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INDIANAPOLIS – Sometimes there is sentiment to divide Indiana high school outdoor track by enrollment class, as is the case in almost every other sport.
Paradoxically, athletes from small schools can make the case against it.
Noah Bontrager is too good. Mallory Weller is too good. Weston Ott is too good.
Bishop Chatard is too good.
Let’s start with Bontrager, the first Indiana boy to run a sub-4-minute mile. In Saturday’s small-school division of the Hoosier State Relays, he underscored why he could do so.
At the Indiana State Fairgrounds’ Fall Creek Pavilion, he ran the closing 800 meters of the 3,200 in 1:59.33 to hold off Western’s Preston Raab. Bontrager’s time was 9:08.35 to Raab’s 9:09.03.
Eighty minutes later, Bontrager ran a 1:50.88 anchor to bring Westview from ninth to fourth in the 4x800 relay. Finally, his 1,600 anchor delivered Westview a victory in the distance medley relay.
Bontrager, a Notre Dame recruit, said he didn’t allow himself to keep his head in the clouds after a 3:59.42 mile at New Balance nationals two weeks ago.
“I’ve tried to force myself off of it,” he said. “Coming out here, it’s not guaranteed. There’s a guy on my butt with a lap to go.”
Bontrager was part of 40 points by Westview, which scored 46 and was second to Chatard’s 59. Guerin Catholic and Lakewood Park Christian tied for third with 36.
March madness might be appropriate to characterize Chatard’s fifth straight boys state indoor championship.
Zach Gantz ran a 1:52.60 anchor to help Chatard win the 4x800 ... and ran for the second-place 4x200 relay team. Don’t often see a half-miler/sprinter. Neither do you see a pole vaulter – that’s Cohen Betz – in the 4x200. Then there was freshman Tanner Sparks, who turned an ankle at mid-week but recovered enough to run 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
Final two legs of Chatard’s winning 4x400 team were by Gantz (48.92) and Phoenix Boyer (48.47). Getting Boyer back from a minor injury “was big,” coach Sean McGinley said.
Elsewhere, Ott, of Churubusco, won the shot put with a distance of 67 feet, 7 ¼ inches. That ranks No. 4 on the all-time state list, and also No. 4 in the nation this year.
Guerin Catholic’s Seffrin Smith won the 60 hurdles in 8.10 and ran on the winning 4x200 team.
In the girls meet, Chatard won two relays and was second in two, scoring 72 of a possible 80 points.
Chatard piled up 97 points to 69 for runner-up Hamilton Heights. Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran was third with 54 and Corydon Central fourth with 30.
“We really have great depth: sprints, field events and distance,” McGinley said. “This relay meet for us is great. That’s why we’ve been so successful.”
Chatard ran away with it despite confining Reese McKinney to the 60-meter hurdles. She finished second to Eastern Hancock’s Isabella Sotelo by fourth-thousandths of a second, 8.663 to 8.667.
For Chatard, Mary Kate Felts, Teja Bentley, Caroline Gries and Ruth McHugh won the 4x200 in 1:42.95. Felts, Gries, McHugh and Grace Leppert took the 4x400 in 3:57.58.
Weller, of Concordia Lutheran, became the second Indiana girl to run a sub-10-minute time for 3,200 meters.
Her 9:55.66 was 21 seconds faster than the meet record set by Park Tudor’s Sophia Kennedy in 2023. Weller broke her own state indoor record of 10:02.05.
Only Indiana girl faster is Kennedy – who was third in the NCAA 5,000 for Stanford last June – with a converted 9:53.63 outdoors in 2023.
Weller was so dominant that she lapped state cross-country champion Libby Dowty of Indian Creek. Dowty was second in 10:34.90.
Weller, a North Carolina State recruit, missed last fall’s state cross-country meet after winning as a junior. She was sidelined by stress reaction in her tibia, and she tried to retain fitness via cross-training. She said she has been pain-free for a month.
“I was trying to get my redemption today,” she said.
“Taking the time off really reordered my mental state. I’m definitely more motivated than ever.”
Weller went on to run anchor legs for Concordia Lutheran’s winning teams in the 4x800 and distance medley relays. The time of 12:02.56 in the DMR was a meet record.
Contact David Woods at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: State track: Noah Bontrager, Mallory Weller shine at Hoosier State Relays
Continue reading...
Paradoxically, athletes from small schools can make the case against it.
Noah Bontrager is too good. Mallory Weller is too good. Weston Ott is too good.
Bishop Chatard is too good.
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Let’s start with Bontrager, the first Indiana boy to run a sub-4-minute mile. In Saturday’s small-school division of the Hoosier State Relays, he underscored why he could do so.
At the Indiana State Fairgrounds’ Fall Creek Pavilion, he ran the closing 800 meters of the 3,200 in 1:59.33 to hold off Western’s Preston Raab. Bontrager’s time was 9:08.35 to Raab’s 9:09.03.
Eighty minutes later, Bontrager ran a 1:50.88 anchor to bring Westview from ninth to fourth in the 4x800 relay. Finally, his 1,600 anchor delivered Westview a victory in the distance medley relay.
Bontrager, a Notre Dame recruit, said he didn’t allow himself to keep his head in the clouds after a 3:59.42 mile at New Balance nationals two weeks ago.
“I’ve tried to force myself off of it,” he said. “Coming out here, it’s not guaranteed. There’s a guy on my butt with a lap to go.”
Bontrager was part of 40 points by Westview, which scored 46 and was second to Chatard’s 59. Guerin Catholic and Lakewood Park Christian tied for third with 36.
March madness might be appropriate to characterize Chatard’s fifth straight boys state indoor championship.
Zach Gantz ran a 1:52.60 anchor to help Chatard win the 4x800 ... and ran for the second-place 4x200 relay team. Don’t often see a half-miler/sprinter. Neither do you see a pole vaulter – that’s Cohen Betz – in the 4x200. Then there was freshman Tanner Sparks, who turned an ankle at mid-week but recovered enough to run 4x200 and 4x400 relays.
Final two legs of Chatard’s winning 4x400 team were by Gantz (48.92) and Phoenix Boyer (48.47). Getting Boyer back from a minor injury “was big,” coach Sean McGinley said.
Elsewhere, Ott, of Churubusco, won the shot put with a distance of 67 feet, 7 ¼ inches. That ranks No. 4 on the all-time state list, and also No. 4 in the nation this year.
Guerin Catholic’s Seffrin Smith won the 60 hurdles in 8.10 and ran on the winning 4x200 team.
Girls recap: Weller sets 3,200 record; Chatard wins third straight
In the girls meet, Chatard won two relays and was second in two, scoring 72 of a possible 80 points.
Chatard piled up 97 points to 69 for runner-up Hamilton Heights. Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran was third with 54 and Corydon Central fourth with 30.
“We really have great depth: sprints, field events and distance,” McGinley said. “This relay meet for us is great. That’s why we’ve been so successful.”
Chatard ran away with it despite confining Reese McKinney to the 60-meter hurdles. She finished second to Eastern Hancock’s Isabella Sotelo by fourth-thousandths of a second, 8.663 to 8.667.
For Chatard, Mary Kate Felts, Teja Bentley, Caroline Gries and Ruth McHugh won the 4x200 in 1:42.95. Felts, Gries, McHugh and Grace Leppert took the 4x400 in 3:57.58.
Weller, of Concordia Lutheran, became the second Indiana girl to run a sub-10-minute time for 3,200 meters.
Her 9:55.66 was 21 seconds faster than the meet record set by Park Tudor’s Sophia Kennedy in 2023. Weller broke her own state indoor record of 10:02.05.
Only Indiana girl faster is Kennedy – who was third in the NCAA 5,000 for Stanford last June – with a converted 9:53.63 outdoors in 2023.
Weller was so dominant that she lapped state cross-country champion Libby Dowty of Indian Creek. Dowty was second in 10:34.90.
Weller, a North Carolina State recruit, missed last fall’s state cross-country meet after winning as a junior. She was sidelined by stress reaction in her tibia, and she tried to retain fitness via cross-training. She said she has been pain-free for a month.
“I was trying to get my redemption today,” she said.
“Taking the time off really reordered my mental state. I’m definitely more motivated than ever.”
Weller went on to run anchor legs for Concordia Lutheran’s winning teams in the 4x800 and distance medley relays. The time of 12:02.56 in the DMR was a meet record.
Contact David Woods at [email protected].
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: State track: Noah Bontrager, Mallory Weller shine at Hoosier State Relays
Continue reading...
