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Maybe they don't get the attention the sprint guys do.
But that isn't stopping the members of Warsaw's boys 3,200-meter relay team.
No, Baxter Burnworth, Matt Campbell, Steve Robinson and Kyle McNulty, along with alternates Alph Eherenman and Ryan Lursen, aren't worried about attention or exposure.
That's because they're too concerned with being seeded fourth in the 3,200 relay Saturday at the 103rd annual Indiana boys state track and field finals.
Sectional champs a year ago, this group finished fourth at the Fort Wayne Wayne regional last week by dropping their season-best time 20 seconds.
"They just did an incredible job," said Warsaw boys coach David Hoffert. "I've never seen a team drop 20 seconds in one race."
Hoffert is a part of the team that holds the WCHS record in the 3,200 relay along with Justin Rice, Greg Seiss and John Dock.
The 400 relay team of Dan Kamholtz, John-Wesley Maierle, Chas Simpson and Ben Truman was invited down to compete despite not advancing from Fort Wayne Wayne Regional.
The squad is seeded second in the third heat.
Other Warsaw boys headed to state are Leonard Wells in the shot put and Maierle in the long jump.
Hoffert said he's confident that both Wells and Maierle can make some noise at state.
Wells is a talented sophomore whose athleticism stretches past the shot put.
"In the shot put everyone thinks your kind of fat and strong," said throwing coach David Bailey of Wells. "And he's kind of lean and explosive. He can do any sport he wanted to. He can dunk a basketball."
Warsaw's top girls squad comes in the form of the 1,600 relay team of Lauren Pridgen, Kim Clay, Katie Furnivall and Julie Seiss with Johanna Gymrek and Melody Lawton as alternates.
Seiss will also compete in the 800.
The Tigers enter with the fourth-fastest time in the 1,600 behind Ben Davis, North Central and an Elkhart Central team that narrowly beat out Warsaw in the Bremen Regional.
"There's two teams at 3:56 but we still think we can compete with them," said Furnivall.
The girls' goal time for state is 3:54.9 and if all falls into place, they feel that'll be what they run Friday.
"We're each going to have to drop a second off our times," said Furnivall, whose dad Troy Furnivall is Warsaw's mid-distance coach.
Clay and Seiss are seniors and hope to make their final trip to state as seniors one to remember.
"For me, since I'm not playing any sports in college, this is my last athletic event and to end it at state is huge," said Clay.
"Not running track in college and not being able to run with Kim," said Seiss, "I want to go out with a good time."
Conversely, Pridgen is a freshman that didn't run track in middle school.
"Going from not having run track since sixth grade to (state) is big," said Pridgen. "Running with athletes who are two or three years older than me and have more experience than me is a little intimidating."
"Our first goal going down there is to break the school record which is 3:59.22," said Warsaw girls coach Scott Erba. "After that, if we run what we're capable of running, the hope is to get down to 3:55, 3:56."
Mercedes Plummer will run in the second heat of the 200 with a seed time of 26.15 seconds for Warsaw.
Plummer will also compete in the 400 relay with Tiffany Shepherd, Rachel Voorhorst, Karrie Burch and alternates Amanda Schroeder and Cassie Meck.
Burch will compete in the 100 in the second heat with a seed time of 12.58 seconds.
Other area competitors are Wawasee's Jessie Spearman in the 200. In the boys meet, Wawasee's Ryan Smythe will compete in the 3,200 while the Warriors' Eric Brown, Tom Brown, Ryan McDonald and Andrew Mock will run in the 1,600 relay.
Triton's Blake Harrison will compete in the high jump.
Harrison tied for the 10th-highest jump entering the final.
The girls get started Friday with field events at 3 p.m. at Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the campus of Indiana University in Bloomington. The boys action takes place Saturday at 3 p.m.
