Flashes Showcase takes place tonight night at Franklin Central High School. Flashes is one of the biggest distance showcases in the Midwest. The best of the best travel down to Franklin to battle it out on the track. Some records could fall tonight in the mile, but the wind will play a factor in that. Regardless, it will be a great night of racing. MileSplit will be on-site with coverage throughout the night.
Heat Sheets
Boys Frosh Heat 1:
Some of the next top runners in Indiana will kick the night off. Having this first heat be all freshman who don't have much racing experience yet makes it a good one to prove themselves early, so tonight will be there night to run fast and prove what they're capable of. The race is wide open, so will see who can stay up front and have enough in the end to get the job done.
Boys 4x800 Heat 1:
Heat 1 of the 4x800 should be a thriller. We see this race being between Columbus North and Lowell. Both teams have laid down solid times for this early in the season. Another team to watch is Franklin Central.
Boys 4x800 Heat 2:
As with Heat 1, Heat 2 is going to be one heck of a race. Carmel and Brown Country are the two favorites at this point. Carmel is use to the big race experience so we would give them the edge. Look out for Westfield, as that team has been impressive recently.
Girls 4x800 Heat 1:
The first girls race of the night will be Heat 1 of the 4x800. This should be a good race and the win is between 2-3 teams. Carmel, Zionsville, and Noblesville are the teams we seeing being up front all race.
Boys Mile Heat 1:
There is some solid milers in this heat. The two favorites are Kent Yoder and Blake Hipkiss. But we expect some other guys to make a run at these two. Ty Puskar of Valparaiso and Brandon Corbett of New Prairie are two guys we could see staying with the lead pack and making a run for it at the end.
Girls Mile Heat 1:
This race looks to be between Lindsey Roper and Katie Nix. They have both ran well so far this season and the winning time should be sub 5:20, but it all depends on how strong the wind is come race time.
Boys Mile Heat 2:
Heat 2 should bring some fast times. There are 6-7 guys that could all be within 50 meters at the end. The two front runners looks to be Will White and Jon Deem-Lourerio. They won't be alone though. Justin Amburgy and Mitchell Gits are two guys we expect to run up front. Fun fact: This heat features 3 of our 4 interns in one. Time to decide which intern is the fastest!
Girls Mile Heat 2:
This race is up in the air. There's a few names that catch our eye that we think could win. Aviv Hagar is the most obvious as she has the top seed going into the race. Zionsville has 3 girls in this race and they should be towards the front. We should also keep an eye out for Brooke Hansen of Carroll. This should be an exciting race!
Boys Mile Heat 3:
Heat 3 of the boys mile is going to have some fast times. The favorite to win is Spencer Carpenter but there's few guys that will try and stick with him. Jaylen Castillo and Matthew Hoak have what it takes, but only one can come out on top.
Girls Mile Heat 3:
The races are starting to heat up and this one is sure to be a good one. McKenna Cavanaugh has the top seed and she seems like the favorite to win. There will be a few girls that try to make a run at Cavanaugh, Kaylin Casner and Addy Wiley are the two girls that should being upfront with Cavanaugh.
Boys Frosh Heat 2:
Wow. This heat has some fast guys considering how young they are. Matt Newell of Columbus North has already thrown down a 4:32 1600 earlier this year. Other than Newell, it's hard to know what everyone is capable of. Tomorrow is definitely the night to put it all on the track and put down a fast mile.
Boys Mile Heat 4:
The race of the night and one for the books. The clear favorite is obviously Cole Hocker. His closing speed will be the truly deadly factor here tonight. He ran an open 400 in just 50 seconds already this season. He will be on a mission to break that 4:11.31 meet record. We know what he's capable of but will anyone make a run at beating the IHSAA Cross Country State Champ? Of course! Jesse Hamlin seems like the next guy to have a shot at stealing the win from Hocker. Just his ability to have longer strides due to his height will almost have to play a factor if it comes to the line with Hocker. He also won't want an end like last year where he got out leaned at the line just narrowly losing by .18 seconds. Brennan Butche proved at XC State that he's not afraid to race right next to Hocker and could handle the pace pushing, but will he do that again and handle it for just 4 laps tonight. Caleb Futter threw down a stellar 9:03 3200 indoors which should hopefully propel him to be stay right up front with the big dogs tonight.
Cole Hocker (Cathedral)
Caleb Futter (Christian Academy of Indiana)
Jesse Hamlin (Snider)
Brennan Butche (Mississinewa)
Gabriel Sanchez (Lowell)
Girls Mile Heat 4:
What a great race to end off the night. This race has 5-6 contenders to grab the victory. Phoebe Bates seems to be the favorite, but the win won't come easy. She took 2nd last year by .7 seconds and she surely does not want that to happen again. It will be interesting to see what her race tactic will be, go out fast and leave people behind or slow and steady keeping others with her early. Zoe Duffus and Megan Hathaway are two girls that have the next best shot at winning this thing. Being teammates, these two will likely work together throughout the race to help push the pace for themselves and hopefully the rest of the pack. We can't forget about the state xc runner-up Erin Strzelecki, tonight may be her chance to surprise herself again and come for one of those top 5 spots. It doesn't look like the meet record will go down in tonight's race, but who knows it could drop majorly if this girls are up for the challenge.
Phoebe Bates (Carmel)
Zoe Duffus (Fort Wayne Carroll)
Megan Hathaway (Fort Wayne Carroll)
Emma Tate (West Lafayette)
Erin Strzelecki (Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger)