The 2018 Boys state meets was probably one of the most unpredictable in recent memory. With only a small handful events having major favorites coming into the day, the story lines were all over the place.
All eyes were focused towards the middle of the track, where the pole vault competition and the high jump seemed to be competing to see which one could go on longer and who could raise the bar higher. Colton Crum managed to finally break a record he saw set back when he was just a freshman. He raised the bar to 17' 6.25" to set a new state record by just a ¼ of an inch. He had been waiting for this moment for four long years after seeing Deakin Volz set the record. Crum then raised the bar to 17' 9.5" to see if he could more than beat the record, but unfortunely came up a little short on each attempt. He will get another chance to jump at the IU track complex here in just about two weeks, but this time against some of the country's best instead of just the states best in the USATF Junior Outdoors, which also happens to be the qualifier for the U20 Champs. Nathan Stone grabbed 2nd with a clearance of 17ft and will head out to North Carolina in just about two weeks as well to compete at New Balance Nationals.
In the high jump competition, it looked like we may see two guys go over 6' 11" which would have beat last years winning mark. But Lawrence Mitchell of Pike tapped out after clearing 6' 10". The star of the show then became Nate Patterson, who immediately raised the bar to 7'2" after easily clearing 7ft, knowing he could clear it. It took two attempts, but he made 7'2" look like a walk in the park. Instead of just going up one inch, Patterson then moved the bar to 7'4". He had cleared 7' 3.5" the week before so he decided to go to a new height. It seems like 2 is his lucky number as he also took two attempts at this height to clear it. He then went way higher than before and decided to go to 7' 6.25", which would have been a new NFHS recognized record. He took all three attempts just narrowly missing the mark. He more than set the new Indiana State record with his 7'4" clearance. He believes it is a mark that will not be broken for awhile as well. We will get to see him once more as well in two weeks at the USATF Junior Outdoors where he has hopes of qualifying for the national team and traveling to Finland.
Patterson also competed in the long jump but finished 7th. The two HCC stars that were expected to go 1-2, Isaac Guerendo and Pierce Thomas both came within inches of earning a state title in the event. In his final attempt Crown Point senior Nick Ryan pulled out the big guns and jumped 23'5.5" to come away with that blue ribboned medal. Guerendo took 2nd and Thomas took 3rd.
For the 2nd year in a row, Tyler Gilbert (Western) went undefeated in the discus to claim his 2nd state title with a toss of 177'3". George Karlaftis, came back to the state meet one more time ready to stay at the top of the podium. He managed to grab 1st in the shot put with a throw of 60' ½", his best throw ever.
After taking 2nd in the long jump, Isaac Guerendo was on a mission to get 1st in his other events to ensure that the Orioles took home the 1st place trophy. In the 100 dash he was 5th in the prelims, but he's never worried about being first there. It's all about getting to the finals. In the finals he dropped a fast 10.51 to get those 10pts for Avon. Justin Becker (FW Carroll) took 2nd in a super close finish 10.52.
Becker had to wait a couple hours to get his revenge on Guerendo in the 200. He managed to pull off a quick final, crossing the line in 21.50 to Guerendo's 21.57.
A quiet force from up north, Braden Corzan cruised to an easy win in the 400 with a time of 47.41. Tahj Johnson took 2nd in 48.42.
Out of heat 1, usually known as the slow heat, Keith Abramson shot that thought down by winning the event there with a 1:54.62. Yonas Araya, also in heat 1, kept that idea down, being the only other person out of the 1st section to medal, placing 3rd overall. Jacob Lough took 2nd in 1:54.91.
Many of the distance runners on Saturday had the opportunity to finish their high school seasons on their future home track. The first one to do so was Matt Schadler, who has had a break out year on the distance scene, lowering his time every time he stepped up to the line. On Saturday he earned his first state title in the 1600, crossing in 4:07.83, just .21 ahead of junior stud Cole Hocker.
In the final distance event of the night, the 3200, Skylar Stidam, Matthew Yoder, Ben Miller and Keelan Grant all got to show out at their new home. Stidam easily showed out the most, coming in first in a time of 9:13.34, just .56 ahead of Alec Fleming. Miller took 3rd, Yoder 6th and Grant 10th.
Madison Norris, is also headed to Bloomington come the fall, but he'll participate on the football team instead of on the track. He took 1st in the 110 Hurdles, finishing just off his PR in 14.02.
In a senior dominate 300 hurdles final, Shaton Vaughn came out on top crossing in 37.52 seconds.
Guerendo was able to assist in 10 more points for the orioles in the 4x100 where they finished in 41.28. HSE 2nd in 41.59 and Pike 3rd in 41.97.
In the 4x800 relay, North Central threw down a crazy good time of 7:44.07, to easily win by 4 seconds to Zionsville and FW Northrop. The Panthers later took 2nd in the 4x400 finishing in 3:16.43.
The Tigers of Fishers would snag 1st finishing in 3:15.80. Each one of Fishers' relays medaled on Saturday as well.
Avon took home the team trophy with 66pts
Fishers 2nd - 47pts
Hamilton Southeastern 3rd - 44pts
Fort Wayne Northrop and Pike 4th - 36pts