Track & Field state finals move to North Central

HEAD: Track & Field state finals move to North Central

The REPORTER

The Indiana High School Athletic Association announced that the IHSAA Boys, Girls and Unified Track & Field State Finals will be contested at North Central High School in Indianapolis next June.

The move was reported Tuesday during the school year’s first meeting of the IHSAA Executive Committee.

The dates for next spring’s state finals are Friday, June 6 (Boys) and Saturday, June 7 (Unified, Girls), 2025. The events will run concurrently with the Girls Tennis State Finals which also will be played at North Central’s Barbara Wynne Tennis Center.

The recently renovated stadium features a 10-lane track, videoboard, two-story press box, and seating for 4,000 spectators. And all field events are encompassed within the confines of the stadium.

The Track & Field State Finals were last held at North Central in 1997 for one year and was the site of an 11-year run from 1972 to 1982.

The events had been contested at Indiana University in Bloomington in 19 of the last 21 years with Ben Davis High School hosting in 2021, one year after the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancelation of the 2020 spring season.

Girls lacrosse to become Emerging Sport

In other news from Tuesday’s Executive Committee meeting, the sport of girls lacrosse will be added to the Emerging Sport Process for the 2025-26 school year.

The Emerging Sport Process, known as Rule 1-4 and approved by the IHSAA Board of Directors in 2021, helps pave a way for those sports and participation to continue to grow with an eye toward eventually becoming a recognized sport and sponsorship of an official state tournament.

Girls lacrosse, a spring sport, is the third to earn the designation following boys volleyball and girls wrestling, which were approved for full sponsorship last April.

By earning the designation as an emerging sport, the IHSAA will provide rule books, conduct coaches rules meetings, and provide coverage in the IHSAA’s Catastrophic Medical program. Beginning with the 2025-26 school year, the sport will be subject to all IHSAA rules and policies, including General Eligibility Rules.

For a sport to become officially recognized and an IHSAA state tournament to be sponsored, 100 schools must be participating in the sport. The IHSAA currently has 409 member schools.

Representatives of the Indiana Girls Lacrosse Association submitted requested information including data on participation in Indiana as well as other states, suggested playing rules and potential practice seasons as well as letters of commitment from member schools that either currently sponsor or intend to sponsor a program.

According to the data submitted from the coaches association, in 2023, there were 39 schools around the state with a school-sponsored varsity or club program. The IGLA has sponsored its own state tournament since 2000.

KIPP Indy Legacy gains full membership

Also, the Committee officially approved KIPP Indy Legacy High School in Indianapolis for full membership and state tournament participation immediately this fall.

KIPP Indy Legacy offers the sports of boys and girls basketball, boys and girls cross country, boys soccer, boys and girls track and field, girls volleyball and boys wrestling.

The school, located in the Martindale-Brightwood neighborhood at 2255 Ralston Avenue on the near east side of Indianapolis, was first admitted as a provisional member school in 2020.

There are 406 full member schools with three current provisional members for a total of 409.