Unity reigns as Bedford North Lawrence Unified Track and Field wins state championship

BLOOMINGTON — High school Unified Sports began as an off-shoot of Special Olympics with the idea to provide athletes with intellectual disabilities the opportunity play high school sports alongside their partners (those without intellectual disabilities).

The spirit of Unified Sports remains as inclusion, friendship and sportsmanship, but the IHSAA has added an element of competition by providing a state series for Unified Track and Field and Unified Flag Football.

Here is the IHSAA mission statement on its website concerning unified sports: "Unified Sports® was first developed by Special Olympics as a means of providing a quality experience of sports training and competition in an inclusive environment that allows friendships to form. It is the vision of this joint IHSAA / Special Olympics Indiana (SOIN) sports project to allow high school students with and without intellectual disabilities to collectively represent their high school in an IHSAA sanctioned activity by participating together on a Unified Sports® team."

It's a beautiful blend as it allows the athletes to experience the excitement of competition and the reward of earning a medal, scoring points for a team and setting personal records like those in other IHSAA sports.

The intrinsic reward for their partners is immense. They are able to compete as well, but they also get to witness the growth and progress, and then the joy and happiness of the athletes when they win or excel.

A further expression of the shared experienced is offered on the IHSAA website: "Unified Sports® enables persons with and without intellectual disabilities to participate on the same team for sports training and competition. The “Champions Together” partnership between the Indiana High School Athletic Association and Special Olympics Indiana was launched in 2012. While the IHSAA provides the framework for competition, Special Olympics Indiana provides technical support and financial grants to a number of schools who start new Unified Track ® programs."

Bedford North Lawrence obviously has this balancing act down extremely well, thanks in large measure to coaches Mike and Lori Branam and amazing athletes and partners.

On Saturday at Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex at Indiana University in Bloomington, BNL won the Unified Track an Field state championship to become the first school in the state to claim titles in both sports (the Stars claimed the first Flag Football state crown in 2018-19, the first year of the state tournament series).

On top of that honor, BNL seniors Tanner Robbins and Jesselyn Fisher received the prestigious 2022 Bobby Cox Spirit of Unified Sports Mental Attitude Award.

Track Stars step forward

During meets, whether it's a regular-season contest or a state tournament affair, those with intellectual disabilities (athletes) and those without (partners) are not distinguished or set apart in any way. They compete together in the long jump, shot put, 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash and the boys and girls 400-meter relay.

Each team may enter two athletes and two partners in each event. Relays must have two partners and two athletes. The events are split into heats and each athlete or partner is seeded into a heat based on qualifying distance or time. Then each heat is scored as if it is a finals heat with 10 points for first place, 8 for second, 6 for third, 5 for fourth, 4 for fifth, 3 for sixth, 2 for seventh and 1 for eighth.

The team then piles up points with their performances, just like the regular IHSAA Boys State Finals Meet that was conducted Saturday night at IU.

BNL built a score of 116 points to barely edge Lafayette Jefferson's 114, with Valparaiso (107), Elkhart (103), Penn (102), Noblesville (96), Indian Creek (92), Westfield (90), Griffith (88) and Avon (88) completing the field in a very close, competitive State Finals.

The Stars came through every step of the way along the trail to the title. BNL won the Jasper Sectional with 129 points to turn back Jasper (108), Boonville (105), Evansville North (95), Mt. Vernon (94), Castle (92), Southridge (89), Evansville Bosse (36) and Vincennes Lincoln (31).

Next came the BNL Regional and the Stars defended their home turf again with a score of 129 to edge Avon (115), Franklin County (106), Floyd Central (105), Indian Creek (104), Boonville (87) Brownsburg (82), Franklin Community (74), Terre Haute North (73), Perry Meridian (70), Jasper (47) and Corydon Central (46).

BNL's team roster includes 18 remarkable young people who came together as one to pursue a state championship, but also in pursuit of something bigger, which is to gain and spread an understanding of the importance of unity, inclusion and basic humanity.

The BNL roster includes Robbins, Fisher and fellow seniors Julie Bartley, Gunner Connaughton and Philip Matson, along with juniors Gracelyn Arthur, Alice Bair, Samantha Biel, Koltyn Clute, Brax Huber, Rylan Sheeley, and Harley Tanksley, sophomore Ethan Robinson, and freshmen Madi Crane, Alex Nubbie, Braxton Johnson, Tori Longsdon and Kris Kunkle.

"Our kids have had one goal this year, and that was to win a state championship," said Mike Branam, who has coached the track and field and flag football unified teams since the inception in 2018. "We have been close in the past (second place in 2019), but they decided this year that they were going to go all the way.

"All 18 kids have worked hard all season long, and over the the last three weekends every one of them has achieved a personal best. Several have done it each weekend."

Rolling on race day

After building momentum at sectional and regional, the Stars were ready to run, throw and roll on race day at the State Finals in Bloomington.

It started with the field events, the mixed long jump and mixed shot put. Clute gave BNL some clout by placing fifth overall and first in his heat in the long jump at 16-11¾, while Matson was eighth (16-4). Kunkle (12-10) was second in Heat 3, and Longsdon (9-7½) won Heat 6 for 10 points.

Connaughton (39-0) was sixth and Robinson (35-3¾) eighth in the mixed shot put. Bartley (23-4¾) was second in Heat 4, and Nubbie (20-7¾) was seventh in Heat 4.

In the mixed 100-meter dash, Robbins ran a PR of 11.91 to finish fourth overall. Tanksley (15.57) was sixth in Heat 3, Bair (15.75) was second in Heat 4 and Sheeley (18.18) was second in Heat 6.

In the mixed 400, Huber was second in Heat 1 and overall with a 55.91, while Connaughton won the third heat with a PR of 1:03.73. Kunkle (1:14.57) was second in Heat 4 and Fisher (1:18.92) won Heat 6 as the BNL piled up 36 points in the event.

BNL's girls 400 relay of Arthur, Biel, Longsdon and Tanksley finished fourth in 1:04.29. The boys 400 relay of Robinson, Matson, Huber and Robbins came through with a third-place overall in 49.23 to seal the state title.

Post-meet awards

The Stars garnered further accolades after the meet as Clute (long jump), Longsdon (long jump), Connaughton (400) and Fisher (400) were named First Team All-State, while Bartley (shot put), Kunkle (long jump and 400), Bair (100), Sheeley (100) and Huber (400) were Second Team All-State.

Clute (LJ), Longsdon (LJ), Robbins (100), Tanksley (100), Connaughton (400) and Fisher (400) all posted personal records.

The perfect capper came when Robbins and Fisher received the Mental Attitude Awards as the perfectly personified the spirit of the award. As the proclamation reads, Fisher and Robbins exemplified "An athlete, nominated by their principal and coach, must excel in mental attitude, joy, courage, self-advocacy, and commitment during their time in high school. A partner athlete, also nominated by their principal and coach, must excel in mental attitude, inclusive behavior, courage, advocacy, and commitment during their time in high school."

"I cannot think of anyone more deserving of the mental attitude award than Jesselyn and Tanner," Branam said. "They have been with the program for several years and have grown into amazing leaders, examples, and all-around tremendous young adults.

"I am so happy that those two along with our other three seniors, Phillip Matson, Julie Bartley and Gunner Connaughton, were able to finish off their high school careers like this.

"I am so proud of all 18 of these kids. They have been a fun group to coach, and each and every one of them deserves this championship."

Contact Times-Mail Sports Writer Jeff Bartlett at jeffb@tmnews.com, or on Twitter @jeffbtmnews.

This article originally appeared on The Times-Mail: Unified Track and Field state title belongs to Bedford North Lawrence