Four of the five fastest boys in Indiana will be running in Semi-State #2 at Blue River Park. Carmel's Kole Mathison, Noblesville's Travis Hickner, Brebeuf's Krishna Thirunavukkarasu, Whiteland's Will Jefferson and Paul Stamm of Cardinal Ritter have all run 15:21 or better this season.
It was Mathison that took the win in the Noblesville Regional last week, ten seconds clear of Hickner and Thirunavukkarasu. Jefferson comfortably won the regional at Franklin Central, and Stamm was the victor in the Ben Davis Regional. Look for those five runners to lead the way this weekend.
Brebeuf won the boys team title in the Regional 10, just a few points ahead of Carmel and Noblesville. Those three schools will have another tight race this weekend, as they look to secure the semi-state championship.
Center Grove won their regional last week, and look to be the fourth best team in this semi-state. Guerin Catholic, Westfield, Franklin Central, Brownsburg and Zionsville race for the last two transfer spots.
Annie Christie of Carmel won the Noblesville Regional last week by just one second over North Central's Ellen Baker in a race that saw four girls run under 18:00. Park Tudor teammates Sophia Kennedy and Gretchen Farley were third and fourth in that race, and you can expect to see those four at the front of this semi-state.
Carmel has one of the best girls teams in Indiana, and should dominate this race to earn their 24th semi-state championship.
Second on back in the girls team competition is wide open. Brownsburg, Zionsville, North Central and Franklin Central are dead even, with Noblesville, Center Grove and Pike not far behind. At least two of those teams will not advance to the state meet, and none of them are safe.
Racing from the Shelbyville Semi-State will get started at 10:30 AM Eastern Time.