Tyler Tarter, a name you have likely heard nonstop this season, has achieved another milestone. The Fishers senior and IU Bloomington commit recently broke Indiana's high school 300-meter hurdle all-time state record.
On Thursday evening at Lafayette Jefferson High School, Tarter clocked a time of 36.17, eclipsing the previous record of 36.26 held by Bryce Brown of Evansville Harrison since the 2007 outdoor state championships.
His time currently ranks as the second-fastest in the country, trailing only Vance Nilsson's national record of 34.83 set at the Arizona state meet two weeks ago. Nilsson is the first high school athlete to break 35 seconds in the event.
2024 Top 5 National Marks in the 300H (as of 5/24 publishing)
| RANK | TIME | ATHLETE/TEAM | GRADE | MEET DATE PLACE |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 34.83 | 2024 | ||
| 2 | 36.17 | 2024 | ||
| 3 | 36.28 | 2024 | ||
| 4 | 36.51 | UT Weber | 2026 | STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS1st F |
| 5 | 36.68 | VA Massaponax | 2026 |
Tarter is also the back-to-back HSR Large School state champion in the 60m hurdles, with a 7.81 this indoor season and 8.05 the previous year. He was also the state runner-up in the 300m hurdles as a sophomore.
Tarter first broke the 37-second barrier, a goal he was shooting for during indoor, this outdoor season at the Charlie Riley Invitational five weeks ago with a time of 36.86. He continued to improve, clocking 36.80 (hand time) at the Hamilton County Championships and 36.74 at the Westfield sectional. His impressive performance this week, dropping his personal best by 0.61 seconds, secured the state record.
Tyler Tarter talks about breaking the HSR Large 60H Record as well as goals for the 2024 Outdoor Season.
At last year's outdoor state meet Tarter would earn a runner-up finish in the 110m hurdles where he would unfortunately tear his hamstring going over the final hurdle not allowing him to compete in the 300m hurdles later that day. He would have a lengthly recovery process with nonstop rehab and he claims it took until around the HSR qualifying window this year before he did not feel any pain associated with his hamstring.
As the state's top performer in both hurdle events this year and having not earned an individual outdoor state title in his high school career, Tarter aims to earn multiple blue medals next week. Additionally, he has also been a key asset for Fishers' 4x400m relay team, helping them achieve back-to-back 3:17 runner-up performances in the tournament's first two rounds.
With incredible footspeed in the 400m and grace over the hurdles, it will be interesting to see how well Tarter translates his talents to the 400m hurdles at the collegiate level. For now, we look forward to his performance at the 120th annual IHSAA boys track and field championship next Saturday!