PREVIEW: State Finals to be a memorable one

By Brandon Jones
Indiana Runner Sports Coordinator

Friday’s IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals have the potential to go down in history as one of the greatest in recent memory. There is no lack of storylines entering the meet. Here, I give predictions of what will go down in Bloomington.

4×800 meter relay:
1.   Franklin Central
2.   Gary West Side
3.   Pendleton Heights
4.   Portage
5.   Fishers
6.   Ben Davis
7.   Elkhart Memorial
8.   North Central (Indianapolis)
9.   Lake Central

There is no clear cut favorite in this event for the first time in the past few years. There are a handful of teams that could grab the win as many teams have yet to run to their full potential. Note to teams other than Franklin Central and Gary West Side: GET A SIZEABLE LEAD HEADING INTO THE ANCHOR LEG!

110 meter hurdles:
1.   Bryce Brown – Evansville Harrison
2.   Carl Buchanon – South Bend Clay
3.   D’Juan Richardson – Warren Central
4.   Michael Roberts – Lawrence Central
5.   Zac Chapman – East Noble
6.   Jordan Luallen – Center Grove
7.   Ronneal Williams – Merrillville
8.   Luke Swift – Center Grove
9.   Kerrington Marsh – Fort Wayne North

The top three hurdlers in this field are heads and shoulders above the rest. I like Brown for the win after a disappointing runner-up finish a year ago. Buchanon will edge out Richardson for runner-up honors.

100 meter dash:
1.   Shane Crawford – Winamac
2.   Bryce Brown – Evansville Harrison
3.   Devin Pipkin – Warren Central
4.   Andrew Stull – Carmel
5.   Ryan Masters – Clarksville
6.   Tra Wilson – Lawrence North
7.   Lavarus Williams – Ben Davis
8.   Jeffrey Lane – New Albany
9.   Ezra Cripe – Lapel

Crawford is a clear favorite in this event, though it would be fun to see a fresh Bryce Brown challenge the Winamac senior. A healthy Devin Pipkin would also make this race a masterful one and one can only pray that is the case.

1600 meter run:
1.   Andy Weatherford – Greencastle
2.   De’Sean Turner – Warren Central
3.   Curtis Carr – Brown County
4.   Sean Wilson – Franklin Community
5.   Drew Shields – Fishers
6.   Michael Hoffman – Bloomington North
7.   Henry Lee III – Gary Roosevelt
8.   Ben Reifenberg – Fort Wayne Dwenger
9.   Andrew Prieshoff – Anderson

The top three in this event all have sub 4:10 potential. I like this race to go out fairly fast with the aforementioned three (Weatherford, Turner, and Carr) moving over the second half. I see a small gap after those three, but then the “free for all” begins.

4×100 meter relay:
1.   Ben Davis
2.   Warren Central
3.   Evansville Harrison
4.   Carmel
5.   North Central (Indianapolis)
6.   Anderson
7.   Franklin Central
8.   Gary West Side
9.   Lawrence North

Once again, a healthy Devin Pipkin makes this race much more exciting, but I would still have to give the edge to the Giants. Brown medals for the third time on the day in leading Harrison to third place as he passes Carmel’s Andrew Stull down the stretch.

400 meter dash:
1. Eugene Ellis – Gary West Side
2.   Brandon Wesby – Gary West Side
3.   Andrew Milenkovski – Merrillville
4.   Daniel Jones – Pike
5.   Eric Brown – Wawasee
6.   Dustin Wilson – Kankakee Valley
7.   Darius Thomas – Evansville Reitz
8.   Robert Gardner – Gary Wallace
9.   Josh Lee – Pike

Northwest Indiana dominates this one with 5 all-staters. Ellis approaches the state meet record of :46.99 but falls just short. Kudos to Gary West Side and Pike as they boast two all-staters each.

300 meter hurdles:
1.   Bryce Brown – Evansville Harrison
2.   Carl Buchanon – South Bend Clay
3.   D’Juan Richardson – Warren Central
4.   Ryan McDonald – Wawasee
5.   Anton Scott – Franklin Central
6.   Wes Chamblee – South Bend St. Joseph’s
7.   David Burroughs – Plymouth
8.   Blaine Koger – Lafayette Jefferson
9.   Nate Powers – Hamilton Southeastern

Once again, the top three athletes in this field are just too talented. Brown wins in dominating fashion and Buchanon edges out Richardson for second. Wawasee and Franklin Central grab some team points here as both finish much higher than their seeds would indicate.

800 meter run:
1.   Dan Stockberger – McCutcheon
2.   De’Sean Turner – Warren Central
3.   Kevin Labus – Brebeuf Jesuit
4.   Ondraius Richardson – Warren Central
5.   Ben Reifenberg – Fort Wayne Dwenger
6.   Joey Blue – Evansville Memorial
7.   Brandon Litz – Plainfield
8.   Jeff Wysong – West Noble
9.   Jaurice Dye – Elkhart Memorial

The defending champion has just too much down the stretch for a weary Turner. Warren Central wraps up the team race as they boast 2 all-staters.

200 meter dash:
1.   Raphael Williams – Ben Davis
2.   Daniel Jones – Pike
3.   Ryan Masters – Clarksville
4.   Andrew Stull – Carmel
5.   Darius Willis – Franklin Central
6.   Devin Pipkin – Warren Central
7.   Matt Terrell – Ben Davis
8.   Nicholas Turner – Southport
9.   Jeffrey Lane – New Albany

The most wide open race of the day is the 200 meter dash. An absent Shane Crawford and ailing Devin Pipkin make this race very interesting. Toss these names in a hat as it could go any which way.

3200 meter run:
1.   Andrew Poore – Bishop Chatard
2.   Bobby Moldovan – Fort Wayne Northrop
3.   Michael Fout – LaPorte
4.   Cole Hardacre – Pendleton Heights
5.   Adam Green – Franklin Central
6.   Tito Medrano – Lafayette Jefferson
7.   Jacob Rich – Carmel
8.   Adrien Dannemiller – Martinsville
9.   Curtis Carr – Brown County

Rumors are flying that Bobby Moldovan is not the same. I am not buying it. He has to settle for the runner-up spot this time around as Bishop Chatard’s Andrew Poore steals the show late. Very fast times down the line make this the deepest 3200 in state meet history.

4×400 meter relay:
1.   Ben Davis
2.   Warren Central
3.   Gary West Side
4.   Franklin Central
5.   Merrilville
6.   South Bend Clay
7.   Wawasee
8.   South Bend St. Joseph’s
9.   Lawrence Central

The Giants re-emerge as the “king of the relays” as they win two and place all-state in another. They edge out rival Warren Central and Gary West Side nabs third, but does not push hard enough in the first heat. Franklin Central secures a top five spot in the team standings.

Long Jump:
1.   Tra Wilson – Lawrence North
2.   Brandon Leap-Hall – Carmel
3.   David Burroughs – Plymouth
4.   Randy Hudi – Crown Point
5.   Kind Butler – Lawrence Central
6.   Brendan Hutton – Southport
7.   Kenton Bennett – Muncie Southside
8.   Jordan Conley – Lawrence North
9.   Seth Vigil – Northridge

Wilson and Hall enter as the guys to beat and have quite a battle on the runway. Frankie Young’s state meet record is safe for another year, but Wilson defeats his conference rival by the slimmest of margins.

High Jump:
1.   Tyronne McKinney – Fort Wayne North
2.   Neil Angermeier – Gibson Southern
3.   Chase Clevenger – Yorktown
4.   Derrick Spight – Warren Central
5.   Xavier Carr III – Harding
6.   Kenton Bennett – Muncie Southside
7.   Josh Parsons – Northeast Dubois
8.   Aaron Heinzman – Hamilton Heights
9.   Christopher Newman – South Bend Washington

McKinney caps off his career with a win over the defending state champion and others in a talented field. Yorktown’s Chase Clevenger and Warren Central’s Derrick Spight fall just short of 6′-10.00″ as they end up third and fourth respectively.

Pole Vault:
1.   Hunter Hall – Homestead
2.   Corey Shank – Fort Wayne Northrop
3.   Kevin Schipper – Fort Wayne Dwenger
4.   Kyle Gann – Western
5.   Derek Cullison – Danville
6.   Robbie Trahin – Fort Wayne Dwenger
7.   Derek Messmer – Jasper
8.   Travis Fisher – Fort Wayne Northrop
9.   Kyle Keller – Ben Davis

The “big three” (Hall, Shank, and Schipper) do battle well into the night as it comes down to the wire. Those three emerge as the dominant forces in Indiana pole vaulting.

Shot Put:
1.   Ben Stephen – Union County
2.   Austin Kramer – Zionsville
3.   Brandon Pounds – Lawrence North
4.   Yahchaaroah Stuart – Warsaw
5.   Chad Wertman – Southridge
6.   Leonard Wells – Warsaw
7.   Max Dedmond – Evansville Central
8.   Jacob Engel – Portage
9.   Cody Miller – Northridge

Stephen makes a run at the state meet record and wins in dominating fashion. Kramer and Pounds lead the best of the rest as both go over 60 feet.

Discus Throw:
1.   Josh Greenwald – Decatur Central
2.   Ben Stephen – Union County
3.   Chandler Harnish – Norwell
4.   Josh Wells – New Albany
5.   Brandon Pounds – Lawrence North
6.   Daniel Wilcox – Pike
7.   Anthony Lewis – Terre Haute South
8.   Craig Myers – Hanover Central
9.   Cory Reiskamp – Greenfield-Central

The defending state champion from Decatur Central defends his title by the smallest of margins as four athletes crack 180 feet.

Team Competition:
1.   Warren Central
2.   Ben Davis
3.   Evansville Harrison
4.   Gary West Side
5.   Franklin Central
6.   Carmel
7.   Lawrence North
8.   South Bend Clay
9.   Pike

Warren Central has too much talent across the board and approaches 70 points. Ben Davis is a solid second and studs Brown (Harrison) and Ellis (West Side) lead their teams to top five finishes. Franklin Central rounds out the top five.