Calvin Seitz Beats Noah Bontrager With Late Lean To Win Boys Individual Title In Indiana; Libby Dowty Regains Title

By David Woods for DyeStat

Bobby Goddin Photos

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. – The irony of the victory was, well, what once had been lack of iron.

Calvin Seitz, then a sophomore, was coping with anemia last year. That lingered into spring, and he declined to represent Jasper High School in track.

Now, Seitz is one of the biggest things to hit Springs Valley High since . . . well, since Larry Bird was hooping in French Lick, Ind.

Seitz pushed the pace, nearly separated from Westview’s Noah Bontrager, and at the end had to out-lean his rival Saturday. Both were timed in 15:01.3 for 5,000 meters on the LaVern Gibson Course. Detailed results showed first and second separated by two-hundredths of a second, 15:01.22 to 15:01.24.

Maybe it was no coincidence they were in Terre Haute, where Bird did his college thing.

Did Seitz know he had won?

“I had no idea, man,” he said.

Not until he was summoned to the tower where the livestream announcers were stationed did he realize he really was a state champion. In 79 previous state meets, Springs Valley had never placed anyone in the top 10.

Hard race, for sure.

“Maybe a little more than I wanted to be,” Seitz said. “It’s all about that last 400. Awesome last 100 meters.”

Seitz led through a 4:40.9 mile and 9:37.8 two-mile. He pushed harder as he and Bontrager broke away over the closing kilometer, finishing six seconds ahead of third-place John Libs of Noblesville.

“I almost didn’t hang on,” Bontrager conceded. “Really smart of him. He’s a great runner and knows his stuff.”

Bontrager was second last year and won a 4:02.79/8:51.22 double at June’s state track meet. But a recent illness affected him so much that he was second in a regional, so he was not necessarily favored.

Bontrager moved up in the closing steps and might have eclipsed Seitz, but the latter leaned. Afterward, the winner helped Bontrager to his feet.

“I just couldn’t get up. I felt terrible,” Bontrager said.

Still, the Notre Dame commit remained upbeat about what’s ahead. He aims to qualify for both Nike Cross Nationals and Brooks (formerly Foot Locker) Nationals. In those nationals in 2024, he was 19th and 16th, respectively.

And he wants to become Indiana’s first sub-4-minute miler in high school. Not even Cole Hocker did that.

Seitz, meanwhile, is relieved to be returning to his freshman form. Two years ago, he was ninth at state and then, in December 2023, he became the Junior Olympics national champion for boys 13-14.

Before the 2020 pandemic, he was a tennis player. He learned he was better at running. Even better at running after amending his diet to include more meat.

“It just took time to stack the days up,” said Seitz, who transferred from Jasper over the summer.

In team standings, No. 8 Columbus North won emphatically with 56 points, the best score since Columbus North had 43 in 2003. It was Columbus North’s seventh state title, all since 2002, and first under coach Rick Sluder.

No. 21 Noblesville was second with 131, Homestead third with 154 and defending champion Bloomington North fourth with 169.

Columbus North had edged Bloomington North 34-44 in the Evansville Regional.

There was a 31-second spread from Columbus North’s first to fifth runners, all in the top 27.

Topping the Bull Dogs was eighth-place Jace Works, who has run a 1:50.7 split in the 4x800 relay and now has a 15:13.9 time in the 5,000. Denton Sluder, son of the coach, was 13th in 15:31.9.

“We went into June with a pretty good idea we could be a top two, top three team,” the coach said. “And then, as the season went, we knew what our goal was. Our goal was to try to win.”

Bloomington North placed two in the top 10, Jacob Mitchell (fifth) and Caelan D’Onofrio (10th). Bloomington North’s Caleb Winders, who set an Indiana record of 1:46.85 in winning the New Balance nationals 800 meters, climbed 12 spots in the last mile to finish 20th in 15:40.3.

Indiana girls: Carmel, Dowty win again

Libby Dowty was defending state champion a year ago, and she said she “let the nerves get to me.”  On this afternoon, no one was getting close to her.

The Indian Creek senior became state champion again with a time of 17:10.2, just off the state meet record of 17:06.7 she set in 2023. She won by eight seconds over runner-up Macey Thompson of Lake Central.

Defending state champion Mallory Weller of Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran was sidelined by a calf injury.

Dowty became the fifth Indiana girl to win state titles as both a sophomore and senior.

“It’s pretty incredible,” she said. “God has taught me a lot through my loss, and it made me stronger and a better person.”

Dowty is perhaps as strong as it gets in cross country, considering the Louisville commit is also a state qualifier in wrestling.

But for grit, no one is outdoing Sadie Foley.

Foley, who helped Carmel win a state track title while running on what turned out to be a broken ankle, led Carmel to a cross country title.

No. 6 Carmel’s girls scored 100 points, extending their record to 21 state titles in the sport. Concordia Lutheran was second with 129, Bloomington South third with 150 and Homestead fourth with 172.

Foley finished third in 17:22.6 and teammate Larkin Taylor 10th in 17:46.0. Annabel Pollert, who secured the track title by finishing third at state in the 3,200 meters, was 22nd in 18:10.2.

In track, Foley was tripped near the start of the 1,600 before the race was recalled. She stayed on the track for several minutes receiving medical treatment, which included a taped ankle and bandaged leg. She came away with scrapes and spike wounds.

She regrouped to finish fifth in the 1,600 and ran third leg on a 4x400 relay team that was second. Carmel needed her points to beat Hamilton Southeastern 54-46.

The next day, Foley was diagnosed with the fracture. She biked and cross-trained all summer, not resuming regular running until late August.

“I think it’s been really rewarding for me,” Foley said. “I think it’s motivated my teammates. So that’s been a big part of this season.”

It was the second title for second-year coach Scott Williams, who arrived at Carmel after 33 years as a teacher, coach or administrator at Ben Davis.

“It’s tough to do anything twice, despite any type of circumstances,” he said. “We just knew we had to come down and adapt to the situation.”

Carmel returns to this course Nov. 16 for the NXR Midwest Regional, aiming for a return to nationals. The Greyhounds were third in the 2024 regional, four points out of first. They were 15th at Portland, Ore., after receiving an at-large bid.

Contact David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DavidWoods007.