.90.
800 (1:55.62): 1. Martin Barco, Martinsville, 2:00.83; 2. Kyle Clark, BNorth, 2:00.96; 3. Jcim Grant, Northview, 2:01.39; 4. Brandon Rice, Austin, 2:02.65; 5. Quincy Slaper, BNorth, 2:03.06; 14. Zander West, BSouth, 2:06.98.
1,600 (4:18.42): 1. Barco, Martinsville, 4:19.60; 2. Clark, BNorth, 4:20.47; 3. Kraedyn Young, Jennings Co, 4:28.98; 4. Stuart Bennett, Northview, 4:29.29; 10. West, 4:39.84; 13. Jack Holden, BNorth, 4:46.12; 15. Joe Zinkan, 4:47.63.
3,200 (9:18.54): 1. Nolan Bailey, BNorth, 9:36.67; 2. Ryan Rheam, BSouth, 9:41.78; 3. Jack Gildea, BSouth, 9:54.11; 4. Nerius White, Northview, 9:54.25; 6. Jack Nelson, North, 9:56.17; 7. Caleb Webb, Edg, 10:01.13; 10. Jackson Klinger, Edg, 10:13.42.
110 hurdles (14.76): 1. Maliek Bush, Jeffersonville, 14.53; 2. Jacob Ottersbach, Charlestown, 14.59; 3. D'Andre Black, BSouth, 14.86; T4. Mason Busick, Scottsburg, 15.03; Broc Murphy, BNorth, 15.03; 10. Jallah Barbu, BNorth, 15.98; 14. Mason Law, Edg, 16.24.
300 hurdles (39.31): 1. Murphy, BN, 40.22; 2. Zane Thompson, BNL, 40.90; 3. Gabe Garcia, NPutnam, 40.96; 4. Bush, Jeffersonville, 41.43; 5. Black, BSouth, 41.57; 11. Ivin Tait, BSouth, 42.56; 13. Barbu, BNorth, 42.75.
Shot put (54-6½): 1. Drew Smith, Linton, 56-8¼; 2. Marcus Wynalda, BNorth, 56-6½; 3. Bryson Pardue-Mills, OV, 53-6½; 4. Jesiah Richardson, THNorth, 52-2; 5. Max Wynalda, BNorth, 51-4; 8. Chris Davis, Edg, 50-0¾; 12. Logan Anderson, Edg, 47-8¾.
Discus (161-3): 1. Cody Mikulich, BNorth, 162-5; 2. Dustyn Kocsis, Brownstown, 157-11; 3. Mar.Wynalda, BNorth, 155-8; 4. Smith, Linton, 148-5; 6. Ivan Lynch, BSouth, 140-2.
High jump (6-5): T1. Kannon Chase, Springs Val, 6-3; Alston, Orleans, 6-3; T3. Bush, Jeffersonville, 6-2; Robin Dixon, Springs Valley, 6-2; Ottersbach, Charlestown, 6-2; T6. Amara Draughn, BNorth, 6-0; T11. Carl Norris, Edg, 5-10..
Long jump (22-2¾): 1. Grimes, Springs Val, 21-3¾; 2. Bryson Darlage, Seymour, 21-2¾; 3. Hayden Baughman, Salem, 21-1¾; 4. Ottersbach, Charlestown, 20-11; T9. Barbu, BNorth, 20-1¾.
Pole vault (14-6): 1. Sawyer Bailey, BSouth, 14-0; 2. Charles Cox, Madison, 12-6; T3. Griffin Akers, West Vigo, 12-0; Connor Nease, Austin, 12-0.
400 relay (42.55): 1. Jeffersonville, 42.98; 2. Bloomington North, 43.25; 3. Salem, 43.56; 4. Bedford North Lawrence, 44.09; 8. Edgewood, 44.65; 10. Bloomington South, 44.88
1,600 relay (3:21.83): 1. Bloomington North, 3:28.70; 2. Terre Haute South, 3:31.47; 3. Bloomington South, 3:32.36; 4. Seymour, 3:33.62; 11. Edgewood, 3:38.22.
3,200 relay (7:58.67): 1. Bloomington North, 8:04.63; 2. Austin, 8:21.69; 3. Bloomington South, 8:25.53; 4. Brown County, 8:29.73.
This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Edgewood's Raake has no time to waste, boys prepare for track regional
