These Evansville-area boys have advanced to the IHSAA track and field state finals

EVANSVILLE — The final high school track and field meet at Central Stadium this season did not disappoint.

Multiple state qualifiers from last year once again punched their tickets to the IHSAA state finals Thursday evening. Others will compete in Bloomington for the first time, though a few made it to state in another sport this school year.

Here's what we learned from Thursday's boys regional meet.

IHSAA track and field: These Evansville-area girls have qualified for the state finals

Mater Dei continues streak of sending 400-meter sprinters to state

The Wildcats had qualifiers in this event in each of the last three seasons.

Their highest finish at state in the 400 during the span was Eli McDurmon placing 10th in 2022. Reagan Shaver has seen his success up close numerous times. He ran on the 4x400 relay with McDurmon in the same meet and helped guide Mater Dei to a top-15 finish.

"Freshman year, Eli pushed me a lot," Shaver, a junior, said. "On the (4x400), I was the worst runner on the team. But every day at practice, he helped pull me along. I got out there and didn't realize I was running fast."

Shaver continues to cement himself among the area's top sprinters in the 400. He's now a two-time individual state qualifier and regional runner-up.

"It's a good feeling," Shaver said of advancing. "Great competition helps you get better. To get on the podium at state, that would be a great feeling."

After North's 4x100 mishap, one of its runners is a state qualifier

Senior Myles Terry and the rest of the unit still were heartbroken when they dropped the baton in last week's sectional.

They had high aspirations going into the postseason, already winning city and Southern Indiana Athletic Conference titles. They even thought they could have a strong showing if they made it to state. But that dream is over.

There are a couple of silver linings, though. One of North's relays will advance to state as the 4x400 team won a regional title. Terry also is an individual qualifier in the 200 and will be joined by sophomore De'Amontey Layne, the regional champion in the event.

"I feel like there's always room for improvement with me," Terry said. "And I feel like I can just always push myself, even through my injury, and try to do the best that I can every day."

Cross country standouts advance to state finals for the first time

Jackson Nolan has been waiting for this moment for a long time.

Being a state qualifier in track was the Reitz junior's top priority this season. The highest he finished in the 3,200 in the regional over the last two seasons was fifth. He was elated as he finally punched his ticket as the runner-up.

"I obviously wanted to win the race," Nolan said. "But I PR'ed, so I'm not really mad. It's exciting to know that I'm getting to race against the best guys in the state. I'm ready to prove myself at the state meet."

Jasper's Calvin Seitz, meanwhile, didn't get the SIAC freshman record of 9:13 in the two mile as he intended. He added he "wasn't even close." Still, this has been a phenomenal freshman campaign for him.

He gets to go to state in two sports this school year. Seitz became the regional runner-up in the 1,600 and in the second leg of the 4x800 relay.

"It's great to make it with the team and share the experience with the guys I've worked with all season," Seitz said of being a qualifier.

Heritage Hills' Jett Goldsberry, Tell City's Landon Terry also find success on the track

Just how impressive have Goldsberry and Terry been in their high school careers so far?

Goldsberry, a sophomore, was the starting quarterback for the Class 3A state runner-up Patriots last fall. He has now qualified for the IHSAA finals in all three sports he plays.

"We've been putting work in since freshman year and just trying to prepare for all these moments," Goldsberry said. "Wish we could have done a little better in the 200, but we did good in the 400. Hopefully, we'll keep going through the state tournament."

Terry and his twin brother, Noah, could be two of the state's most dynamic athletes. The juniors were All-State honorees in football and placed at state in wrestling.

Terry is now a qualifier in two events and won the regional title in the 100-meter dash. He would have loved for his brother to advance with him, too. Noah has been limited since suffering an injury in the second meet of the season.

"It was very misfortunate for Noah to come out of the season with his injury he had," Terry said. "To learn from his skills, it all has come around full circle. It's kind of like we made state together."

Results from the Central boys track and field regional

Thursday at Central Stadium

Team scores: Floyd Central 140, North 73, Jasper 40, Gibson Southern 35.5, Castle 34, Boonville 26, Tell City 26, New Albany 24.5, Memorial 23, Reitz 21, Heritage Hills 21

Evansville-area state qualifiers

100: 1st: Landon Terry (Tell City) 11.01, 2nd: Dasmon Johnson (Memorial) 11.04

200: 1st: De'Amontey Layne (North) 22.18, 2nd: Myles Terry (North) 22.28, 3rd: Landon Terry (Tell City) 22.31

400: 1st: Cainen Northington (North) 48.23, 2nd: Reagan Shaver (Mater Dei) 48.63, 3rd: Jett Goldsberry (Heritage Hills) 48.63

800: 1st: Wylee Kippenbrock (Jasper) 1:57.92

1,600: 2nd: Calvin Seitz (Jasper) 4:26.43

3,200: 2nd: Jackson Nolan (Reitz) 9:06.59

110 high hurdles: 1st: Jordan Paul (Boonville) 15.01, 3rd: Darian Walker (North) 15.45

300 hurdles: 1st: Bret Lange (Heritage Hills) 38.92

4x100 relay: 2nd: Castle (Austin Pritchard, Antonio Harris, Gavin Leach, Max McCool) 42.86, 3rd: Memorial 42.92

4x400 relay: 1st: North (Dade Waters, De'Amontey Layne, Darian Walker, Cainen Northington) 3:24.13

4x800 relay: 2nd: Jasper (Cortland Kizior, Calvin Seitz, Max Kline, Wylee Kippenbrock) 8:02.54, 3rd: Castle 8:02.92

High jump: 2nd: Izach Salpietra (Castle) 6-0

Pole vault: 2nd: Grant Boyd (Pike Central) 14-06, 3rd: Blake Longabaugh (Princeton) 14-0

Long jump: 1st: Marques Ballard (Boonville) 22-04.25, 3rd: Devin Stewart (Central) 21-05.75

Shot put: 2nd: Ben Brasher (North) 53-0.5, 3rd: Daniel Nash (Vincennes Lincoln) 50-07

Discus: 2nd: Hayden Patton (Vincennes Lincoln) 156-09, 3rd: Aaron Beckman (Forest Park) 149-08

This article originally appeared on Evansville Courier & Press: IHSAA track and field: These Evansville-area boys are going to state