INDIANAPOLIS
A few meters before reaching the finish line, Will Jefferson extended his arms to their fullest, raised his head to look at the sky and soaked up the applause of an appreciative crowd.
The Whiteland senior was a state champion in every sense of the word.
Jefferson dominated the 3,200-meter run at the state track and field finals Friday night at Ben Davis High School, running a career-best time of 8 minutes, 54.05 seconds to best runner-up Kole Mathison of Carmel and even lapping some of the state’s premier prep runners at the end.
In a meet filled with solid performances from Johnson County athletes, Jefferson capped his brilliant Warriors career by going above and beyond, sprinting the final 200 meters to a thunderous ovation in order to apply the appropriate exclamation mark.
“It feels really good,” Jefferson said. “I’ve had some poor races in my career, so to finish my senior year with a state championship is awesome. I’m so thankful for it. Indiana running is on the up-and-up, and I couldn’t be more pleased with the state that we represent.”
Nudging Mathison as the two were seated in the infield while awaiting their turn to receive medals, Jefferson added, “This guy … the best sophomore I’ve ever run against, and he’s got a big future.”
Center Grove, a program that has achieved numerous top-five finishes in the team standings and won a championship in 2011, again muscled its way toward the top of the leaderboard, finishing third with 38 points. Carmel won the title with 68 points, followed by Brownsburg with 40.
“We did everything we could to score points, and just came up a few short (of second place),” Trojans coach Eric Moore said. “I was just so proud of the kids and their work ethic. We’re such a team-motivated team, and we wanted to win. Third in the state, I’m thrilled. It was just a great track meet today.”
Junior Brandon Wheat placed third in the 200-meter dash, fifth in the 100 and helped the Trojans to a runner-up performance in the 4×100 relay, anchoring a group that included Connor Delp, Micah Coyle and Drew Wheat.
Wheat’s 100 time of 10.81 was just short of his personal best of 10.75, clocked at the Metropolitan Interscholastic Conference meet at Pike during the regular season. He ran a 21.98 in the 200, with Coyle placing seventh in 22.33.
“I feel like I could have run a better time, but I’m happy,” Wheat said after the 100. “I was seeded 15th going in.”
Delp took third in his specialty, the 300-meter hurdles, in 38.85 seconds, and ran a leg of the sixth-place 4×400 relay. Delp narrowly missed making the awards podium in the long jump, finishing 11th with a best of 21 feet, 7 1/4 inches.
“I’m super happy right now,” Delp said after his 300 hurdles race. “This whole season, I hadn’t had a good race yet. I’ve fallen twice. It seems every race I hit a hurdle. I’m happy I finally had a clean race, and glad I had it in the state finals.”
Center Grove sophomore Zach Greller placed second in the second heat of the 400-meter dash, but his time of 49.47 earned him a sixth-place medal. Greller also competed in the 4×400 relay to close out the meet.
“My goal was definitely to break my PR, and I wasn’t really worried about the places coming into it,” Greller said. “It’s pretty cool to come out my sophomore year and place. It just gets me excited because I know I’m one of if not the top (400) guy, especially in my class, and I can compete with everybody.”
Other finishers for Center Grove were Amar Singh in the pole vault (15th), Parker Mimbela in the 3,200 (20th), Jackson Schott in the high jump and long jump (21st in both) and Griffin Hennessy in the 1,600 (24th). Drew Wheat and junior Tayven Jackson also took part in the 4×400 relay.
Franklin senior Ethan Pheifer closed out his career with a 20th-place finish in the 800, crossing the line with a time of 1:59.87.
