State surprise

INDIANAPOLIS — Tyler Back had no expectations of making the state finals. He just wanted to get better. Now he has another week to keep that improvement going. Back, a Jay County High School junior, came up with a career-best throw for the second straight week and finished third in the shot put at Thursday’s regional meet at North Central to earn a trip to state. “It’s unbelievable,” said Back, who will compete in the IHSAA Boys Track and Field State Finals at 3 p.m. on June 2 at Indiana University. “I feel like I’m going to pass out right now. “I didn’t expect to get out. I just expected to get better, an inch better than sectional. I just wanted to improve. “It’s indescribable. It feels great.” Back’s effort led the Patriots, who scored nine points at the meet to finish 14th out of 28 scoring teams. They did not score last season. Top-ranked Lawrence Central racked up 147 points to cruise to the regional title. No. 4 Ben Davis was a distant second with 94.5. “I’m very surprised, but happy, with Mr. Back,” said JCHS coach Greg Garringer. “There were some things we were a little disappointed in today as a group, but when you get a state qualifier it kind of makes the hurt go away.” Back improved on each of his throws in the preliminary round, with his third reaching 49 feet, 9 inches. That qualified him for the finals, but left him in the second half of the group of nine from which only the top three earn a state berth. However, Back knew that he only needed to add a couple of feet to launch himself into contention. And with his first through of the finals, he delivered. He launched the shot a career-best 51 feet, 5½ inches, to take over the No. 3 spot behind eventual champion Timothy Colbert (55 feet, 2½ inches) of Ben Davis and Lukayus McNeil (54 feet, 1 inch) of Decatur Central. “Except for last week, that’s a (personal record) by like three feet,” said Back. “That’s incredible. … I just got juiced. I don’t know how I pulled that off. “In the ring I just had speed and hit all my positions ... perfect.” Back said he didn’t want to watch as the final few contenders made their last attempts. But none of them threatened his third-place position, and he finished 4½ inches ahead of North Central’s Wayna Johnson for the No. 3 spot. Prior to the tournament season, the best throw of Back’s career was 49 feet, 5 inches. He cracked the 50-foot mark for the first time May 17 to win the sectional title at Muncie Central at 50 feet, 1 inch, and then extended his best effort again Thursday to become the first Patriot to advance to the state finals in the shot put since Joseph Vormohr in 2006. “He was seeded (eighth) today,” said Garringer of Back, who finished 13th in the regional last season. “There were some kids that were seeded above him that just tightened up. … There were some kids that struggled today, and Tyler saw the opportunity. … He had a great day.” Back also finished 13th in the discus at 119 feet, 6 inches. Cade Price, who won the high jump sectional title a week earlier, was the only other JCHS athlete to score points at the meet. He was one of four athletes to finish at 6 feet even, and because he cleared the bar on his first attempt he won the tiebreaker to finish in sixth place. Each of the top four athletes in the event met the state standard of 6 feet, 5½ inches. Andrew Eley came up just seven inches short of making the finals in the discus competition, finishing 10th at 125 feet, 3 inches. Zane Shreve competed in three events for the Patriots, with his top effort coming with a career-best time of 42.68 seconds for 12th place in the 300-meter hurdles. He was also 13th in both the 110 hurdles and the high jump. “He’s only a sophomore,” said Garringer. “I think he’s a kid that can come back next year and be the favorite in both the 100 hurdles and 300 hurdles for the sectional.” Also competing for Jay County were Austin Bentz (15th – 3,200 run) and Dylan Cope (16th – 1,600 run). Brad Leuthold, Nick Leonhard, Bentz and Cope were 13th in the 4x800 relay, and Darren Bogenschutz, Blake Crouch, Leuthold and Cope finished 14th in the 4x400 relay.