The 2021 IHSAA Track and Field state tournament is officially under way after the completion of yesterday's girls sectional action!
Tommorow marks the start of the boy's state tourney!
MileSplit is breaking down all 32 sectionals to get you up to speed with the competition!
Down below are previews for Boys Sectionals one through sixteen!
Sectional 1 - East Chicago Central
Lucas Guerra headlines the boys sectional at East Chicago Central. Guerra has been one of the most proficient distance runners in the state. The Georgetown commit went up against some of the best competition Indiana has to offer at the Flashes Showcase Miracle Mile earlier this year, and he came out on top with a time of 4:09. He recently turned in an 8:58 in the 3200-meter run at Distance Night in Palatine, a time that ranks him in the top five in the state and only three seconds behind Izaiah Steury's top mark of 8:55.
Expect a close race in the team competition on Thursday night between Highland and Munster, and look for Calumet to dominate the sprints with Justin Marshall, Terrell Caldwell and Cheffronio Cooper.
The meet will get under way at 4:30 Central Time.
Sectional 2 - Crown Point
Boys Sectional #2 will feature close racing throughout the evening. In the 100-meter dash, only .02 seconds covers the top three best times coming into the night, a 10.92 by Kameron Gethers, a 10.93 by Collin Smiser, and a 10.94 by Devon Davis. The 800-meter run could see as many as nine runners within five seconds of the winner, and there are three runners (Quinton Bock, Weston Hulen, and Logan Russel) that have broken ten minutes in the 3200-meter run this season.
Despite the prospect of tight racing all night long, Merrillville is easily the most complete team and is a heavy favorite to win the team title.
The Crown Point sectional will begin at 5:00 Central Time
Sectional 3 - Portage
The boys sectional at Portage will be one of the closer team competitions in the state this year. Valparaiso, Chesterton and LaPorte all have a legitimate chance to win on Thursday, with Portage not far behind.
Portage's Piere Hill, Valparaiso's Brett Otterbacher and LaPorte's Cole Raymond are some of the most impressive individuals in this meet. Hill is a top five sprinter in Indiana, Otterbacher is an elite 800 runner on his way to Purdue next year, and Raymond could win the 3200 by more than a minute.
Sectional #3 from Portage will get started at 5:00 Central Time
Sectional 4 - Rensselaer Central
Kankakee Valley is the heavy favorite in Sectional #4 hosted by Rensselaer Central. The Kougars will be a factor in nearly every event, led by Josiah Johnson in the hurdles, Colin Seymour and Markus Ritchie in the sprints, and Justin Hoffman in distance. Bram Arnett of Morgan Township is one of the state's best throwers, and should cruise through the shot put and discus in this sectional.
Boys Sectional #4 will start at 4:45 Central Time.
Sectional 5 - Penn
Boys Sectional #5 is at Penn High School, and the hosts are poised to take their 27th sectional championship in school history. The Kingsmen recently won the Max Truex Invite at Warsaw High School, a meet with stiff competition.
Penn will be at the top of nearly every event on Thursday night. Mariano Retzloff and Vinny Nierzwicki are a couple of their most impressive athletes. Retzloff is an elite distance runner, whose 9:18 in the 3200-meter run earlier this year is top ten in the state. Nierzwicki is a top ten hurdler, and is great in the high jump as well.
The sectional from Penn will get under way at 5:00 Eastern Time.
Sectional 6 - Plymouth
Culver Academies' George Bourdier and Samuel Tullis headline Boys Sectional #6 at Plymouth. Bourdier is a great sprinter, with a best time of 11.30 in the 100-meter dash, while Tullis comes into Thursday's meet as the best 1600-meter runner.
The most hotly contested event of the night may be the discus, Rochester's Marshall Fishback and Whitko's Cameron Sapp and Gage Howard all capable of throwing over 130 feet.
Sectional 6 will begin at 5:30 Eastern Time.
Sectional 7 - Goshen
Columbia City and Warsaw will be the two teams to watch in Boys Sectional #7 hosted by Goshen. Expect the Eagles and Tigers to trade blows all night, and the point totals will likely stay close all evening.
Tiger Senior Tanner Stiver is an elite runner in the 800-meter run. His best time of 1:58 in that event ranks top fifteen in the state, and should be plenty fast enough to win this sectional. Look for Columbia City's Austin Hall at the top of the distance events, and Warsaw's Andrew Frush should pick up points in the hurdles.
Sectional #7 will get started at 5:30 Eastern Time.
Sectional 8 - Kokomo
Western was one of the smallest schools to reach the cross country state finals in the fall, and they hope to begin a similar run on Thursday night at the Kokomo Sectional. The Panthers are the favorite to win the sectional, largely due to the stellar distance lineup of Brayden Curnutt, Joseph Packard and Drew Caldwell.
Look for Madison-Grant's Tanner Brooks at the top of the sprint events, followed closely by Ezra and Addai Lewellen from Pioneer.
The 1600-meter run will be one to keep an eye on. Western's Curnutt, Kokomo's Bryan Stoltzfus and Tipton's Evan Long all have season best times between 4:33 and 4:36.
Sectional #8 from Kokomo will begin at 5:00 Eastern Time
Sectional 9 - Benton Central
Boys Sectional #9 is hosted by Benton Central, and it should feature some close distance racing. Twin Lakes' Just Scott, Seeger's Kolton Pearson and Benton Central's Harrison Wealing all have 1600-meter season bests within a second of one another. The 3200-meter run should be close again with Scott, Wealing, and Benton Central's Nolan Deckard the principal characters.
Twin Lakes brings the best team to this meet, and looks poised to win back to back sectional championships for the first time since 1992-93.
Sectional 9 will get started at 5:30 Eastern Time.
Sectional 10 - West Lafayette
Those attending Sectional 10 at West Lafayette will be treated with a sprinting showcase. Harrison's Connor Czajkowski and Jefferson's Thomas Hogan have personal bests of 10.71 and 10.72 in the 100-meter dash, the top two times in Indiana for that event. Expect to see great racing from Czajkowski and Hogan in the sprints Thursday night, and both have their eyes set on a state title on the first weekend in June.
Harrison brings the best team to this meet. Raider Seniors Leonel Ramirez and Leo Soriano are great middle-distance runners, and Zion King and Dawson Circle will be the class of the field in the 110-meter hurdles.
Sectional 10 from West Lafayette will begin at 5:30 Eastern Time.
Sectional 11 - Carmel
Sectional 11 is at Carmel High School as the Greyhounds look to take home their 27th sectional championship. Carmel is led by Sophomore Kole Mathison in the distance events, and Greyhound Senior Zachary Cox is the state's leading hurdler in both the 100-meter hurdles and the 300-meter hurdles.
If anyone is to challenge Carmel for the sectional title, it will be Hamilton Southeastern. Royal Senior Gage Pratt is an elite sprinter and leads the state with a 200-meter dash record of 21.44. The Royals also boast a stellar lineup in the field events with long jumper Stephen Sydnor and high jumper Manraj Grewal.
This meet is one of the strongest sectionals in every event, which should create close contests all night long. The 800-meter run features seven runners that have broken two minutes this season, a time that would win many sectionals. Noblesville's Andrew Anderson has run the state's second best time in the 800, a 1:55.5. Fishers' Keefer Soehngen and Westfield's Kai Connor and Josh Springborn all rank in the top ten in that event.
Sectional 11 from Carmel will begin at 5:30 Eastern Time.
Sectional 12 - Plainfield
Brownsburg and Zionsville will trade punches at Boys Sectional 13`hosted by Plainfield. Brownsburg can be expected to pick up points in the sprints and jumps on Thursday night, while Zionsville brings some of the best throwers and distance runners.
Brownsburg hurdler John Colquitt will be one of the more dominant athletes at this event. Colquitt's season best times of 14.32 in the 100-meter hurdles and 39.19 in the 300-meter hurdles both rank second in the state. Bulldog long jumper Pierce Thomas is another elite athlete at this meet. His top mark of 22-10 also ranks second in the state.
While Brownsburg has a great hurdler and long jumper, Zionsville boasts two of the state's premier throwers in Ben Decoursey and Joe Tanona. Decoursey recently threw over 180 in the discus to win the Sling 'em Invite, a meet that showcased some of Indiana's top throwing talent.
Sectional #13 from Plainfield will get started at 6:00 Eastern Time.
Sectional 13 - East Noble
Angola's Izaiah Steury is the reigning cross country state champion in the state of Indiana, and his winning time of 8:55.07 in the 3200-meter run at the Carmel Distance Showcase is the top time in the state this year. Garrett Sauter, also out of Angola, is one of the state's top hurdlers and should dominate the hurdling events at Sectional 13.
Steury and Sauter will propel Angola into contention for the sectional championship, but they will have to compete with an East Noble team that should take home a boatload of points in the sprints. Angola is looking for their first sectional championship in school history, while East Noble won this meet last time out.
Boys Sectional 13 from East Noble will begin at 5:00 Eastern Time.
Sectional 14 - Fort Wayne North Side
Boys Sectional 14 is hosted by Fort Wayne North Side. Fort Wayne Carroll has won this meet every year dating back to 2012, but if they are to continue that streak they will have to fend off a very good team from Leo.
Although Carroll and Leo are the most complete teams at this meet, you won't see them winning very many events. Concordia Lutheran's duo of Daniel Adair and Karsten Schlegel will look to lock down the distance events, and Churubusco thrower Humter Bianski ranks top ten in the state with a season best mark of 54-7.
Sectional #14 from Fort Wayne North Side will get started at 5:45 Eastern Time.
Sectional 15 - New Haven
Boys Sectional #15 at New Haven will be one of the closer team competitions in the state this year. Bellmont and New Haven come in as the top two, but Huntington North, South Adams, and Homestead all have a legitimate chance to win this sectional.
Bellmont comes into this meet with a great distance lineup of Jordan Garlinger, Isaac Fuelling, and Deion Guise. Bellmont also brings one of the state's best throwers, Mason Murphy.
While Bellmont racks up points in distance and throwing events, South Adams and New Haven will be splitting the points in the sprints. Starfires Drew Stutzman and Brayden Gilbert will go at it with Isaac Jackson and Nick Miles of New Haven. If either of those pairs can notch a couple of 1-2 finishes, their team could be looking at a sectional championship at the end of the night.
Watch for South Adams' Braden Bixler in the hurdles and long jump. Bixler's best time of 14.5 in the 100-meter hurdles ranks fifth in Indiana this season.
Sectional 15 will get started at 5:00 Eastern Time.
Sectional 16 - Marion
Boys Sectional 16 at Indiana Wesleyan University will see two of the state's top sprinting talents in Marion's Zaimar Burnett and Mississinewa's Hayden Nelson. Burnett ran a 10.72 in the 100-meter dash and a 22.08 to win the 200-meter dash to win the North Central Conference in both events last week, beating two runners that can compete for the state title, Connor Czajkowski and Thomas Hogan. Nelson won the sprinting events in the Central Indiana Conference meet against milder competition. His 10.81 in the 100-meter dash that day broke a forty year old meet record and ranks in the top five in the state.
The team competition at this meet will be a tight one. Oak Hill and Frankton are the top two teams coming in, with Marion and Bluffton not far behind.
Sectional 16 will get under way at 5:30 Eastern Time.