Hobart’s McMillian falls short in repeat bids

Updated: June 3, 2011 10:00PM

BLOOMINGTON — As Hobart senior Jarvis McMillian dashed from the blocks, he felt his hamstring start to hurt.

It was the finals of the 200-meter run at Friday’s IHSAA boys track and field state finals. McMillian, last year’s state champion in the 100, 200 and 400, already had one goal dashed earlier in the evening, when his bid to repeat in the 400 while breaking the state record time of Merrillville’s David Neville ended with McMillian finishing second.

With his hamstring aching to open the 200, he was ready to give in.

Then he reconsidered.

“Last race of the season, senior (year) … then I picked it up and went out and caught two people and got fourth,” he said.

McMillian’s second-place finish in the 400 — he finished in 47.73 seconds, losing out to Batesville’s Chris Giesting (47.33) — was one of three runner-up spots for region competitors on Friday night.

Bowman’s Cornelius Strickland was second in the 100 to Center Grove’s Nick Stoner, an IU football recruit who also won the 200 on Friday night.

Strickland, whose time of 10.84 seconds in the 100 was 0.18 seconds behind Stoner’s, finished third in the 200. Stoner won that race in 21.57, followed by Tyrennzie Burgess of Lawrence Central (21.76 seconds), Strickland (21.85) and McMillian (21.96).

Also leaving Bloomington with a second-place showing Friday night was Chesterton’s Kody Galloway. His best showing in the high jump was 6-6; Southmont’s Jonathon Christensen won his second straight state title in the event.

Andrean senior Chris Arvia placed third in the 400, finishing in 48.69 seconds.

Other region competitors earning spots on the podium with ninth-place or better finishes were LaPorte’s fifth-place 3,200-relay team of Austin Alcorn, Stuart West, Mitchell Hubner and Joshua Hojnacki; Merrillville’s Rahim Conwell, seventh in the 200; the 400 relay teams of Bowman (Strickland, Dylon Collins, Willie Vinson and Steven Rutherford) and Portage (Detrek Suggs, Jeron Blake, Jake Dixon and Othie Freeny), who were sixth and seventh respectively; East Chicago Central’s Jonathan Hill, eighth in the 400; LaPorte’s Skyler Colburn, seventh in the 300 hurdles; Chesterton’s Ryan Cutter, ninth in the 800; Valparaiso’s Ahmad Aljobeh, sixth in the 3,200; East Chicago Central’s 1,600 relay team of Matthew Rosado, Arion Clanton, Hill and Tyree Purham, which finished eighth; Hanover Central’s Derek De St. Jean, who was ninth in the shot put and the discus; Portage’s Joey Little, eighth in the shot put; Chesterton’s Justin Zosso, seventh in the pole vault; and Merrillville’s Austin Jamerson and Valparaiso’s Jordan Ramonov, who tied for third and ninth, respectively, in the high jump.

Center Grove won the team state title, the first in school history, thanks to two individual event wins each by Stoner and Austin Mudd, who also ran on the state champion 1,600 relay team.

Bowman had the best team score among region teams, finishing 11th with 19 points. Hobart tied for 16th with 14 points and Chesterton scored 12 points to finish 19th in the team competition.

McMillian acknowledged his high school career could have ended on a better note.

“Not a great day at all,” he said. “(I was) expected to do something, then did what (I wasn’t) expected to do.

“Like I said last year, you live and you learn.”

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