Lancer pair representing area at HS state meet
LAKEVILLE - The IHSAA high school boys track & field state meet is this Saturday and three area athletes will be competing, two from the same school.
Laville’s Lincoln Hulsey (pole vault) and Michael Good (discus), along with CMA’S John Afari-aikins (400m) proved to be among the state’s best last week and now will be vying for medals at the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. In fact, the LV duo are both seeded No. 1 in their respective events.
“It’s a huge accomplishment that they are both seeded first,” said Laville head coach Kathe Beehler. “I think they are both strong enough mentally to handle that. They have worked hard and earned it.”
Back-to-back-to-back
Hulsey should be comfortable at IU as this is his third straight appearance at the state meet. As a sophomore he finished seventh overall (14-6) and last year finished third (150). Last Thursday he cleared 15-9.25, which was the best mark of all the regional meets statewide.
“It was a PR, a school record and regional record. Three-in-one, pretty good day,” said Hulsey. “I was feeling good and with the second-place guy going neck and neck with me, I thrive off that. It makes me do better. Every single meet this year before regionals it has just been me jumping at the end. I liked having competition. It fires me up. It’s an adrenaline rush when there is someone else going the same height as you.”
“He gets amped in that atmosphere with competition,” added
Beehler. “It’s going to be exciting to see what he can do (Saturday). He’s been over 15-feet multiple times this year.”
Good was great
Good set a new personal and school record on his final throw at regionals, uncorking a toss that landed 178feet, 3 inches away from the circle, which tied for the best mark statewide. He had the 15th-best throw in the state before regionals.
“On my second throw I hit the state standard and knew I was moving on (to state) and that was a big weight off my shoulders,” Good admitted. “I was pretty relaxed after that.”
A year ago, Good wasn’t even participating due to an injury “I was probably in the weight room training for football.” Two years ago - and about four inches less in height and 50 pounds in weight the 6-foot-4, 220-pound Good was slinging the discus about 135 feet, but now he will get the chance to compete against the other top throwers in the state.
“The goal (this season) was always to beat the school record,” said Good. “I threw 156 feet my first meet and the weather was lousy. The next meet 165, then 171 the next. (At regionals) it was beautiful, about 80 degrees, and I get a PR by seven feet. I’ll definitely take that. It will be nice to practice (at IU)
Friday before the state meet. I just need to be good on Saturday.”
Good’s spring success in the ring has also altered his future plans. An all-state tight end, Good had aspirations of playing football in college and was getting interest from a few smaller schools, but his newfound state-caliber marks in the discus drew the attention of the Indiana State University coaching staff, who would like him to be part of their program. Ironically, nagging shoulder problems took away some of Good’s desire to continue on the gridiron - “Sometimes when I sneeze, my shoulder pops out” - but the throwing motion for the discus does not cause any problems.
“I never thought about doing track in college,” continued Good. “This all blew up recently. I’ve always been a football guy, but when Indiana State showed interest, I was really excited. As soon as I stepped on campus, it was a done deal. They have a great coach and I’m excited to get down there, but I want to take care of
business here first.”
“He’s a rookie and still raw, but he’s got all the stuff it takes to move to that next level,” added Beehler.
Handicapping
For pole vault, Homestead’s Eli Griffin is seeded No. 2 at 15-6. He was second at state last year, three inches better than Hulsey. Last year’s state champ has graduated. Two other vaulters - Henryville junior Landon Dobbs and Hamilton Heights senior Peyton Mcquinn - also cleared 15-6 last week and are seeded third and fourth, respectively. Mcquinn has cleared 16-2 in competition.
“The seedings are just a piece of paper to me,” said Hulsey. “I know what guys can jump and I know what I can jump. The goal is 16-feet.”
However it shakes out, this will not be Hulsey’s last competition as he too will head to Indiana State.
“I have verbally committed,” he said. “My only other offer was Bethel University, but I thought I could compete at the Division I level. Indiana State’s pole vault coach reached out to me last year. I went on a visit and really liked it. They made me an offer and I took it. It’s a DI school, they have a good track program and the (teacher-to-student) ratio is small, which I like.”
In discus, last year’s top-2 are both back at state. Senior Seamus Malaski of Crown Point won the event in 2023 with a toss of 187-8, but threw 172-10 at regionals last week so is seeded No. 6. Zionsville senior Fin Essley was second last year at 178-2, but threw only 162-6 at regionals and is seeded 19th. There are 11 entries (including Good) that went 170+ last week so this should be a very competitive event.
CMA’S Afari-aikins’ time of 49.39 in last Thursday’s 400 has him as the 21st seed at state. That time would have placed 15th at last year’s state meet. An improvement of just one second though, would bump him all the way to third.
All competition will be streamed live at Ihsaatv.org via payper-view for $15 for the day.