On Saturday, Seymour High School’s Unified track and field team will make history.
In just the third season of the program at the school, the Owls have qualified for the state finals.
They followed up their runner-up sectional showing with a fourth-place finish in the regional to earn one of 12 spots in Saturday’s meet at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis.
Seymour made it to the regional in 2019 but only had 13 of 40 competitors available. Last spring’s season was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and fortunately, this season has gone on without a hitch.
In the regional May 29 at Bloomington High School North, the Owls had their full team available.
“I would say overall, it has been a wonderful experience for the kids. They were so excited and so proud,” head coach Rachel Cain said of last weekend’s regional.
Assistant coach Amanda Neal said the athletes had multiple personal records, including one who topped their best performance back-to-back-to-back.
“It has been amazing,” Neal said. “They have just put it all out there.”
Qualifying for state is especially exciting for Seymour’s 13 seniors.
One of them, Ryan Elmore, also was part of the 2019 regional team.
“I think we have a pretty good chance. I think we could place pretty high,” he said of the state finals. “We could have gotten at least third in regional. I think we can bump it up for state. Everybody will be going their hardest.”
Elmore competes in the shot put and long jump, and his personal bests are 41 feet, 5 inches and 15 feet, 5 inches, respectively.
“I feel fairly confident. I’m hoping for top three in shot put. We’re going to tweak my form a little bit. I’m hoping to kind of change it up and hopefully get it a little bit further for state,” he said, adding he’s hoping to get around his best in the long jump, too.
Classmate Levi Croquart also competed in the regional two years ago.
He runs the 400-meter dash and hopes to top his PR of 59 seconds, and he is ready to see how the Owls perform.
“These guys work hard, and they deserve some spotlight, too,” he said. “I’ve noticed that we come from all kinds of walks of life. Some of us have either it be issues at home, issues at school. We kind of leave all of that at the gate. We get in here, and your shoes better be smoking once you finish, and you kind of forget about everything else.”
David Engel is another senior, but he’s new to the team after his younger brother, A.J., encouraged him to join.
His hard work this spring paid off Saturday when he PR’d in the shot put, throwing 28 feet, 9 inches.
“I’m trying to break 30,” he said. “I hadn’t been doing as great in the regular season. I did something to my arm, but I’ve gotten back to full strength luckily.”
Like they have all season, Engel expects the Owls to leave it all on the track Saturday.
“Just making sure that everybody does their 100%,” he said. “It’s not all about winning, but it is about giving your 100%.”
Sophomore Charles Becraft is new to Unified track and has season bests of 27 feet in the shot put and 11 feet in the long jump.
Getting to compete at state in his first year is exciting.
“Everybody has welcomed me in easily. We all came together as a team,” he said. “I’m looking forward to being around the group of people and trying to win and get at least first or second place.”
Cain said the program has a lot of people to thank for helping throughout the season, from the athletes to the parents to school staff members.
On Saturday, they want to make their supporters, school and community proud. The team will leave from SHS at 8:30 a.m. with a police escort, and the public is welcome to cheer them on.
“I just hope they all have fun,” Cain said. “I’ve never been to state before, so it’s going to be a big experience for all of us. But at the same time, I just want the kids to enjoy it really.”
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The Indiana Unified track and field state finals will start at 11:30 a.m. Saturday at Ben Davis High School in Indianapolis.
Long jump and shot put will start 30 minutes prior to the running events, which include the 100-meter dash, 400-meter dash, 400-meter girls relay and 400-meter boys relay.
Participating schools include Avon, Bedford North Lawrence, Bloomington North, Boonville, Carroll (Fort Wayne), Columbia City, Fishers, Jennings County, Kokomo, Seymour, South Bend Adams and Valparaiso.
Tickets are $10. Children 24 months and younger will be admitted free. All tickets will be digital through a mobile phone and may be purchased online at gofan.co/app/events/315776?schoolId=IHSAA. Present your phone purchase at the gate for admission.
The event will be livestreamed at ihsaatv.org/?B=272542.
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