2002-03 IHSAA Boys Track & Field State Tournament Series

State Finals Summary

Rainy Evening Doesn’t Dampen Lawrence North’s Party

As light rain fell throughout much of the evening, the Lawrence North Wildcats ignored the conditions and used their superior depth to capture their third consecutive state title, and fourth overall, in the 100th Annual Boys Track and Field State Finals on June 6, 2003 at the Michael Carroll Track and Soccer Stadium in Indianapolis, in front of a colorful umbrella-carrying crowd of 5,333.

Winning only two events, Lawrence North, the state’s number one team in the final coaches poll, continued to put points on the board with three second place finishes, along with a third, fourth and seventh to outdistance second place Fort Wayne Northrop, 69-44.

The Wildcats picked up their first eight points of the evening in the opening event, the 3200 Meter Relay, with a second place finish to Brebeuf Jesuit. Trent Morton, Matt Impink, Brian Kolas and Chris Smitson gave the victorious Braves a 7:47.29 time in the race, with Lawrence North a close second at 7:47.41.

Lawrence North put 10 points in the book in the 110 Meter Hurdles, with speedster Brandys Green improving upon his second place finish a year ago to finish out front in a time of 13.97.

Green was back again, setting the pace in the 300 Meter Hurdles, an event in which he finished third in 2002. This time, his 37.47 was good enough for first place, pushing the Wildcats into an insurmountable lead in the team standings.

North Central of Indianapolis took home its only first in the 100 Meter Dash, with Pierre Bush crossing the finish line in a time of 10.73.

In the 1600 Meter Run, Christian Wagner of Columbus North turned in the best time in the event since it was changed from yards to meters in 1980, as he raced home in 4:07.11. Rudy Chapa’s converted time of 4:04.20 in 1976 for Hammond still stands as the event record.

Wagner had a chance to catch his breath and then returned gunning for Chapa’s mark in the 3200 Meter Run. The Hammond blur had set the standard at 8:55.10 (converted time) in 1975. With the crowd cheering him on, Wagner crossed the finish line in 8:55.92, just missing etching his name in the record book, but giving the junior a goal to shoot for in 2004. Nef Araia of Lawrence North, the two-time defending cross country state champion and defending champion in the 3200, was a distant second at 9:14.85.

Ben Davis made it two in a row in the 400 Meter Relay, as Michael Richardson, Todd Barnard, Bruce Williams and Charles Thompson combined for a 41.57 finish. Richardson and Williams were members of last year’s state championship team in the event.

The Giants would be heard from again as Williams returned later to turn in a time of 22.11 to lead the field in the 200 Meter Dash and the school’s 1600 Meter Relay team closed out the show with a victory as a trio of their 400 Meter Relay members, Richardson, Thompson and Williams, were joined by Richard El to finish the evening with a 3:17.96 effort.

Josh Ferry of Bloomington South led the way in the 800 Meter Run in 1:53.98 for the Panthers’ top finish of the meet.

White River Valley etched its name in the win column when Doug Dayhoff, who had finished third a year ago, led the field across the finish line in the 400 Meter Dash in a time of 48.13.

In the field events, Cory Martin of Edgewood captured the top spot in the Discus with a toss of 174-0. Donald Washington, Franklin Central, was first in the Long Jump, turning in a distance of 23-2.25. The High Jump crown belonged to Dustin Keller from Lafayette Jefferson, with a leap of 6-9. Shot Put honors went to Jason Brown of South Bend Clay, showcasing a put of 62-11. The Pole Vault, which was delayed extensively by the weather conditions, finally concluded with Ryan Schipper of Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger outlasting the field, topping out at 15-9, one foot higher than last year when he finished third.

No state meet records were set during the event.

At meet’s end, Kyle Sweeney of Portage High School was announced as the winner of the Robert S. Hinshaw Mental Attitude Award for 2003 by the IHSAA’s Executive Committee. Farm Bureau Insurance, the IHSAA’s corporate partner, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Portage High School in the name of Sweeney.

The year’s tournament series drew 367 schools and 7,056 participants at the sectional level.

2002-03 IHSAA Boys Track & Field State Champion

Lawrence North High School

2002-03 Robert S. Hinshaw

Mental Attitude Award Recipient

Kyle Sweeney

Portage High School

IHSAA State Meet Records

Event	Record	Year	Holder	School
100 Meter Dash	:10.31	1980-81	Jerome Harrison	Jeffersonville
200 Meter Dash	:21.10	1981-82	Jeffrey Patrick	Gary Roosevelt
400 Meter Dash	:46.99	2001-02	David Neville	Merrillville
800 Meter/880 Yard Run	1:50.20	1976-77	Tom Martin	Evansville Memorial
1600 Meter/Mile Run	4:04.20	1975-76	Rudy Chapa	Hammond
3200 Meter/Two Mile Run	8:55.10	1974-75	Rudy Chapa	Hammond
110 Meter/120 Yard Hurdles	:13.40	1975-76	Jerry Hill	Indpls. Arsenal Technical
300 Meter Intermediate Hurdles	:37.43	1998-99	Daniel Martin	Concord
400 Meter Relay	:41.02	1981-82	Don Young, Jeff Patrick, Glen Moore, Alan Price	Gary Roosevelt
1600 Meter Relay	3:13.66	1979-80	Kenneth Carter, Craig Peterson, Walter Monagan, Sortero Burnett	Gary West Side
3200 Meter Relay	7:42.64	1998-99	Mark Pemberton, Jesse Davis, Jason Dorais, Ed Morgan	Bloomington South
High Jump	7-1.25	1976-77	Jeff Woodard	New Albany
	7-1.25*	1979-80	Ron Jones	Mount Vernon
	7-1.25*	1979-80	Adam Shumpert	Peru
Long Jump	24-7.75**	1994-95	Frank Young	Kokomo
Pole Vault	16-9	2000-01	Matt Campbell	White River Valley
	16-9	2000-01	Paul Gensic	Carroll (Fort Wayne)
Shot Put	66-8.5	1996-97	Jeremy Allen	Pike
Discus	217-1	1992-93	John Schulte	Hanover Central

 * Tied Record

** Tied His 1993-94 Record

Indiana High School Boys Track & Field State Progression of Records

Note:  Beginning in 1980, all running events were conducted at metric distances. Records established prior to that year in non-metric events have been converted to their metric equivalents and are listed in the above chart. When these converted times are bettered in future state finals, the record holder for the English distance event will be maintained in the chart below under the Progression of Records category with the English event and record time. Events that are no longer contested at the state track and field meet also are listed below.

Event	Record	Year	Holder	School
100 Yard Dash	:9.50	1965-66	Clyde Peach	Brebeuf
220 Yard Dash (Straightaway)	:20.50	1966-67	Larry Highbaugh	Indianapolis Washington
220 Yard Dash (Curve)	:21.30	1970-71	Patrick Gullett	Gary Mann
	:21.30*	1975-76	Cornell Garrett	Evansville North
440 Yard Dash (Two Curves)	:47.4	1977-78	Leon Tubbs	Fort Wayne South Side
440 yard Dash (One Curve)	:47.30	1963-64	Kenny Head	New Albany
180 Yard Low Hurdles	:18.60	1962-63	Jerry Saffell	LaPorte
330 Yard Low Hurdles	:37.00	1977-78	Robert Johnson	Indianapolis Northwest
300 Meter Low Hurdles	:35.87	1984-85	Robert Kennedy	Southport
880 Yard Relay	1:26.6	1975-76	Al Darring, Brent Ervin, Mark Highbaugh, Oliver Pipkin	North Central (Indianapolis)
	1:26.6*	1976-77	Charles Jones, Carl Weatherspoon, Jerry Jones, Robert Baker	Gary Roosevelt
Mile Relay	3:14.8	1975-76	Clifton Hill, William McCallister, Kenneth Sumbry, Frederick Brown	Gary West Side

* Tied Record

Sectionals

May 22, 2003

1. Bedford North Lawrence (11): Bedford North Lawrence, Brown County, Brownstown Central, Crothersville, Jennings County, Loogootee, Medora, Mitchell, Orleans, Seymour, Shoals.

2. Benton Central (12): Attica, Benton Central, Covington, Fountain Central, Frontier, North Newton, North Vermillion, North White, Seeger, South Newton, Tri-County, Twin Lakes.

3. Bloomington North (12): Bloomfield, Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Cloverdale, Eastern (Bloomfield), Edgewood, Eminence, Martinsville, Monrovia, Mooresville, Owen Valley, White River Valley.

4. Carmel (12): Avon, Brownsburg, Carmel,