Surprise! Martinsville junior Martin Barco defeats Carmel's national champ Kole Mathison

Anyone ready to concede the state championship in the 1,600 meters to defending champion and Carmel senior Kole Mathison might think again.

The elation and, well, surprise, was written all over Martinsville junior Martin Barco’s face after an electric final lap at Friday night’s Franklin Central Distance Showcase Invitational. The Artesians’ junior kept Mathison, the defending state champion in the 1,600 and 3,200 meters, in striking distance before turning it on and finishing in a meet record 4:08.94.

“I knew I had a shot,” Barco said of beating Mathison. “I didn’t think it would happen tonight, though. I thought I’d have a better chance at state. But hey, I mean, if someone makes you angry enough, you can go out there and do a lot of things.”

The person Barco was angry with was not Mathison but his own performance leading up to Friday’s event. He had never beat Mathison in a race prior to Friday, but showed he was capable of putting it together last year when he ran a 4:12.93 as a sophomore at the state meet to finish fifth.

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“To come out here and finally put the hammer where it belongs makes me really happy,” Barco said after he was congratulated by several competitors, including Mathison.

Mathison, one of the state’s most accomplished runners as the national cross-country champion and Indiana indoor mile record-holder, was not necessarily disappointed by his time as he finished second at 4:11.36. Barco admitted it is easier to be guy chasing the favorite everyone expects to win every race than vice versa.

“I’m kind of the one with the target on my back and everyone is chasing me,” Mathison said. “I know that going into every race and it doesn’t change anything. I’m not in the peak of shape coming back from spring break and still kind of building back up with mileage and workouts. I always want to come away with a win, but I’m not mad coming in second. Martin ran a great race and had a great kick. Props to him for running that kind of a race.”

Mathison knew, even before Friday’s race, that he “is not going to the handed the state championship.”

“Indiana is a competitive state,” he said. “And I’m going to do everything I can to be at my best when it really matters. The focus is the state meet and I’m going to figure out what I can do to better myself and get ready for that.”

Brebeuf Jesuit’s Cameron Todd finished third (4:14.06), followed by Franklin Central’s Brayden Henkle (4:14.69), Bloomington North’s Kyle Clark (4:14.97) and Floyd Central’s Will Conway (4:15.60).

Barco, also a soccer player at Martinsville, certainly put his name on the map with his early-season performance. The crowd was buzzing during the final 200 meters and for a several minutes after the finish, many stunned it was not Mathison finishing first.

Barco said his goal was to stay close until the final 200.

“Hopefully it will give him some good competition,” Barco said. “Hopefully it will be beneficial for him, too, because I know it’s hard to be the guy expected to go out and win every time. Hats off to Kole, for sure.”

There was not as much drama in the girls’ event as Park Tudor senior Sophia Kennedy ran a 4:49.18 to win by more than 6 seconds over Homestead junior Addison Knoblauch (4:55.56). Julia Score, a Bishop Chatard freshman, was third at 4:56.97. Noblesville’s Summer Rempe was fourth (4:57.37), followed by Columbus North’s Lily Baker (4:59.25) and Warsaw’s Josefina Rastrelli (4:59.32).

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Kennedy was running all alone most of the race, which she said was not exactly as easy as she made it look.

“I was just trying to press myself and keep surging in the next segment,” she said. “When you think, ‘Oh, I have 800 meters to go,’ instead of going 200 really hard, it can be easy to get caught up in the daunting end of the race. But today was good. It was a really solid effort. I didn’t think I would be alone until the final 400, but I tried take control of the race no matter how it goes out. It’s my race and not anybody else’s. I wanted use my strengths and other people’s weaknesses to try to get a win.”

Gretchen Farley, Kennedy’s Park Tudor teammate, ran at Park Tudor’s home meet. Farley ran a 4:48.81 to win her meet.

“We don’t train as much together because she’s more mid-distance and I’m more pure distance,” Kennedy said. “But we love to talk race strategies and it’s nice to have someone like her, even when you aren’t training together, to have someone to talk to as a resource.”

Call Star reporter Kyle Neddenriep at (317) 444-6649.

This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Martinsville's Martin Barco upsets Carmel's Kole Mathison in 1,600