• Lawrence North wins IHSAA boys track and field state title by two points.

• Franklin Central junior Rylan Hainje broke two state records.

• Two weeks ago, North Central’s Antonio Smith didn’t know which event he’d run. His decision paid off.

INDIANAPOLIS – Lawrence North’s dual-athletes forecasted a restless night when asked how they would celebrate their IHSAA boys track state championship.

”We ain’t going to sleep tonight,” said Davion Chandler before his teammates laughed excitedly.

“We state champions, boy!”

Chandler, Jerome Smith, Damario Moore and Monshun Sales secured the Wildcats the state title Friday at North Central with 47 points. Smith and Moore finished second (10.44) and third (10.50) in the 100-meter finals.

Smith followed his performance with third place (21.65) in the 200 meters behind Sales (21.56).

Moore finished third in the 300-meter hurdles with a time of 37.01.

The four, who also play football at Lawrence North, won the 4×100 state title with a 40.85 run time.

“This something we talked about since we first started track,” Moore said. “We said, ‘We need to win a state championship.’”

Smith added, “There is no other way to go out better than this as a senior.” For Chandler, the victory serves a greater purpose.

“It feels amazing to leave a legacy and stamp greatness in your school before you leave,” he said.

Entering the 400-meter relay, Chandler said the top-ranked team knew they just had to get the baton to the finish line, and the championship would be theirs.

“We got Jerome Smith, Damario Moore, and we got Davion Chandler.

We really them,” said Sales, the only non-senior among the four. “We already knew. We came here ready to win.”

Sales appreciates that he contributed to a successful close to his teammates’ high school journeys.

”The team leaving me next year, so we had to go out with a bang,” he said.

Franklin Central’s Rylan Hainje thought he would lose Friday. He broke two state records.

When 35.82 appeared next to Rylan Hainje’s name on the big screen at North Central’s track, the junior put both hands on his head and opened his mouth wide in disbelief.

The Franklin Central track star had broken his second state record of the day.

Hainje’s 35.82 in the 300-meter hurdles came a little over an hour after he posted a 13.28 in the 110 hurdles Friday.

Hainje’s running times are now second and fifth in the nation in the 300 and 110-meter hurdles, respectively.

Hainje initially thought he would lose.

“I’m always nervous, so I don’t always come ready for my races,” Hainje said.

“I’m always thinking I’m going to lose, that someone is going to beat me or get ahead of me. I try to knock those out of my way.”

Hainje talked with his parents before the meet, and they encouraged him to persist but not get anxious in his first outdoor state appearance.

Hainje lost indoors earlier in the season and said the defeat provided him a “big push to come out here and win.”

“I worked a lot this whole year,” Hainje said. “I feel like I deserve this more than I think.”

‘Anything is possible’: Greenwood’s Will Riley captures state title after hamstring injury

When Will Riley took his blocks for the 100-meters state final Friday, he was already content.

The Greenwood senior has nursed a hamstring injury throughout the season.

The injury made him appreciate being a participant.

But, the starter’s gun fired, and in the blink of an eye, Riley was a state champion.

“I was going in here just happy I was able to run in the final race of the season,” Riley said.

“But to be able to PR (personal record) and become state champ, it’s truly a blessing.”

Riley ran a 10.40 to beat out Smith (10.44) and Moore (10.50).

Riley finished runner-up in the 200 at state last season and third in the 100 in 2023.

“It was truly terrible when my injury happened because I had a high expectation coming into this season based on my times and places last year,” Riley said. “I was sad, but I had to lock in. I knew I had to work for it.”

Experiencing triumph after setback reassures the Indiana State signee that restriction to one’s capability is self-imposed.

“Anything is possible,” Riley said. “As long as you stick with it and keep your mind straight, you can do anything.”

Antonio Smith didn’t know which race to run. He picked 200m and now he’s a state champion.

Antonio Smith was conflicted about which race to run heading into sectionals.

With the 200-meter and 300-meter hurdles at his disposal, honest introspection guided the North Central track star to a decision.

Smith chose the 200. Two weeks later, the senior became a state champion.

“I know I’m fast, but the hurdles have always been an issue for me.

I had a feeling it was the right decision, and it’s just good to know that it was,” Smith told IndyStar. “There’s no better feeling than winning the 200.”

Though the half-lap race was an option, failure wasn’t. In an early May meet at Carmel, Smith took the blocks for a 200-meter dash alongside teammate Denhm Holt.

Holt narrowly defeated Smith by less than .400 of a second.

“After that, I made up my mind that I wasn’t losing again,” Smith said.

“We fight every day in practice, so I know anybody out here can‘t really stand with me.

I’m on the team with greats, and iron sharpens iron, so I knew this was for me.”

Individual success wasn’t Smith’s sole desire heading into state finals.

After losing the 4×800 in regionals, Holt, who runs as anchor for North Central, sat in anger.

Smith went to his teammate and told him, “It’s okay; we gon’ get them next week.”

The Panthers did just that. With a time of 3:14:34, North Central placed first in the 1600-meter relay Friday.

It was the second win of the day for Holt, who set a state meet record in the 400-meter race earlier in the day.

“A lot of people think track is an individual sport, but you have to think about your loved ones and your teammates,” Holt told IndyStar. “Antonio is my brother.

Even though we are not blood brothers, I call him my mud brother.

We have gone through grueling workouts together, and sometimes, at the end of practice, we get mad at each other because he got the best of me one practice or I got the best of him one practice.

But I know he can uplift me anytime I’m down.”

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