Ready to fly: Who to watch at the IHSAA state boys track meet on Saturday

The IHSAA boys' state track meet is back at Indiana University after taking a year off and moving to Ben Davis last season.

The 118th running figures to be a dandy if the regional results were any indication. Athletes from Bloomington North, Bloomington South and Edgewood will be joining the state's finest. Here's some fun facts heading into the last meet of the season:

How to watch

Tickets are $12 per person, with children 24 months and younger admitted free.  All tickets will be sold digitally through GoFan.co. Present your phone purchase at the gate for admission.

Parking is available in the IU lots by the outdoor pool and tennis center.

More: IHSAA boys track regional: Going the extra mile to make state

The meets will also be streamed live at IHSAAtv.org via pay-per-view for $10 per day.

The meet begins with field events at 3 p.m., the 3,200 relay at 4:15, trials at 5 and opening ceremonies at 6:10.

Take home some hardware

The top nine in each individual and relay event will earn state medals.

Last year, Carmel topped Brownsburg 68-40 for the team title.

Standard of excellence

There are several extremely deep events this year, thanks in part to an outlandish regional in Lafayette. The state standard is a time or distance that allows a relay team or athlete to keep advancing even if they are not in the top three at sectional or regional. (It's the three-year average of the ninth place finisher's result at state).

Nowhere is it more pronounced than in the 100-meter dash, where 21 runners went 11.03 or faster last week, with 18 under 11 flat. The fastest regional time is 10.71 but Evansville Memorial's Anthony Brodie went 10.58 at sectional, which he barely won because cross-town rival Xavier Thomas of Reitz went 10.63 (Thomas also has a state best 21.55 in the 200).

Edgewood's Raake is a 25th seed at 11.12, but his career best is 10.78.

There are 18 who went 54-6½ or better in shot put and a dozen teams in the 3,200 (7:58.67) and long jump (22-2¾) who met the standard. Other loaded events include the 200 (11 under 22.22), discus (11 over 161-3), the 800 (10 under 1:55.62), high jump (10 at 6-5 or higher) and pole vault (10 at 14-6 or better).

Football and fútbol players

Some of the area's top football players have made for some of the top track athletes this year.

More: Bloomington South school record, state medal chase fuels Murry Ross-Harman in 400

The state field includes South receivers Sawyer Bailey (pole vault), D'Andre Black (110 and 300 hurdles, 1,600 relay) and Adrian Rheam (1,600 relay) cornerback Murry Ross-Harman (400, 1,600 relay) and North quarterback Reece Lozano (200, 400/1,600 relays), running back Cody Mikulich (discus, 400 relay), offensive lineman Marcus Wynalda (shot put), receiver Jarno Ksander-Hicks (400 relay)

Raake and North's Broc Murphy and Jallah Barbu are soccer players in the fall.

Slaper's super six

North senior Quincy Slaper just pulled off an incredible feat by making his sixth state finals over his last two high school sports seasons.

Slaper ran with the Cougars in the 2021 and 2022 state cross country championships, held down legs on state qualifying relays in swimming as a junior and senior, and is making another trip to the state track finals with the 3,200 relay.

Returning champs

Just two of last year's state champs are returning as seniors won all but the 200, both hurdles and the shot put.

John Colquitt of Brownsburg swept the 110s (14.53) and 300s (37.84) last year as the only non-senior in the 110s and one of just two underclassmen in the 300s. The Indiana University recruit has more than even that on his plate this year as a member of the top-ranked 400 relay and one of the top long jumpers.

Also back is Columbus North senior Tucker Smith, who bombed a 72-foot shot put at the Conference Indiana meet. He broke the state meet record last year at 67-11¼.

Double duty

North's Kyle Clark is among just three runners who qualified in the 800 and 1,600, joining Columbus North's Reece Kilbarger-Stumpff and Martinsville's Martin Barco.

Just two runners, Carmel's Kole Mathison and Columbia City's Austin Hall, are attempting the 1,600/3,200 distance double.

Black is among a dozen who qualified in both hurdles events and in doing so he extended South's streak of having a hurdler at state every year since 2011. Black, Mischa Dzubay (2019) and Eli Stidd (2012) are the only ones during that run to qualify for both events in the same season.

Triple duty

Bloomington North is one of just four schools to qualify all three relays for the state meet, joining Fishers, Brownsburg and Penn.

Contact Jim Gordillo at jgordillo@heraldt.com and follow on Twitter @JimGordillo.

IHSAA BOYS' STATE TRACK MEET SEEDS

State records in parenthesis

100 (10.31): 1. Kameron Gethers, Lake Central, 10.71; 2. Kayne Wright, Merrillville, 10.75; Anthony Brodie, Evansville Reitz, 10.75; 25. Zack Raake, Edg, 11.12.

200 (21.10): 1. Lance Pratt, FW Concordia, 21.70; 2. Gethers, Lake Central, 21.76; 27. Reece Lozano, BNorth, 22.71.

400 (46.99): 1. Nickens Lemba, Southport, 47.79; 2. Nayyir Newash-Campbell, Plainfield, 48.15; 26. Murry Ross-Harman, BSouth, 51.78.

800 (1:49.25): 1. Kai Connor, Westfield, 1:52.12; 2. Nolan Satterfield, Hamilton SE, 1:52.54; 19. Kyle Clark, BNorth, 1:58.73.

1,600 (4:03.00): 1. Kole Mathison, Carmel, 4:04.82; 2. Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff, Columbus North, 4:09.82; 8. Clark, BNorth, 4:18.70.

3,200 (8:51.15): 1. Mathison, Carmel, 9:02.29; 2. Abe Eskman, Jasper, 9:02.68; 14. Nolan Bailey, BNorth, 9:27.85; 19. Ryan Rheam, BSouth, 9:31.07.

110 hurdles (13.64): 1. John Colquitt, Brownsburg, 14.15; 2. Knox Willis, Zionsville, 14.37; 6. D'Andre Black, BSouth, 14.75.

300 hurdles (36.26): 1. Colquitt, Brownsburg, 38.28; 2. Dominic Lincoln, Manchester, 39.03; 8. Broc Murphy, BNorth, 39.61; 18. Black, BSouth, 40.24.

Shot put (67-11¼): 1. Tucker Smith, Columbus North, 67-11; 2. Colin Wilson, Hamilton Heights, 64-3; 11. Marcus Wynalda, BNorth, 56-4.

Discus (217-1): 1. Alex Evans, Franklin Central, 172-6; 2. Hunter Crew, Lebanon, 170-6; 7. Cody Mikulich, BNorth, 166-8.

High jump (7-4): 1. Brion Stephens, Warren Central, 6-11; 2. Kaden Stewart, Floyd Central, 6-8.

Long jump (24-7¾): 1. Piere Hill, Portage, 23-10¼; 2. Abram Stitt, Delta, 23-4½.

Pole vault (17-6¼): 1. Cody Johnston, Hobart, 16-7; 2. Connor Burries, Center Grove, 15-6; T21. Sawyer Bailey, BSouth, 13-6.

400 relay (41.02): 1. Brownsburg, 41.15; 2. Plainfield, 41.69; 20. Bloomington North, 43.37.

1,600 relay (3:13.66): 1. Plainfield, 3:17.48; 2. Fisher, 3:17.52; 21. Bloomington North, 3:27.13; 24. Bloomington South, 3:28.60.

3,200 relay (7:38.62): 1. Fisher, 7:48.70; 2. Zionsville, 7:51.15; 20. Bloomington North, 8:03.48

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Ready to fly: Who to watch at the IHSAA state boys track meet