After a fierce battle for the state title between two Fort Wayne powerhouse schools last fall, another close competition is shaping up in Hamilton County. In a simulated meet including every school in the state, the #1 and #2 ranked schools, Hamilton Southeastern (HSE) and Carmel, were separated by just one point. Last fall, these programs finished 6th and 7th at state, respectively, being the first two teams off the podium. HSE returns 6 out of 7 runners from their state finals lineup, with Maggie Powers graduating and set to compete at Loyola. Carmel returns 5 out of 7 from their state finals squad, with Audrey Ricketts and Emersyn Weaver graduating.

From the HSE squad Elizabeth Butler would place fourth at the state finals 3200m with her teammate Ciara Kepner also earning a medal placing seventh in the 800m. The 4x800m squad also found great success this season and nabbed the tenth fastest time by a school in Indiana state history at New Balance Nationals with their 9:06.39. HSE would be the only school to have multiple podium performances in distance events returning for this fall. In the 4x8 Carmel would also have near an identical year in the event running to a state-runner up finish in the relay to FW Concordia. Carmel would also have Sadie Foley run a sub 5 minute 1600m to place 12th in the state finals.

Homestead and Fort Wayne Concordia should still be strong contenders, with several key contributors returning from each team's state championship and runner-up squads. Additionally, Franklin Central looks poised to make another team podium appearance, despite graduating frontrunner Kylie Cline to Butler. after narrowly defeating HSE and Carmel for 5th place last year by one point and 11 points, respectively. North Central, Noblesville, and Zionsville also appear to be in close contention once again for standing on the state finals podium.