Tigers could pounce at wide-open state meet

The REPORTER

Which team is favored to win Saturday’s IHSAA boys state track & field meet?

There’s no clear-cut answer, since several teams are in contention at this year’s meet, which takes place at North Central’s track & field complex. That includes the Fishers Tigers, who have some athletes capable of placing high in their respective events. In a close meet, that could be enough to bring home a trophy.

Fishers has two athletes seeded second in their events at state this season. Both of them are not too far away from the top seed.

Vincent Rozzi put together an outstanding run to win the 200 dash at the Lafayette Jefferson regional on Thursday, May 28, in a time of 21.29 seconds. That places him second on the performance list, behind only Danville’s Collin Bumgardner, the top seed at 21.17 seconds.

Konrad Hayden also earned a second seed after a soaring high jump performance at the regional, where he cleared 6 feet, 11 inches to win the event. Hayden placed third at state last year with a jump of 6 feet, 8 inches.

Defending state champion Jordan Randall of Warsaw is the top seed with a regional leap of 7 feet, 2 inches; he cleared 7 feet to win state last season.

Meanwhile, Westfield’s 4×100 team is seeded second at North Central. The Shamrocks zoomed to a regional victory with a time of 40.93 seconds. Westfield’s time is only .04 seconds behind top seed Brownsburg’s 40.89 seconds.

The 3200 run could be a big event for Carmel and Hamilton Southeastern. The Greyhounds’ Lucas Bartlett is rated third (9:10.39), while Jonah Kaul is seeded eighth (9:13.40). The Royals’ Liam Powers holds the fourth seed (9:10.93), while Isaac Smith is seeded seventh (9:13.31). All of those times are within shouting distance of the No. 1 seed, Western’s Camden Raab, and his regional time of 9:09.24.

In the field events, Hamilton Heights’ Will Duncan is seeded fourth in the shot put at 59 feet, 10 inches, while Carmel’s Alim Broadnax is seeded eighth in the long jump at 23 feet and 0.25 inches.

Noblesville’s Banner Barnes is rated in the top nine of two events. He holds the fifth seed in the 800 run (1:52.32) and is less than a half-second off the top seed, Bloomington North’s Caleb Winders (1:51.91).

Barnes is rated seventh in the 1600 run at 4:17.36, while his Millers teammate Isaiah Vohs is seeded ninth at 4:17.61. The top nine in each event earn medals and score points for their respective teams.

One race where you best not blink is the 100 dash. A total of 37 competitors are in that race, with all of them having bested the state standard of 10.97 seconds at their respective regionals.

A complete list of Hamilton County state participants follows, along with their regional times and distances. Seed positions are based on the IHSAA’s performance list, which can be found here.

4×800 relay: 7. Westfield 7:52.55, 10. Noblesville 7:53.31, 13. Carmel 7:53.93, 15. Fishers 7:54.64, 19. Hamilton Southeastern 7:56.96.

110 hurdles: 13. Sam Long (HSE) 14.33, 15. Logan Tuck (W) 14.37, 19. Seffrin Smith (Guerin Catholic) 14.54.

100 dash: 24. Olumide Fapetu (W) 10.86, 28. Angel Wilson (N) 10.88, 30. Cayden Gearhart (W) 10.89.

1600 run: 7. Banner Barnes (N) 4:17.36, 9. Isaiah Vohs (N) 4:17.61, 13. Luke Moulder (W) 4:18.56, 14. Carter Buhr (C) 4:18.71, 23. Grant VanNahmen (C) 4:21.72.

4×100 relay: 2. Westfield 40.93, 14. Fishers 41.91, 21. Carmel 42.25.

400 dash: 7. Rocky Duplessis (F) 48.26, 30. Ryd Wallerstedt (W) 49.52.

300 hurdles: 9. Long (HSE) 38.24.

800 run: 5. Barnes (N) 1:52.32, 15. Isaiah Vohs (N) 1:54.86, 19. Omar Elsayed (HSE) 1:55.12, 20. Cooper Szotek (C) 1:55.16.

200 dash: 2. Vincent Rozzi (F) 21.29, 20. Caleb Terril (W) 21.90.

3200 run: 3. Lucas Bartlett (C) 9:10.39, 4. Liam Powers (HSE) 9:10.93, 7. Isaac Smith (HSE) 9:13.31, 8. Jonah Kaul (C) 9:13.40.

4×400 relay: 7. Fishers 3:18.96, 13. Hamilton Southeastern 3:20.21, 16. Noblesville 3:20.99.

Discus: 17. Will Duncan (Hamilton Heights) 161-3.

Shot put: 4. Duncan (HH) 59-10, 21. Mason Cantwell (F) 54-8.25, 26. Jack Eberhart (W) 54-2.

Long jump: 8. Alim Broadnax (C) 23-0.25, 18. Gabriel Davis (C) 22-5, 22. William Tschida (HSE) 22-3.75, 23. Austin Donahoe (N) 22-3.

High jump: 2. Konrad Hayden (F) 6-11, 12. Austin Geesaman (F) 6-5.

Pole vault: 17. Brady Lemieux (W) 14-0.