BLOOMINGTON — Seven area boys competed in the 2023-24 IHSAA State Track Finals on Saturday evening at Robert C. Haugh Complex at Indiana University.

Mother Nature had its’ way all throughout the event, as the puddled track was ruled good enough to compete on. Field Events had to take place indoors because of the rain.

Seymour’s Jaylan Johnson had the highest placement for an individual with 14th in the 400-Meter Dash. He spoke about his performance in the event and the 4×400-meter relay, the junior also spoke on this season with the Owls.

“I think I did good but definitely not my best,” Johnson said. “My favorite part of the season was being able to succeed with my team.”

Johnson, Ty Tormoehlen, Kylan Ellerbe, and Devon Jackson finished 24th in their 4×400-meter relay, clocking a 3:28.09.

Johnson spoke about some of his goals for next season.

“As for next season I expect to be back in the State meet and my goal is to bring home one of those fancy medals, maybe even a school record,” he said.

Mason Nugent, Jesse Mellencamp, Kyle Hileman and Devon Jackson finished 22nd with a time of 44.02.

Nugent spoke about his performance in the 4×100-Meter Relay.

“As far as our performance goes, I think we performed well for the rainy and cold conditions we had, although it wasn’t our best time we still placed higher than what we were seeded,” Nugent said.

The senior spoke about his favorite part of this season. Nugent also spoke about journey to the state, after getting injured during his freshman season.

“Spending time with my friends and having a great time while we all accomplished so much this season,” Nugent said. “I loved being at the state meet and watching the best of the best compete, and it was special to me because I was able to compete.”

“It was one of the biggest things I’ve been a part of and it’s more important to me knowing that I have come off a bad injury my freshman season where I tore my hamstring and was out for the season” he said. “I love being able to run and compete especially when it’s aside my second family the times and memories I create will stick with me forward”

Owls Head Coach Randy Fife spoke on the performance from the team on Saturday.

“It was a good night,” Coach Fife said. “I thought we competed well. We finished higher than our seed in all 3 of our events. We faced some adverse weather conditions, but we didn’t let the weather get in our heads. The weather did affect our times to some extent but it didn’t cause us to lose positions.”

Brownstown Central’s Isiaah Engle competed individually in the 300-Meter Hurdles, finishing in 26th with a time of 42.18. The senior spoke about his performance on Saturday evening.

“Asides from the weather the track meet was awesome, and it was an exciting atmosphere,” Engle said. “I got to compete against and watch some really talented athletes so overall it was a good experience.”

Engle enjoyed the competitive spirit and attitude during his time at Brownstown Central in track.

“My favorite part of Brownstown’s track team is just being on a team where everyone wants to win and push each other to get better every practice,” he said. “My favorite memory of BCHS track is getting the school record and moving on to state in the same meet.”

Engle broke the school record in the 2024 Bloomington North Regional a few weeks ago with a time of 40.14.

“I have had a solid career at Brownstown. I ended up being a part of the 4×100 team that broke the school record last year,” he said. “That team also consisted of Jack Pace, Caleb Cummings, and Hudson Fritz. I was also able to make it to state and qualify for regionals in all 4 of my events my senior year.”

Engle also mentioned that some of his favorite achievements were winning the Mid-Southern two years in a row and winning the Salem Invitational the past three seasons.

The programs will prepare for the 2024-25 seasons.

State Track and Field

Team Scores (Top-5): 1, Fishers, 60. 2, Hamilton Southeastern, 54. 3, Bloomington North, 40. 4, Franklin Central, 26. 5, Carmel, 25.

Individual Results:

400-Meter Dash: 1, Cainen Northington, 48.38, Evansville North. 14, Jaylan Johnson, 49.58, Seymour.

300-Meter Hurdles: 1, Tyler Tarter, 37.25, Fishers. 26, Isiaah Engle, 42.18, Brownstown Central.

4×100-Meter Relay: 1, Hamilton Southeastern, 41.79. 22, Seymour, 44.02, (M. Nugent, J. Mellencamp, K. Hileman, D. Jackson).

4×400-Meter Relay: 1, North Central, 3:16.88. 24, Seymour, 3:28.09, (D. Jackson, K. Ellerbe, J. Johnson, T. Tormoehlen).