4x200m Relay
The Lawrence North Boys secure the state's top seed as well as claim the indoor conference title in the 4x200m at MIC.
The top teams entering the meet both come out of the MIC with Lawrence North and North Central. LN won the indoor MIC title a couple weeks ago with a 1:30.14 in an exciting finish over North Central's 1:30.37. Indianapolis Cathedral and Zionsville have both also gone 1:30 this season at the Bloomington North Invite #1 and HCC Championship. Last year's finals saw the top two sub 1:30 which is something that we could see again this weekend.
For the girls 4x200m Brownsburg has a seed time that is almost one second better than the rest of the field. At the HCC Championships the Bulldogs would run 1:43.90 to claim this top position and will look to repeat as HSR Finals champions again this year. Similar to the boys, the North Central and Lawrence North girls also had an exciting race at the MIC Championships where each team would enter the top three in the state for the season. Portage, Merrillville, and Fishers round out the rest of the teams that have a time of 1:45 or faster this season.
4x400m Relay
Photo by Mike Kepner. The HSE girls after winning the Nike Indoor Nationals 4x400m title with a new state indoor record time of 3:51.57.
The Bloomington South and Hamilton Southeastern boys appear to have a gap on the rest of the field with both teams having over a two second better seed than everyone else. Bloomington South sat alone on top of the leaderboard with a 3:23.72 for most of the qualifying period before the HSE boys would run a 3:24.17 at the Blue and White Relays. Bloomington North could be a dark horse as they are the only team within 4 seconds of the two previously mentioned schools this season. The field looks to be deeper than last year with eleven squads having a time of 3:30 or faster this season. For reference last year only had 4 teams at that mark heading into the finals.
For the girls it looks like Hamilton Southeastern should have no problem claiming the title if they load up their team. Coming off of a NIke Indoor National Championship the team broke the previous state indoor record with their time of 3:51.57. Going into the weekend the HSR finals meet record is 3:53.77 from Lawrence North in 2012. Warren Central and last year's champion Carmel both have times a 4:02 to round out the top three seeds with Valparaiso just off at a 4:04. These three schools look to be the favorites for the runner-up title assuming no disasters for HSE.
4x800m Relay
Zionsville takes the win at the HCC Championships to take the #2 seed heading into the HSR Finals. 5 of the top 10 relay teams in the state raced in this meet!
The Bloomington North boys had a very impressive performance to open up the qualifying period in late February. The team would run 7:47.64 where each runner would average 1:56.91 to almost break the indoor state record. The HSR finals meet record of 7:46.04 has a chance of going down this weekend if Bloomington North chooses to chase down this record. The only other sub 8 minute performance this season came from Zionsville at the HCC Championships with their 7:57.19. Hamilton Southeastern also has separation over other schools heading into the meet with their 8:02. Thirteen other schools currently have seeds between 8:10 and 8:16 heading into the weekend including Carmel, the defending champs in the event.
Things look to be a little bit tighter between the leaders for the girls with several schools having legitimate shots at the title. The top seed belongs to Hamilton Southeastern after their Nike Indoor Nationals performance of 9:28.86. The HCC Championships provided the next best times with Noblesville and Franklin Central going 9:31 and 9:36 respectively. Zionsville would be the only other school under 9:40 for the season. Like the boys there looks to be a large pack of schools with similar seed times as fourteen schools are seeded between 9:43 and 9:56. Carmel also won this event last year for the girls and are at the top end of this chase pack of schools based on seeds.
Distance Medley Relay
The Noblesville and Brownsburg DMR squads battle it out at HCC to secure #2 and #3 seeds heading into the HSR Finals.
Three schools top the charts with the same time entering the weekend with Bloomington North, Noblesville, and Brownsburg all running a time of 10:24. Bloomington North officially holds the best time with a 10:24.17 at the first Whiteland HSR Qualifier. An exciting finish at the HCC Championships where Noblesville's Caden Click would hold off Brownsburg's Ian Baker provided the next best times in the state at 10:24.94 and 10:24.96 respectively. Based on seeds it looks like it'll take a mid 10:30 or faster again to make the podium this year with eight schools listed at 10:37 or quicker. Defending champion Columbus North is one of these schools in the mix right at 10:37 so far this season.
There also looks to be three schools to be the favorites for the girls as well. Homestead, Hamilton Southeastern, and Franklin Central are all within six seconds based on seed times. Homestead recently ran a 12:15.41 this past weekend at the Red Devil last chance qualifier with HSR and Franklin Central running a 12:19.71 and 12:21.23 at Nike Indoor Nationals and the Red Devil Classic respectively. Last year's finals had a thrilling finish including two of these schools (HSE and Homestead) as well as Floyd Central. All three teams finished within a margin of 0.16 seconds of each other last season with HSE claiming the victory. Another great race looks to be possible this year with five other schools also having a seed time under 12:40.