INDIANAPOLIS – With clouds blocking the sun and temperature at 60 and falling, the 250-some spectators in the stands were bundled up with coats, blankets and stocking caps. There was little to suggest they would witness Indiana track and field history.
There was one clue: the flag flapping at the north end of North Central High School. There was no gauge to measure the wind, but weather services in the area reported about 15 mph.
So what Rylan Hainje did Wednesday at the Marion County boys meet comes with an asterisk. But this is not Texas, where heat and wind produce outlandish times. This is Indiana, and what Hainje did is just not seen in Indiana … nor in about any state except Texas.
The Franklin Central senior ran the 110-meter hurdles in 13.09 seconds, the No. 4 time in the history of high school track under all conditions.
That came 35 minutes after he had run the trials in 13.19. Just 35 minutes before that, he got off the late-arriving bus.
“He came with the mind-set – he got off the bus, ready to go,” said Melinda George, his hurdles coach. “And I think that’s what made the difference.”
As with Elsa in the animated Disney movie “Frozen,” the cold never bothered him anyway.
“We practice in cold all the time. Literally, all the time,” Hainje said. “I’m pretty much used to it.”
Hainje helped the Flashes win their first Marion County title. He set a meet record of 36.31 in the 300-meter hurdles, ran 48.0 leadoff for a winning 4×400 relay team and second leg on a runner-up 4×100 team. So he contributed to 38 of Franklin Central’s 119 ½ points.
Lawrence North, the defending county and state champion, was second with 108 ½ points. North Central was third with 107.
Hainje finished a full second ahead of Lawrence Central’s Evan Williams, who broke Hainje’s state record in the 60-meter hurdles at the indoor state meet. Williams, an Indiana University signee, has been coping with soreness and withdrew from Wednesday’s 200 final.
Hainje’s times of 13.09 and 13.19 were under the state record of 13.28 he set on this track at last year’s state meet. Wind-aided times are not recognized as records.
Nonetheless, he has bettered state records 11 times since March 2025, outdoors and indoors. On April 25, Hainje clocked 13.29 on this track, just .01 off his state record.
Only times faster than 13.09 in high school history are two by Andrew Jones of Spring, Texas, 12.97 and 13.01 (both wind-aided) this year, and 13.08 by Wayne Davis of Raleigh, N.C., in 2009. Renaldo Nehemiah of Scotch Plains, N.J., ran a hand-timed 12.9 in 1977.
With warmer weather, George suggested, Hainje could have broken 13-flat. Only seven under-20 hurdlers have done so, according to World Athletics.
Ideally, Jones and Hainje could race June 19 in the under-20 USA Championships at Eugene, Ore. Top two qualify for August’s U20 World Championships, also at Eugene.
“I feel like everybody would want to see that race,” said Hainje, an 18-year-old who retains U20 status in 2027.
The 6-4 ½ Hainje said drills in practice allowed him to stay in rhythm despite increased speed. He has improved in controlling arm motion, George said.
“He has gotten used to being too fast and too tall for the hurdles,” the coach said. “To a certain extent, you almost have to chop it a little bit. He’s getting better at figuring that out.”
Hainje surprised the track community by recently committing to Marian University, the NAIA power coached by Katie Wise-Butler. Unlike other sports, track can allow him to compete in meets that include NCAA and pro hurdlers.
“Good coach, good program,” Hainje said. “Why not stay home?”
Elsewhere in the county meet, Warren Central’s Kamere James won the 100 in 10.43 and Franklin Central’s Dylan Keck the 200 in 21.82. Another Flashes winner was Andrew Wright, 4:30.56 in the 1,600.
Contact David Woods at dwoods1411@gmail.com.
All-time high school 110 hurdles
w – wind-aided
12.97w Andrew Jones, Spring, TX 2026
13.01w Jones 2026
13.08 Wayne Davis, Raleigh, NC 2009
13.09w Rylan Hainje, Franklin Central 2026
13.11w Jones 2026
13.15 Jones 2026
13.15w Brendan Ames, Cheyenne, WY, 2007
13.16w Davis, 2009
13.16w Alex Chukwulelu, Forney TX 2023
13.18w Arthur Blake, Haines City FL 1984
13.19 Davis 2009
13.19w Hainje 2026
13.19w Chad Zallow, Warren OH 2015
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: It comes with an * but Rylan Hainje’s performance at Marion County meet makes history
Reporting by David Woods, For IndyStar / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
