Splitting hairs: D'Andre Black on both sides of close calls at boys' state track finals

D'Andre Black had to find a way to turn time from an enemy into a friend again.

The tiny fraction of the clock that tried to ruin his day was just .002 of a second, but then again, a particle of light can travel 372 miles in just such a wink of time. It was also just enough to keep Black from making the finals of the 110 hurdles at the IHSAA state boys' track and field meet on Saturday at IU's Robert C. Haugh Complex.

But stewing over it for long wouldn't be all that constructive, not when there was a chance to make up for it in the 300s.

"(Hurdle coach Zach Pedersen) came up to me and said, 'Screw it, you're great. You went out there and still ran good race, it's just how the cookie crumbles," Black said. "But I got out there. He said do your best. We've been practicing the 300s all week, not worrying about the 110s. We were trying to get a nice 39 tempo around and I think that's what I did."

Yes indeed. That's just what the sophomore from Bloomington South did, getting out well, he turned a 39.46, his second best time ever, to nab eighth place. By .01 over ninth and .04 out of 10th after sweating out the fast heat that followed.

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"He's such a competitor," South coach Larry Williams said. "He's mad not making it to the finals, but he stayed focused and came over and talked to coach Pedersen about what he wanted to do in the 300 hurdles and it worked out for him.

"He was real good over his first three hurdles, best he's been all year, and just carried that down. Coach Zach worked with him so much over the last week concentrating on that first 100. He did exactly what he needed to do there and it paid off."

It wasn't an easy thing to do knowing he's run one of his better 110s and had nothing to show for it.

"It did kind of suck," Black said. "It was my main goal to get to the podium in both events. But it's what happened. So I took it with a grain of salt, went into the 300s and put it all out there.

"And I think it was a good result though I think I could have done better. It's only my second year here, so getting on the podium is pretty impressive, but I'll always want more."

He sees a hurdler like Brownsburg's IU bound John Colquitt sweep both events and sees himself getting there. It's just a matter of time.

"It's insane," Black said. "I went (to state) as a freshman and I didn't have the strength to get into the final. Seeing how fast everybody is and wishing I could be there one day, in the top spot just like Colquitt. That would be cool."

North's Clark medals in 1,600

North's Kyle Clark wasn't a happy camper after all four of his individual races at sectional and regional, getting edged at the finish line each time.

There was a smile on his face following the 1,600, however, as Clark not only set himself up for a sixth place finish, his 4:13.41 broke a 14-year-old school record (4:14.64) set by Michael Hoffmann.

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"That's all you can hope for is to peak at state," Clark said. "That is by far the hardest I've run this season. I wasn't focused on time. It just kind of comes with place."

He was sitting eighth and moved up to sixth halfway through, clocking a 2:06.20, then worked on holding his spot as Carmel's Kole Mathison (4:04.82) and Columbus North's Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff (4:09.56) had their own race at the top.

"You get so much adrenalin from this environment," Clark said. "I was almost spaced out for the first 600, but then I got it together and started trying to make some moves and stay toward the front, because I knew it was a race for third.

"I thought I was going to pass out down the homestretch. I got one guy, but got passed by two. But you can't ask a whole lot better than a three-second PR and a school record."

Clark was also 17th in the 800, placing sixth in the first heat in 1:57.72.

Wynalda 7th in shot put

In a short amount of time, North's Marcus Wynalda made himself a state medalist.

Without a sophomore season, the all-state football player improved by nearly 10 feet in the shot put this season, saving his best for last.

He came out with a career best 57-8¼ on his first effort in the shot put, good for sixth and just one other person passed him in the final, leaving the senior seventh.

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"I was seeded 11th and come out seventh, so I'm happy with that," Wynalda said. "I just came in here to give it my all. It's my last meet so there was nothing to be worried about and I did my best."

Things went so well, he might be changing his college plans, which had been to let sports go while attending IU.

"I've had a little conversations with coaches about the possibility," Wynalda said.

Rheam makes most of it

South sophomore Ryan Rheam was making his second state appearance in the 3,200 and was one of just three runners not juniors or seniors in the race. Just making it here again after an injury plagued season was huge.

But ended up 12th with a 10-second PR of 9:21.59.

"It's been a long journey," Rheam said. "It's been emotional. It's been awesome. We always talked about how it would be awesome if I could make it to state. Even if I do make it to state, am I going to be good?

"So going into this, I don't know how I'm going to feel, but I just gave it my all. I certainly didn't think I was going (to PR), but what have I got to lose?"

He was as far back as 17th before working his way up.

"A 9:33 indoors, then a stress fracture and out all that time," South coach Larry Williams said. "And he just stayed focused. That was a great payoff."

Speed demons

Last year, just two runners broke 11 seconds in the 100 preliminaries, and just two broke 22 in the 200 prelims. In the 110 hurdles, just nine broke 15 seconds.

Compare those to this year's numbers, 17, nine and 12.

Edgewood's Zack Raake was one of the casualties of that RPM increase, going 11.00 (10.994 exactly), to place 17th. It took a 10.812, topping a 10.82, to make the finals.

Not so lucky

There were two 10th place finish for the Cougars to suffer.

Junior Cody Mikulich went 158-2 on his first throw in discus that just got him into the 10-man finals. But he couldn't better it, fouling all three times while trying to do so.

Then there was North's Broc Murphy, who was the 10th man in the 300 hurdles by .03 in 39.50.

"You hate to be 10th," North coach Justin Helmer said. "But it was a good experience for Cody in his first state meet. He'll be back and be a different person here next year.

"Broc just dried up at the end. He got out faster then he ever has and just ran out of gas over that last hurdle. He fell last year here, so I bet he'll look a lot different next year, too."

Other results for North included a 15th for the 3,200 relay in a season best 7:58.01 and 19ths for the 400 relay (43.21) and 1,600 relay (3:26.17). Senior Nolan Bailey, still feeling the effects of his leg injury, was 20th in the 3,200 in 9:30.83. Reece Lozano was 26th in the 200 (22.83).

South's day included a 17th place finish for junior Sawyer Bailey in pole vault at 13-6; senior Murry Ross-Harman taking 19th in the 400 (50.45) and pulling the 1,600 relay up from eighth to fourth in the first heat (for 21st overall) in 3:27.03.

"It was a good meet for our kids," Williams said.

Quaker state

Plainfield's Quakers had never finished higher than 10th but scored 61 points, using two wins, two relay runner-ups and two thirds to claim title over Brownsburg (47) and Columbus North (43).

Bloomington North had seven points and South two.

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

IHSAA STATE BOYS' TRACK MEET

Top 20 team scores: 1. Plainfield 61; 2. Brownsburg 47; 3. Columbus North 43; 4. Fishers 39; 5. Carmel 38; 6. Center Grove 35⅓; 7. Warren Central 23; 8. Fort Wayne Concordia 21; T9. Floyd Central 18; Ben Davis 18; 11. Mt. Vernon (Fortville) 16; T12. Hamilton Southeastern 15; Roncalli 15; 14. Brebeuf Jesuit 14; 15. Hamilton Heights 13⅓; 16. Castle 13; T17. Zionsville 12; Westfield 12; T19. Penn 11; Delta 11. T30. Bloomington North 7; T63. Bloomington South 2.

Individual results

100: 1. Anthony Brodie, EvMemorial, 10.57; 2. Lance Pratt, FWConcordia, 10.76; 3. Plex Lawrence, Kokomo, 10.76; 4. Connor Maple, Plainfield, 10.78. 17. Zack Raake, Edgewood, 11.00.

200: 1. Kemari Robinson, Ritter, 21.49; 2. Pratt, FW Condordia, 21.54; 3. Nayyir Newash-Campbell, Plainfield, 21.62; 4. Brandon Wheat, CentGrove, 21.82. 26. Reece Lozano, BNorth, 22.83.

400: 1. Newash Campbell, Plainfield, 47.45; 2. Nickens Lemba, Southport, 47.66; 3. Keefer Soehngen, Fishers, 48.12; 4. Michael Page, Cathefral, 48.51. 19. Murry Ross-Harman, BSouth, 50.45.

800: 1. Kai Connor, Westfield, 1:51.84; 2. Xavier Wills, Warren C, 1:52.69; 3. Matt Newell, Col N, 1:53.26; 4. Nate Killeen, NCentral, 1:53.43. 17. Kyle Clark, BNorth, 1:57.52.

1,600: 1. Kole Mathison, Carmel, 4:04.82; 2. Reese Kilbarger-Stumpff, Col N, 4:09.56; 3. Ezra Burrell, Brebeuf J, 4:12.30; 4. Andrew Mangum, Castle, 4:12.55. 6. Clark, BNorth, 4:13.41 (school record; old record, 4:14.64, Michael Hoffmann, 2007).

3,200: 1. Mathison, Carmel, 8:59.05; 2. Abe Eckman, Jasper, 9:01.50; 3. Charlie Schuman, Carmel, 9:02.39; 4. William Conway, Floyd C, 9:02.81. 12. Ryan Rheam, BSouth, 9:21.59; 20. Nolan Bailey, BNorth, 9:30.83.

110 hurdles: 1. John Colquitt, Brownsburg, 13.90; 2. Knox Willis, Zionsville, 14.40; 3. Harrison Hrbek, Plainfield, 14.50; 4. Parker Doyle, CentGrove, 14.54. 10. D'Andre Black, BSouth, 14.84

300 hurdles: 1. Colquitt, Brownsburg, 37.92; 2. Tyler Tarter, Fishers, 38.57; 3. Alexander Hooten, Roncalli, 39.11; 4. Dominic Lincoln, Manchester, 39.20. 8. Black, BSouth, 39.46; 10. Broc Murphy, BNorth, 39.50.

Shot put: 1. Tucker Smith, Col N, 66-6¾; 2. Colin Wilson, Hamilton Hts, 64-4½; 3. David Lara-Gonzalez, Ben Davis, 61-7¼; 4. Luke Himes, Heritage Chr, 61-1½. 7. Marcus Wynalda, BNorth, 57-8¼.

Discus: 1. Antoine Cooper, BenDavis, 172-6; 2. Tucker Smith, Col N, 170-4; 3. Mike Paquette, Penn, 168-11; 4. Shon Tupuola, Brownsburg, 164-11. 10. Cody Mikulich, BNorth, 158-2.

High jump: 1. Bode Gilkerson, Plainfield, 6-9; 2. Kaden Stewart, Floyd C, 6-8; 3. Brion Stephens, Warren C, 6-7; 4. Chad Cox, Franklin Co, 6-7.

Long jump: 1. Piere Hill, Portage, 23-4¾; 2. Ja'raylan Johnson, New Albany, 23-1¾; 3. Abram Stitt, Delta, 22-11; 4. Cubie Jones, Marion, 22-10½.

Pole vault: 1. Cody Johnston, Hobart, 16-8; 2. Connor Burries, CentGrove, 16-0; 3. George Boudier, Culver, 15-9; 4. Parker Speth, Castle, 15-6. 17. Sawyer Bailey, BSouth, 13-6.

400 relay: 1. Brownsburg, 41.60; 2. Plainfield 41.92; 3. Evansville Harrison, 41.96; 4. West Lafayette Harrison, 41.97. 19. Bloomington North (Mikulich, Jarno Ksander-Hicks, Connor Shin, Lozano), 43.21.

1,600 relay: 1. Fishers, 3:18.85; 2. Plainfield, 3:20.38; 3. Mt. Vernon (Fortville), 3:20.67; 4. Center Grove, 3:20.72. 19. Bloomington North (Lozano, Muprhy, Griffin Bruce, Clark), 3:26.17; 21. Bloomington South (Ivin Tait, Adrian Rheam, Black, Ross-Harman), 3:27.03.

3,200 relay: 1. Columbus North, 7:37.90 (state record: old record, 7:38.62, Lawrence Central, 2011); 2. Center Grove, 7:42.91; 3. Fishers, 7:43.30; 4. Hamilton Southeastern, 7:44.06. 15. Bloomington North (Liam Arthur, Eli Norrock, Dominic D'Onofrio, Slaper), 7:58.01.

This article originally appeared on The Herald-Times: Splitting hairs: Black on both sides of close calls at boys' state track