As long as juniors Caleb Winders and Ellie Barada are on the end of their respective relays, there's always a chance. Always.
The two latest examples came at Saturday's Hoosier State Relays in the Fall Creek Pavilion at the Indiana State Fairgrounds, and the way the Bloomington North boys and South girls performed, more big things are ahead outdoors this spring.
Winders brings North a team title
The North boys put themselves in position to repeat as state Large School indoor track champs and then put Winders in position to make it happen. Cougar head coach Justin Helmer figured it might come down to the meet's final event, the 1,600 relay, and who better to depend on than Winders?
The Cougars trailed Avon 53-46 and had to finish second or better to win the title. The Orioles ran in Heat 4 of 5 and were well out of the scoring (top 8) by the time North took off, it's goal set in stone. North was seeded fourth and in the fastest heat with last year's indoor and outdoor champs, North Central, which helped tremendously.
"We knew what we needed to do going into that race," Helmer said. "We talked to the guys, 'We can't be any worse than second.' Then I reminded them at our first indoor meet we ran North Central down and beat them. We wanted them to know we we're good enough to run with them."
The meet record was 3:20.91, set by Austin Mudd's Center Grove foursome in 2011.
James Bosco, Kellen Bishop and Ben Boland all had sub 50.6 split to keep the Cougars in third behind NC and Franklin Central, and Winders had two laps around the 200-meter banked track to make up a second and a half against some of the top anchors in the state. Not until the last curve did he finally run down FC's runner. NC was too tough to catch, but Winders still finished in 48.47 for a school record 3:19.94 and second.
Good enough. Title to the Cougars, 62-58½.
"I was confident we could run a 3:20 based on what we were doing," Helmer said. "Those guys got out and competed really hard, giving Winders a chance on the end of it. ... It's a group of guys with state meet experience, and they're running really well. We had PRs across the board."
There was still plenty to be worried about, but the excitement of the moment took over.
"The team was going crazy," Helmer said. "I was nervous. Hamilton Southeastern was in there, they were running so hard and so far, but we're not quite ready yet to finish that last 50. During the race, we would catch up, then fall off.
"But they were close enough. Caleb, there's no better anchor, but even then, it was race No. 3 for him and off a quick turnaround."
Barada runs down a Greyhound
Earlier in the day, Bloomington South's girls were going head-to-head with powerhouse Carmel in the ...
