It was a successful evening for the South Bend-area athletes at the IHSAA boys track and field state championship meet Friday, June 6, at North Central High School in Indianapolis.
While there were no individual champs from the area, several were close. The closest was Northridge junior Baylor Miller, finishing runner-up in the 1,600-meter run with a time of 4:07.83.
The most prolific event for the South Bend area was the 800-meter run, with five athletes placing in the top 20. Elkhart Christian Academy junior Caleb Barnard continued his coming-out party this spring by finishing fourth with a time of 1:53.98. Concord junior Jackson Yoder was seventh (1:54.63) and Bremen senior Luke Kincaid eighth (1:54.88) to earn podium spots as well.
Northridge’s Miller was 14th and La Porte’s Liam Lilly 20th to round out the 800-run performances.
Elkhart junior Alonso Newbern might have had the best all-around day from the area. He placed fourth in the 200-meter dash (21.83 seconds), earned a second podium finish in the 4×100 relay by finishing ninth and just missed out on the finals in the 100, placing 10th. Joining Newbern on the relay were Zachary Anderson, Alfonzo Newbern and Jamison Bertram.
Newbern’s teammate, senior Max Malloy, earned seventh in the 1,600-meter run to give the Lions three events to earn medals.
Penn senior Kellen Watson, who did not compete in the regular season due to injury, finished fifth in the 100-meter dash. He became the first Kingsmen male athlete ever to place three times in that event.
KELLEN WATSON RUNS 10.57 IN THE STATE FINALS FINISHING 5th!!!
KELLEN HAS NOW MEDALED IN THE 100 3 YEARS STRAIGHT DOING SOMETHING NO OTHER KINGSMEN HAS!
— Penn S&C (@PennStrength) June 6, 2025
La Porte nabbed a podium spot in the final race of the day, the 4×400 relay. The quarter of Gavin Wilson, Lilly, Landyn Hunt and Tayshaun Williams was ninth with a time of 3:20,96.
A handful of others just missed out on medals. Northridge’s Jaden Fisher was 10th in the 400 dash, the La Porte 4×800 relay of Jack Miskowicz, Hunter Quadlin, Hunt and Lilly was 10th, and the Slicers’ Williams was 11th in the 200.
Other area finishers
For Penn, Kohen Turner was 25th in the 200, the 4×100 relay finished 15th, Bryan Forbes 15th in the long jump and Shamar Sampers 26th in the 110 hurdles.
La Porte had Landyn Hunt finish 16th in the 400, Gavin Wilson in the 300 hurdles and Hunter Quadlin 23rd in the 1,600.
Concord had three, 17th-place finishes: Donovan Arnold in discus, the 4×8 and the 4×4. Bo Brunner was 26th in the 400.
Northridge was 12th in the 4×8 and 22nd in the 4×4.
NorthWood’s Gavin Rulli was 22nd in the 200 and Wyatt Mast 27th in the 100.
Fairfield thrower Nick Hofer finished 13th in shot put and 16th in discus. Three others from the area competed in discus: Isaac Fronk (New Prairie) was 13th, Aaron Anglemyer (Goshen) 24th and Kaleb Johnson (Mishawaka Marian) 25th.
In long jump, Mishawaka’s Leon Fowler was 17th and Goshen’s Daniel Kinsey 29th.
Representing South Bend was the Adams 4×4 taking 15th, Washington 4×1 relay finishing 23rd and Saint Joseph’s Will Elick finishing 24th in the 300-meter hurdles.
Six state records were set on the night: Westview junior Noah Bontrager in the 1,600 (4:02.60), Bloomington North in the 4×8 (7:37.01), Lawrence North sophomore Monshun Sales in the 200 prelims (21.09), Franklin Central junior Rylan Hainje in both the 110-meter hurdles (13.28) and 300-meter hurdles (35.82), and North Central senior Dehnm Holt in the 400 (46.80).
Lawrence North scored 47 points to win the team title, edging out Bloomington North by two and Merrillville by seven. Notable places from greater northern Indiana schools were Warsaw in fifth and Westview ninth.
Follow Austin Hough on X (formerly Twitter) @AustinRHough and on Facebook at “Austin Hough – South Bend Tribune.” Hough can be emailed at ahough@gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: See how South Bend-area athletes fared at IHSAA boys track state finals