BLOOMINGTON — In Saturday’s long jump finals, Crown Point senior Nicholas Ryan had one shot to capture the state title he’d always wanted.
His mark of 22 feet, 11.75 inches in the preliminary round had slipped from first place to third. Before his final jump, Ryan wasn’t ready to settle for the bronze.
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“No one’s going to remember third place,” he said. “So why not go for it?”
Ryan was rewarded with a state-winning jump of 23-5.5, making him one of two athletes from Northwest Indiana to finish first at in the state finals at Indiana University.
But Ryan, who’ll be jumping at Evansville next year, wasn’t sure his final jump was going to count after he landed.
“I went down the runway and hit the board just right,” he said. “At first, I thought I’d scratched. But then I saw the white flag go up and I knew I’d won it.”
There was little drama in the 400 meters. Chesterton senior Braden Corzan won the race in 47.41 seconds, well ahead of second-place Tahj Johnson from Oak Hill (48.42). But Corzan still wasn’t satisfied.
“I wanted that record more than I wanted the win,” he said. “The win was just an add-on.”
The record was 46.99, set by 2002 Merrillville graduate David Neville, who won a bronze medal in the 400 at the 2008 Olympics.
“I should’ve ran faster,” Corzan said. “My first 200 felt faster than normal, but then I saw the clock and how far away I was, and I didn’t do it fast enough. But a win’s a win, I guess. I can’t complain.”
Corzan’s points helped Chesterton tie for 10th with an area-best 16 points. Avon won with 66.
Merrillville senior Brett Norton ended his high school career with a pair of all-state medals: second in the shot put (59-7.25) and eighth in the discus (163-1).
It was the second consecutive state meet appearance for Norton, an Indiana State recruit. He, too, was hoping for something a little more at the meet after finishing as the runner-up in shot put.
“I felt like I was ready,” he said. “It just didn’t come out of my hand like I wanted it to. I wanted to come out of here as a state champion, but I still got two medals.”
One other Northwest Indiana athlete had a top-two finish: Lowell senior Alec Fleming, who was runner-up in the 3,200 at 9:13.92.
It was a better ending in track for the Purdue-bound Fleming, who was in a much different mood after the cross country state finals in the fall.
“That got to me for a while,” Fleming said. “I was ranked third and ended up 157th. Knowing that this is how it’s going to end, it’s pretty good. I don’t think it could get better than getting second place. It’s all I can ask for.”
Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.