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BLOOMINGTON – The track and field capital of the Midwest might be Fishers, Ind. Combine the Fishers Tigers and Hamilton Southeastern Royals, and who is beating them?

They finished first and second Saturday night at the 120th boys state meet, with Fishers securing its first state championship in this sport by a 60-54 margin over a crosstown rival.

Fishers -- after losing in indoor state, conference, county, sectional and regional meets -- won the biggest trophy. Improbably, Fishers scored nearly as many points here as it did at the Lafayette Jeff Regional (73).

“They almost ran a flawless meet,” coach Nathan Warnecke said, “and they’re going home state champs.”

Indoor state champion Bloomington North was third with 40 points for its highest finish ever.

Franklin Central was fourth with 26 and Carmel fifth with 25. Indianapolis-area schools took seven of the top eight spots, with Brebeuf Jesuit, Center Grove and North Central sharing sixth with 24 each.

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Even in steady rain, the stars came out. 

Fishers hurdler Tyler Tarter, Martinsville middle-distance runner Martin Barco and Bloomington North sprinter Jaidyn Johnson were emphatic double winners. And Carmel’s Tony Provenzano nearly took down a long-standing distance record.

For Fishers, it took more sauce than Tarter.

Counting regional marks, the Tigers were seeded to score one point from the discus, 4x100-meter relay and 4x800-meter relay. Instead, they scored 24.

Discus thrower Joel Gates did not qualify for the final until his third attempt, then went on to finish second to HSE’s Josiah Bird.

Before the climactic 4x400 relay, Fishers had 56 points and HSE 49. If top-seeded HSE were to win for 10 points, Fishers needed to be sixth.

Tarter’s 49.1-second leadoff put Fishers in front. HSE went on to finish fifth and Fishers sixth. That was it.

“It’s awesome. I can’t wait to get on the bus with my boys to celebrate,” Tarter said.

One year ago, the Indiana University recruit pulled a hamstring at the end of the 110-meter hurdles. He could barely move for a month, could not sprint for four months.

“I’ve been thinking about that every day for a year,” he said, “and it finally paid off.”

His rehab allowed him to make it a 3-for-3 state sweep. After setting an indoor state record in the 60 hurdles, he won the 110 hurdles in 13.85 and 300 hurdles in 37.25.

The 300 hurdles time was slower than the all-time state record of 36.17 he set at regional – he ranks No. 2 in the nation – but was anticlimactic.

Given the slight headwind, cool temps and standing water, the time in the 110 hurdles was historic. Only once since 2007 had anyone run faster than 13.85 at state.

“Halfway through that race, I was like, ‘Oh, shoot, I’m cookin’. Let’s go,’ “ Tarter said.

Touted football prospect JonAthony Hall, who was second in the long jump and ran on a third-place 4x100 relay team, achieved a different kind of double. He was on Fishers’ Class 4A champions in basketball.

Another two-sport champion was Ben Davis shot putter Nylan Brown, who set a school record of 63 feet, 1 ½ inches. Brown, known as “Big Ocho” for wearing the No. 8 jersey, is a Kent State linebacker recruit who helped the Giants win a state football championship.

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Barco, a University of Washington recruit, became the first to win a middle-distance double since Olympian Cole Hocker in 2019. He is the first to repeat in the 1,600 since Fishers’ Drew Shields in 2009.

Barco’s three middle-distance titles are one less than the state record – a record that has lasted since the 1920s.

“A win’s all that matters to me,” he said.

He took the 1,600 in 4:06.34 and 800 in a personal best of 1:50.97. Barco is aiming at the under-20 nationals, set for June 12-13 at Eugene, Ore., in a bid to qualify for August’s U20 World Championships at Lima, Peru.

The 800 field was among the best ever assembled in Indiana.

Bloomington North’s Caleb Winders was second in 1:51.45, a sophomore state record. Franklin Central senior Joey Ashman was third in 1:52.52. Hamilton Southeastern’s Mason Schmitz, who led through a 54.44 first lap, was fourth in 1:52.98 – just off Winders’ freshman state record of 1:52.68.

In the 1,600, cross-country state champion Cameron Todd of Brebeuf Jesuit ran the opening 800 in 2:02.74. That was not fast enough to drop Barco, who ran the final 400 in 59.47. Todd finished second in 4:08.53.

Todd was also second in a 3,200-meter race surprisingly won by Provenzano.

The three fastest at 3,200 in state history are Floyd Central’s Will Conway, Carmel’s Kole Mathison and Todd. Conway and Todd have not won a state title in the 3,200 . . . and now Provenzano has.

The Carmel senior closed in 59.44 for a time of 8:51.40, just off the record of 8:51.15 set by North Central’s Futsum Zienasellassie in 2012.

“Oh, it feels amazing,” Provenzano said. “All that hard work pays off.”

Conway led from first lap to eighth, when he was overtaken by Provenzano and ultimately by Todd. Times were 8:56.40 for Todd and 8:56.71 for Conway, who crumpled to the track afterward and lay there for several minutes.

Because of a timing malfunction, Johnson nearly had to repeat a heat of the 100 meters but was eventually advanced to the final, in which he clocked 10.52. The Louisville signee became the first sprinter to double since Evansville Harrison’s Noah McBride in 2017.

“My coaches told me to block everything out of my mind and just go win,” Johnson said. “Going into the meet, I had to trust myself that I can do it. Just praying a lot and staying healthy.”

Going indoors was familiar to two state champions: Greenfield-Central high jumper Elliot Ryba (6 feet, 10 inches) and Hamilton Heights pole vaulter Peyton Quinn (16-3). Because of the rain, jumps were moved inside Gladstein Fieldhouse.

Ryba, a Purdue recruit, and Quinn both won indoor state titles.

Fishers won this championship without injured Sam Quagliaroli, a junior who was third in the state cross-country meet. The Tigers were fourth in state track and field in 2023, 2022 and 2021, and were coming off second place in cross-country.

“We’ve got a great team bond,” Tarter said, “and I’m just glad we’re finally on top.”

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120th Annual IHSAA Boys Track & Field State Finals
Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex, Indiana University
Bloomington, Indiana
Friday, June 1, 2024

State Champions
3200 Relay: Bloomington North (Caelan D'Onofrio 10, Reed Pierce 12, Dominic D'Onofrio 12, Caleb Winders 10), 7:47.94
100 Meters: Jaidyn Johnson, 12, Bloomington North, :10.52
110 Hurdles: Tyler Tarter, 12, Fishers, :13.85
200 Meters: Jaidyn Johnson, 12, Bloomington North, :21.77
1600 Meters: Martin Barco, 12, Martinsville, 4:06.34
400 Relay: Hamilton Southeastern (Silas Newton 12, Christian Ortiz 11, Chandler Weston 11, Mason Alexander 11), :41.79
400 Meters: Cainen Northington, 12, Evansville North, :48.38
300 Hurdles: Tyler Tarter, 12, Fishers, :37.25
800 Meters: Martin Barco, 12, Martinsville, 1:50.97
3200 Meters: Tony Provenzano, 11, Carmel, 8:51.40
1600 Relay: North Central (Indianapolis) (Korren Mason 12, Antonio Smith 11, O'Neil Wheeler 11, and Denhm Holt 11), 3:16.88
Discus: Josiah Bird, 12, Hamilton Southeastern, 182-09
Shot Put: Nylan Brown, 12, Ben Davis, 63-01.50
Long Jump: Elijah Coker, 12, Penn, 23-03
High Jump: Elliot Ryba, 12, Greenfield-Central, 6-10
Pole Vault: Peyton McQuinn, 12, Hamilton Heights, 16-03

Jonathan Sever of Franklin Community wins Hinshaw Mental Attitude Award
Following Saturday's action, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Jonathan Sever of Franklin Community High School as the winner of this year’s Robert S. Hinshaw Mental Attitude Award in Boys Track and Field.

Jonathan participated in 110 Meter Hurdles and 300 Meter Hurdles on Saturday. He placed 9th in the 300 Hurdles in 2023's State Meet and is Franklin's School Record Holder in the 300. He's a two-time team captain of the Grizzly Cubs Boys Track Team. He's a four-year varsity Soccer player and three-year varsity Football player for Franklin.

Jonathan ranks third in his class of 345 students. He' s a member of the National Honor Society, Spanish Honor Society, and the Cubs to Grizzlies Mentor Program. He's also volunteered his time with Good Cheer Basket Delivery and the Christmas Angels Program.

The son of Ally and Mike Sever of Franklin, Jonathan will attend Purdue University and will study engineering.

The IHSAA Executive Committee, on behalf of Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Franklin Community High School in the name of Jonathan Sever.

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