The name so nice, you say it twice: Martinsville's Martin Barco wins 1600m, 800m
Martin Barco of Martinsville and Cameron Todd of Brebeuf Jesuit have faced off in the 1600-meter race at the state meet the last three years. In 2022, Barco was fifth and Todd was seventh; in 2023, Barco was first and Todd was second.
They would get one final rematch before heading to the University of Washington and University of Notre Dame next fall. Both are finishing up historic seasons as Barco is No. 2 and No. 6 all-time in Indiana for the 1600-meter and 3200-meter races. Todd is third on Indiana's all-time list for the 3200-meter race and currently 24th in the nation
It became obvious halfway through that no one else was going to keep up-when the two racers went through 800 meters in 2:03, they had over three seconds on third place. And Barco was content to let Todd do the work for the majority of the race.
The Martinsville runner waited and then took off on the final lap, dropping a 59.47 and securing his second mile title with a time of 4:06.34. Todd finished two seconds back.
Barco's tactic of sitting and then closing faster than everyone else also worked in the 800-meter race. He closed in 56.13 seconds and took over for good on the final straightaway-his time of 1:50.97 bumped him up to No. 17 on the state's all-time list.
Those challenging Barco included Caleb Winders of Bloomington North (1:51.45) and IU Indianapolis commit Joey Ashman (1:52.52). Winders is now the No. 22 800-meter runner in Indiana history and the fastest sophomore in the event in Indiana's history. His freshman state record of 1:52.68 will remain intact for now after a scare from HSE's Mason Schmitz as he went 1:52.89 and 1:52.98 the past two weeks at Regionals and State.
Martin Barco talks after pulling off the 800m/1600m distance double at state.