By RICHIE HALL
INDIANAPOLIS – Hamilton County’s boys track and field teams had solid days at the Hoosier State Relays last Saturday, along with a handful of victories.
In the Large School division, Fishers made the podium with a strong runner-up finish. The Tigers scored 46 points, behind only Bloomington North, which rode two relay victories to a team score of 64 points.
Fishers more than held its own, though. The Tigers had two individual victories from athletes who will more than likely be making some noise throughout the outdoor season.
“They performed well,” said Fishers coach Nathan Warnecke. The Tigers also had two relay place in the top four.
“They had a great day all around,” said Warnecke.
Tyler Tarter claimed the 60 hurdles championship, clocking in with a new meet record time of 7.81 seconds. He finished the meet by joining Leo Morrow, Matthew Kim and Makell Wiggins to place third in the 4×400 relay.
Tarter
“The past few weeks I’ve been focusing mainly on the 60 hurdles,” said Tarter. “I’ve only done one longer distance hurdle workout just because I knew I had a shot at this state record, so I wanted to focus on that.”
On the other side of the distance spectrum, Sam Quagliaroli won the 3200 run. He finished that event in a time of 9:08.74. Quagliaroli teamed with Kim, Gage Sturgill and Declan Mohr for fourth place in the distance medley relay.
Quagliaroli
“I’m just trying to carry this momentum into all of our workouts and into our future races and outdoor season,” said Quagliaroli. “But it’s definitely a huge, huge first step as far as that goes.”
Noblesville finished in ninth place with a score of 22 points. The Millers were led by their runner-up distance medley relay team of Jack Strong, Luke Mumaw, Alec Moor and Caden Click. Noblesville had a seventh-place result from its 4×400 relay, while the Millers’ 4×800 relay took eighth.
Hamilton Southeastern tied for 10th place with 21 points. Michael Griffith got a victory for the Royals, as he won the long jump with a new record of 23 feet, 7.5 inches – which he said was a personal best by six inches.
“I’m pretty excited,” said Griffith. “I feel like this is a good preview of what could happen in the outdoor season.” Griffith said this is only his second meet of the season because he’s coming off the basketball season, so he still feels like he has room to improve.
Hamilton Southeastern’s Michael Griffith won the long jump in the boys Large School meet. (Richie Hall)
Southeastern also earned medals in the 4×800 relay, which finished sixth, and from Teddy Miller (sixth place) and Josiah Bird (seventh place) in the shot put.
Westfield scored 18 points to finish 13th as a team. The Shamrocks were led by their 4×800 relay team; the group of Will Snedeker, Caleb Haney, Jack Loiselle and Landon Jones placed third. Westfield’s 4×200 relay team placed sixth.
Carmel scored eight points for 21st place. The Greyhounds’ distance medley relay team of Tony Provenzano, Cole Taylor, Carter Buhr and Kyle Grove was fifth.
Small Schools success
In the Small Schools division, Guerin Catholic placed fourth with 36.5 points. The Golden Eagles had three relays win medals, led by the 4×400 relay team of Wesley Street, Johnny King, Ben Grissom and Conor Baumann that placed third.
The GC 4×800 relay team was fourth and the 4×200 relay team took seventh. Seffrin Smith won two individual medals by placing sixth in the 60 hurdles and seventh in the high jump. Daniel Ernst tied for third in the high jump.
Hamilton Heights’ Peyton McQuinn was the winner in the pole vault. His top vault was 15 feet, which he cleared on the second try to clinch the championship. McQuinn’s victory placed the Huskies 16th in the team standings.
Sheridan’s Damon Winston finished fifth in the high jump, scoring four team points for the Blackhawks. Sheridan tied for 33rd in the team standings.