The large school finals may be even more exciting than the small schools earlier in the day. A couple meet records may go down and some crazy good competition will get to go against each other for the first time this year. The big schools meet kicks off at 2pm.
60m Dash and Hurdles
In a senior heavy race, we can almost guarantee this will be an exciting boys hurdle race. Madison Norris comes in with a stellar time of 8.09. He may be seeded 5th, but Daryl Black of Pike is one to keep an eye on and will surely be putting up a fight for a top finish. Norris for the win, but in a very close finish all around.
Haley Goines of Center Grove is still holding to that 8.92 she blazed at MIC at the beginning of the month, will she be able to do it again to top the rest of the field? Between her and Kennedy Batts the fight to the line will be a good one. There are 8 girls from the MIC slated to compete in the hurdles tomorrow. Goines for the win with Batts in a close 2nd.
The big school 60 dash for the boys is going to be one that you will have to see to believe. Isaac Guerendo comes in with a 6.88 seed. Noah Malone, who finished 2nd to Guerendo is seeded 8th with a 6.99. The top 8 are all under 7 seconds. Justin Becker is the defending champ, setting a new meet record in the prelims last year. He'll look to defend his title but it won't come as easily this time. Johnny Adams is seeded 6.89, just behind Guerendo. This is a super hard one to call, but based on his consistency so far this season, I think Isaac Guerendo will be able to pull out the win, in a new meet record time as well.
The girls dash will be exciting but probably not as much as the boys. Camille Christopher and Paishence Johnson come in with the top seed time, both at 7.72. Kiyah Yeast of Center Grove in right at 7.76. Christopher walks in as the girl to beat in this race, so I'll give her the dub for now.
3200m Run
Something that may come as a shock to the distance community, Gabe Fendel does NOT hold the top seed time coming into this race. He still has the best PR in the field, but thus far this year he has not shown that he is still top dog. He raced once at HCC to crushed the field but not by as much as people would think for Fendel. In fact, in this race he is seeded 17th, almost in a spot that any other runner there would be counted out as one to not be able to win it. Jesse Hamlin of Snider walks in as top dog this year with a 9:20.48 time. Alec Fleming seems to have bounced back from a less than great cross country season and comes in 3rd with a 9:24.37. This whole field is just stacked with all-state caliber guys. Worth noting, Carmel has 7 boys entered, giving them the potential to score 38 points. That will be very unlikely to happen but it's still possible. Jakob Kintzele holding his spot in 2nd with a 9:24 as well. If Fendel gets out there and pushes it from the get go, he will be able to reclaim his spot at the top of the distance list once again. Hamlin, Kintzele, Fleming and even Evan Sorensen, will look to do what they can to hold him off from being the top dog though. I have to go with big winners for this though, Gabe Fendel for the win. I think we may see a sub-9 performance out of a couple of these guys if they can all push the pace enough and hang on.
The girls race would have been just as exciting, but unfortunely it won't be. Phoebe Bates and Tyler Schwartz would have squared off in this, but Bates has opted out of this one. So we will be back to the regularly scheduled showing of the Tyler Schwartz show, where she should be able to run away with this race. But she shouldn't be too relaxed in the final laps, Sophia Rigg may just pull out that killer kick like last year and swoop in for the win. Gabby Dilick of Westfield may try to hang out with Schwartz as long as she can too and go for a fast time. I think a sub-10:30 will happen in this race.
Relays
It'll be the MIC vs the HCC in the boys 4x800. The MIC looks to have the slight upperhand this year, with Carmel and North Central seeded 1-2. Avon and Westfield will represent the HCC from 4-5. Carmel looks to be the team to beat though, just as they usually are in distance orientated events.
Again, with the MIC and HCC battle for the girls. Carmel gets the top seed here again with a 9:27.81. Noblesville is always dominant though in this event. It appears that Brownsburg has put Abby Lynch on their list to run as well. Carmel for the win in this one though. They just have that depth to be able to throw anyone of their 7 in there and still do amazing.
The boys 4x200 is LOADED. The top 7 have all run 1:31 or faster. I think this is another one where we will see a meet record fall. Anyone of the top 7 could take the win here. This is one we will probably have to wait for the photo finish to see who claims the title. If I must pick one though, I'm going to give it to Avon, their guys are just strong from start to finish when they race and have put together a star line up.
The girls 4x200 will be a little less exciting but still incredible. Hamilton Southeastern brings in all of their top sprinters to pull the win off. Warren Central ad Lawrence Central will battle right there with them. A new meet record is possible with the quality of these three teams. I'm going to give the win to Warren. They always put everything together right when they need to and tomorrow will be no exception.
In the boys 4x400 it looks like we'll have a three team race between North Central Carmel and FW Northrop. NC comes in as the top dogs but won't be for long once that gun goes off. Carmel is confident in their squad, only entering four guys. We may get close to the meet record of 3:20.91 but I don't think it will get broken tomorrow. I'll pick North Central to win it but just by the finish.
Homestead and Zionsville will duke it out for the girls side of the 4x400. Zionsville's top high jumpers Isenbarger and Robinson will help lead the team through. Homestead seems to be using some younger talent to get through this meet. Due to the experience of the Eagles side, I think I'll give this one to them, but again it may come down to the line.
Believe it or not but the Carmel boys are not using their top guys in the DMR. They are entering 3 freshmen and a sophomore, thus putting them out of the contention for a win here. FW Carroll will look to take a big win over Noblesville and Cathedral. It'll take Hocker blasting out a strong 1600 leg for the Irish to get back in it if they want to come out on top. Noblesville will need to look to freshman Andrew Anderson to use a strong 800 leg to help keep the team alive. The win goes to Carroll on this one, probably by a few seconds too.
The showdown most distance fans are looking forward to. The final girls race of the day. Brownsburg, Carmel and Noblesville will fight for that 1st place win. Using their star distance girls in the anchor leg will be crucial to their success. Those final 8 laps will define the whole race. At HCC Little and Lynch battled it out with Lynch coming out victorious, now throw Bates into the mix and it'll be a race to watch. Depending on how much these three teams push each other, will determine how close we get to that meet record. It'll be tough if any of the teams want to get it but on the right day any of them could do it.
Field Events
In boys pole vault we'll see top returner Colton Crum face off with Nathan Stone to see who can get higher. Crum has cleared 16 in competition, and Stone has cleared that in practice before. If he can bring that out tomorrow he will have a shot at the win. Crum should be able to take the win still, based on his consistency to clear 16'. Kara Deady and Kennedy Drish, two teammates in the offseason, will now compete against each other to determine who's really better than the other. There is just 3" separating the two of them so this is one that could keep going on throughout the competition. I'll give the win to Drish though.
Katie Isenbarger comes in as the returning champ and meet record holder. She cleared 6' outdoors last year and probably wants to improve on that indoor height if she can. She looks to have very little, if any, competition in this event and shouldn't have a problem flopping into a win. It'll take at least a 6'7" to win the boys high jump. McGill holds that as his seed, but I think the competition will all push each other just enough to force at couple guys to clear that to win it. McGill should take the win, and I think he'll have to jump higher than his seed.
Not seeing Guerendo as the #1 seed in the long jump is odd. He's been taken over by Pierce Thomas, a freshman star out of Brownsburg. Just .75" separate the two guys. Guerendo has the upper hand still, with having been the state champ last year. I'll give the win to him then, but it'll be a close one with Thomas. Whew, Alexis Grider of FW South Side, is a few feet ahead of everyone else, literally. The senior shouldn't have a problem winning this year, and possibly getting close to that meet record of 19'7.5".
Brett Norton and Ryan Stefanko will be the guys to watch in the shot put ring. Both throwing close to 60' already this year. I think Norton will be able to pull off the win, his outdoor PR is better and his throws have gotten better over the winter. Alicia Tiney-Williams from FW Northrop will look to take home another win on her senior campaign. She comes in seeded 2' ahead of 2nd and shouldn't have an issue winning the meet.