News
Lawrence North wins first crown since 2003
INDIANAPOLIS – The defeat could have been deflating. Instead, it was defining.
Lawrence North had a No. 1 ranking in Class 6A football and a seven-point lead in a regional last November. Brownsburg came back to win 22-21, and the Wildcats’ dream season was over.
When does track season start, Coach?
“To watch these kids suffer that disappointment in football season and come right back on the first of December and start working on track . . . “ said Pat Mallory, the Wildcats’ coach in both sports. “They had a slight chance at it tonight. As the year kept going, we shuffled some guys around in positions that they haven’t normally done, and it paid off for us today.”
In an historic boys state meet featuring six records Friday night, Lawrence North held on for a 47-45 victory over indoor state champion Bloomington North. Not since 1980 had there been as many as six records.
It was the Wildcats’ first championship since a run of three straight in 2001-02-03. Bloomington North has been fourth, third and second over the past three years.
Merrillville was third with 40 points, North Central fourth with 35 and Warsaw fifth with 34. Lawrence North, North Central and sixth-place Franklin Central (32) are all from Marion County.
Elsewhere, the highlights were double victories by two juniors, Franklin Central hurdler Rylan Hainje and Westview distance runner Noah Bontrager. Hainje broke two meet records and Bontrager one.
After being held at Indiana University since 2004, the meet returned to a former location, North Central High School (1972-82 and 1997). Drizzling rain began during the 1,600 meters, holding off until after the110 hurdles.
Four Lawrence North boys scored, all of them football players, in four events.
“It feels amazing,” said Damario Moore, whose third place in the 300-meter hurdles effectively secured the championship. “We all knew what the goal was when we came in here. We just had to get it done.”
Lawrence North won the 4x100-meter relay in 40.85 with the four of Davion Chandler, Jerome Smith, Monshun Sales and Moore. For football, Chandler has signed with Indiana University, Smith with Miami of Ohio and Moore with Division II Gannon (Pa.).
Sales is the nation’s No. 1 wide receiver prospect in the 2027 class, according to On3.
Smith and Moore were 2-3 in the 100, Sales and Smith 2-3 in the 200. Sales set a state meet record of 21.09 in prelims of the 200, breaking the mark of 21.10 held by Gary Roosevelt’s Jeffrey Patrick since 1982.
In projecting regional results into state, the Wildcats were at 37 points. They exceeded that by 10.
“When we didn’t pick up any points in the high hurdles or the long jump, I thought it was a long shot,” Mallory said. “Then halfway through, we started tallying up some points and I figured we still had a chance to be at least top three.”
No one topped Hainje.
In less than 15 months, he has gone from never hurdling to fastest high school hurdler in Indiana history. Indeed, one of the fastest ever.
Hainje ran the 110 hurdles in 13.28 to rank No. 3 in the nation this year. His time of 35.82 in the 300 hurdles ranks No. 2.
His 13.28 (+0.8 wind) ties for10th on the all-time list, excluding a hand-timed 12.9 by Renaldo Nehemiah from 1977. The junior-class record is 13.22 by Jamar Marshall, St. Marys, Stockton, Calif., 2019.
“I was not expecting to break anything today because I’m only a junior,” Hainje said. “I came out here a little bit nervous. It’s my first outdoor state.”
He beat the deepest field in Indiana history. Fifth place was 13.82, a time that would have won 39 of 44 state finals since auto-timing was introduced in 1980.
Lawrence Central junior Evan Williams was second in 13.65 and indoor champ John Peters of Merrillville third in in 13.80.
Hainje’s previous best was 13.57 at a regional. In clocking 13.28, he cleaned up some messy stats.
The IHSAA listed the state meet record as 13.64 by Tech’s Jerry Hill from 1976. (That was a hand-timed 13.4, adding a conversion of 0.24 seconds.) Fastest at state with automatic timing was 13.69 by Evansville Harrison’s Bryce Brown in 2007. All-time Indiana best was a wind-aided 13.42 by Brown or a hand-timed 13.3 by Gary Roosevelt’s Elbert Turner in 1986.
Moreover, Hainje became the fourth since 1925 to set two records at the same state meet. The others: Jerry Saffel, LaPorte, 120- and 180-yard hurdles, 1963; Clyde Peach, Brebeuf Jesuit, 100- and 220-yard dashes, 1966; Austin Mudd, Center Grove, 800 and 1,600 meters, 2011.
Hainje credited his hurdles coach, Melinda George. She had developed two hurdles state champions, Zach Bray and Jacob Wright, while coaching at Hamilton Southeastern.
“I worked a lot this whole year,” Hainje said. “I feel like I deserve it more than I think I deserve it.”
He joined his father, also named Rylan Hainje, as a state champion. The older Hainje was on state championship teams in football and basketball at Cathedral.
Friday’s other double winner, Bontrager, ran a record 4:02.60 in the 1,600 and was less than a tenth from a record with 8:51.22 in the 3,200. Bontrager broke the record of 4:03.00 set by Mudd, and nearly the 8:51.15 by North Central’s Futsum Zienasellassie from 2012.
Bontrager said he was aiming for sub-4:00 but won’t have another chance this season. Instead, he plans to run a 5,000 at New Balance nationals and then join his Christian youth group at a summer camp.
He won the1,600 by five seconds. He ran the closing 400 of the 3,200 in 59.60, completing a negative split of 4:29/4:22.
“I know I have something left in the tank. Just came up short,” said Bontrager, who has committed to Notre Dame. “But that’s OK with me. It’s such an amazing experience here at state. Just a whole different feeling, I guess.”
Fishers’ Sam Quagliaroli, who beat Bontrager in state cross-country, was second in the 3,200 in 8:54.99.
Other meet records were by North Central senior Dehnm Holt, 46.80 in the 400, and Bloomington North, 7:37:01 in the 4x800 relay.
Holt broke the meet record of 46.98 set by Plainfield’s Nayyir Newash-Campbell in 2023. Newash-Campbell holds the all-time record of 46.67, and Holt nearly broke that with a 46,76 on this track May 14.
“I’ve dreamt of a moment like this, I prayed, I manifested a moment like this,” said Holt, a DePaul signee. “So for it to finally come true, it means the world to me.”
His 46.42 anchor carried North Central to victory in the 4x400 relay in 3:14.34, or about a second off what would have been a seventh state record.
Holt was to board a flight early Saturday for Seattle. He will have another chance at a record Sunday in the Brooks PR Invitational at Renton, Wash.
Bloomington North had two notable triplers.
Caleb Winders, also a junior, ran a 1:51.23 anchor in the 4x800, a 1:52.21 victory in the 800, a 48.27 anchor for sixth in the 4x400 relay. Caelan D’Onofrio was on the 4x800, placed third in the 1,600 in 4:07.92 and sixth in the 800 in 1:54.53.
Greenwood’s Will Riley, after finishing third as a sophomore and fourth last year, won the 100 in 10.40. Another North Central sprinter, Antonio Smith, took the 200 in 21.42.
Junior champions in the field were high jumper Jordan Randall of Warsaw, 7-0 (he missed at 7-3 1/4); pole vaulter Demarco Easter of Merrillville, 16-3, and discus thrower Kaleb Rasheed of Avon, 191-10.
121st Annual IHSAA Boys Track & Field State Finals
North Central High School
Indianapolis, Indiana
Friday, June 6, 2025
|
Top 10 Teams |
|
|
1. Lawrence North |
47 |
|
2. Bloomington North |
45 |
|
3. Merrillville |
40 |
|
4. North Central (Indianapolis) |
35 |
|
5. Warsaw Community |
34 |
|
6. Franklin Central |
32 |
|
7. Mt. Vernon (Fortville) |
25 |
|
8. Fishers |
24 |
|
T9. Avon |
20 |
|
T9. Westview |
20 |
State Champions
3200 Relay: Bloomington North (Caleb Winders 11, Caelan D'Onofrio 11, Jacob Mitchell 11, Jake Gentry 11), 7:37.01 State Record
100 Meters: Will Riley, 12, Greenwood Community, :10.40
110 Hurdles: Rylan Hainje, 11, Franklin Central, :13.28 State Record
200 Meters: Antonio Smith, 12, North Central (Indianapolis), :21.42
1600 Meters: Noah Bontrager, 11, Westview, 4:02.60 State Record
400 Relay: Lawrence North (Davion Chandler 12, Jerome Smith 12, Monshun Sales 10, Damario Moore 12), :40.85
400 Meters: Dehnm Holt, 12, North Central (Indianapolis), :46.80 State Record
300 Hurdles: Rylan Hainje, 11, Franklin Central, :35.82 State Record
800 Meters: Caleb Winders, 11, Bloomington North, 1:52.21
3200 Meters: Noah Bontrager, 11, Westview, 8:51.22
1600 Relay: North Central (Indianapolis) (Dexter Parker 12, Antonio Smith 12, Evan Huet 12, Dehnm Holt 12), 3:14.34
Discus: Kaleb Rasheed, 11, Avon, 191-10
Shot Put: Benjamin Brown, 12, Southport, 63-02
Long Jump: Jaylen Ramsey, 12, Merrillville, 23-08.50
High Jump: Jordan Randall, 11, Warsaw Community, 7-00
Pole Vault: Demarco Easter, 11, Merrillville, 16-03
State Records during Friday's Prelims
200 Meters: Monshun Sales, 10, Lawrence North, :21.09 State Record
Luke Kincaid of Bremen wins Hinshaw Mental Attitude Award
Following Saturday's action, members of the IHSAA Executive Committee named Luke Kincaid of Bremen High School as the winner of this year’s Robert S. Hinshaw Mental Attitude Award in Boys Track and Field.
Luke participated in 800 Meter Run and placed 8th with a time of 1:54.88. Luke holds the Bremen school record in the 800m, 1600m, 3200m, and is a part of the 4x800m record holding foursome. He served as team captain of this year's squad and helped Bremen win its first boys track sectional title in 65 years!
Luke graduated fourth in his class of 92 students. He serves as President of Bremen's Student Council, and is a member of the National Honor Society, Key Club, DECA, and Fellowship of Christian Athletes.
The son of Travis and Kim Kincaid of Bremen, Luke will attend Indiana Wesleyan University and will study Sports Administration.
The IHSAA Executive Committee, on behalf of Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance, presented a $1,000 scholarship to Bremen High School in the name of Luke Kincaid.
