The list of accolades for Hobart senior Nick Ray got even longer Tuesday night, but he’s still chasing the one he desires the most: a state championship in the discus.
“It’s No. 1,” Ray said.
Ahead of the Class 4A sectional championship his football team won last fall, its first since 1997?
“It blows it out of the water,” he said without hesitation. “It’s something I’ve always wanted. It was in my reach last year, and it’s definitely in my reach again this year.”
Ray moved a step closer at the Northwest Crossroads Conference Meet held at Highland, winning the discus with a mark of 173 feet, 8 inches. It was shy of Ray’s season-best and state-best throw of 179-6, but he was still oozing with confidence after competition.
“It’s through the roof right now,” Ray said, attributing that belief to his practice regimen.
“Reps, a lot of reps,” he said. “Just getting in the ring and throwing thousands and thousands of times. It gets more routine, and you can start pinpointing every little thing. And trust me, I still have a lot more to work on.”
Ray’s efforts helped Hobart win the conference title, edging Lowell 137-136.
The Devils picked up a pair of first-place finishes from junior Caleb Chapman, who won the 800 meters in 2 minutes, 1.49 seconds and the 1,600 in 4:30.71.
Chapman is at the end of his first year at Lowell after transferring from South Newton. He said the daily competition has had a major impact on his career.
“At South Newton, I ran by myself every day and ran every race by myself,” he said. “I didn’t get to see competition until the postseason, and then you get a little rattled running with a bunch of guys who have the same time as you.”
He also pointed to the Lowell cross-country team’s third-place finish at the state meet as another boost.
“I didn’t feel like we were so focused on it that we thought we’d just come in and beat everybody,” he said. “But it made our team more confident, doing the same things and trusting what the coaches have planned for us.”
Andrean sophomore Cameron Williams had a similar feeling after winning the 110 hurdles in 15.22, making his NCC Meet debut after transferring last summer from Lake Central.
And Williams hadn’t competed in hurdles until the 2016 track season.
“It really started clicking toward the end of last year,” he said. “My first meet wasn’t good. But I started progressing. I never gave up — that’s not my mentality. Once I start something, I’m going to finish it.”
Williams now has his eyes set on the postseason, where two of the state’s best hurdlers await: Michigan City’s Makiyah Smallwood and Portage’s Daveon Finley, Williams’ longtime friend.
“In this sport, you can’t be intimidated,” Williams said. “Going into sectionals, I know now that I can hang with the big boys like them.”
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Dave Melton is a freelance writer for the Post-Tribune.