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All-RTC4 boys track: State qualifier Dunwoody is Athlete of the Year

Val T.
Jul 18
4 min read

BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS

Sports Editor, RTC

**RTC Boys Track Athlete of the Year Harrison Dunwoody**

Rochester’s Harrison Dunwoody, an aggressive, efficient hurdler and the only state qualifier among area athletes, is our RTC4 Boys Track Athlete of the Year.

Dunwoody ended last year with a 16.87 time in the 110 hurdles at the regional. That would have been his slowest time this year. He was down to 15.24 at conference, 15.16 at sectional and 15.31 at the regional. He finished second in all three races to Manchester’s Carson Heath, but his times still made him one of the fastest hurdlers in northern Indiana.

Dunwoody also headlines our All-RTC4 boys track list.

We place extra emphasis on the meets at the end of the year in putting together the list, including conference meets and the state tournament series. These meets are typically the largest meets containing the best competition.

The big news in track this year was conference realignment. The Indiana Northern State Conference was new, and it was difficult to judge how Tippecanoe Valley fit into the mix since they did not have a home track this year as theirs was under construction.

Instead, Valley practiced at Rochester and had all of their meets on the road.

Also, the Hoosier North looked different, especially with the additions of North Miami and a girls team at Oregon-Davis.

We thank area coaches for sending their results and talking with us, but having said that, this list is ours and ours alone, and we take full responsibility for it.

All-RTC4

Sprinters

Parker VanDusen (Tippecanoe Valley) – VanDusen is a promising freshman who won the 200 and finished second in the 100 at the Indiana Northern State Conference meet, and then he later advanced to regionals in both events from the tough Plymouth sectional.
Ian Kitchell (Pioneer) – Kitchell ran around 23.5 for the 200 meters and was also solid in the 100, but his best event was the 400, where he finished third at conference and second at the Kokomo sectional before running a 51.40 at the Lafayette Jeff regional.
Owen Omondi (Tippecanoe Valley) – Omondi, a sophomore, was just a step behind VanDusen, and he was third in the 100 and fourth in the 200 at conference, and he later advanced to regional in the 200. Also, along with VanDusen, he was a key member of the traditionally strong Valley 4 x 100 relay team that won conference and made it to regional.

Distance runners

Leighton Dodt (Pioneer) – Dodt was so good and versatile that he ran everything from 200 to 3,200 during the season. He lost only two individual races all year before the postseason, and he won Star of Stars again at the Cass County Meet. And then he won the 400, 800 and the 1,600 at conference. He won the 400 at sectional and broke 50 seconds at the regional.
Logan Fredel (Winamac) – Fredel won the 3,200 at conference in 11:14 and then got that time down to 10:20 at the Rensselaer sectional and then down to 10:05 at a very fast Valparaiso regional.
Grant Bailey (Rochester) – Bailey had his best day of the season at Wabash for the Three Rivers Conference meet, where he ran a personal best 2:05 in the 800 and a 4:41 in the 1,600.

Hurdlers

Harrison Dunwoody (Rochester) – In his three years at the Plymouth sectional, Dunwoody has gone from 17.90 in 2023 to 16.32 in 2024 to 15.16 last year. He ran 15.31 at the regional and finished 27th at state in 15.36.
Reed Sommers (Caston) – Sommers, a sophomore, emerged at the conference meet, where he finished third in the 110 hurdles and fourth in the 300 hurdles. He figures to go under 17 seconds in the 110 next year, and he is already under 45 seconds in the 300.
Clarence Garrett (Rochester) – Garrett, a junior, was extremely versatile as he did the 100, 200 and 400 as well as both jumping events in addition to the hurdles. He has run in the mid-17s in the 110, but his standout performance was a 44.28 that got him eighth place at the conference meet.

Jumpers/pole vaulters

Trevor Walley (Rochester) – Walley, a senior, was extremely consistent, going at least 11 feet in the pole vault in every meet, which is difficult given varying weather and wind conditions. He was second at conference, third at the sectional and then tied his personal best when he went 12-6 at the regional.
Bryce Baugher (Rochester) – Rochester has not been known for 20-foot long jumpers, but Baugher, a senior but a relative newcomer to track, might be changing that reputation. Baugher went over 20 feet three times, and his jump of 20-8 ½ at conference was his personal best. He will continue jumping at IU Kokoko next year.
Austin Brooke (Pioneer) – Brooke, a senior, capped his career by high-jumping 5-10 to win conference and then clearing 5-10 again at the sectional to qualify for regional. rooke also ran legs on Pioneer’s conference and sectional champion 4 x 400 and 4 x 800 relays.

Throwers

Charles Disinger (Winamac) – Among a solid group of athletes on Winamac’s very good team, Disinger was the biggest standout. He threw the shot 52-7 ½ to beat the field by more than five meet at conference, and then he was second at sectional and fifth at regional with a throw of 51-3 ¼. He was also the conference discus champion with multiple 130-foot throws under his belt.
Mason Hisey (Rochester) – Hisey, a junior nicknamed “Big Guy,” came up with some big throws at the end of the season, throwing the discus 145-10 to win the TRC, 152-10 at the sectional and 152-5 at a very tough Warsaw regional.
Xavier Vance (Rochester) – Vance, a Wabash College football recruit, won three blue ribbons in the shot put during the year, but he peaked with a throw of 46-6 ¾ at conference and a throw of 44-11 that helped him advance to regionals.

Honorable mention