He didn't want to hurdle. Now Rylan Hainje is a breakout star, running times with nation's best

Indianapolis Star

06-05-2025

He didn't want to hurdle. Now Rylan Hainje is a breakout star, running times with nation's best
"13.7!"
Franklin Central junior Rylan Hainje yelled the time when hurdles coach Melinda George first told him, hugging her and his teammates. He repeated it as he walked down the field at Lawrence Central, recovering from his personal-best 110 hurdles time of 13.78 — as though he was trying to convince himself it actually happened.
"I couldn't believe I broke it at first," Rylan said. "I was confused."
Disbelief turned to excitement as the accomplishment set in. Rylan, who began hurdling last season, had recorded Indiana's top time of 2025 and one of the country's top marks. His success in outdoor comes after a stellar indoor campaign, breaking Indiana's 60 hurdles record multiple times and finishing second at the Hoosier State Relays.
You might recognize the name Rylan Hainje. Yes, this Hainje is the son of former Butler basketball standout Rylan Hainje — though playing basketball wasn't in the cards for the younger Hainje. He tried baseball and was good at basketball, but neither sport stuck.
The older Hainje said Rylan and one of his brothers just wanted to play sports for fun growing up, so he didn't try to push them into anything. They figured out what they wanted themselves.
Rylan didn't find his athletic groove until this indoor track season. He was interested in track as an eighth grader but held off on joining, citing a lack of confidence. Then he tore his knee as a freshman.
By sophomore year, he was ready to try the sport. He was not ready to hurdle, however — though he wasn't given a choice. George often works with the team's third- or fourth-best sprinters, converting them to hurdlers. Rylan fit the bill.
Hainje was terrified of hurdles initially, George said. They started him with small PVC pipe hurdles and focused on his eight steps to the first hurdle. Then they moved him up.
The first practice was nerve-racking, Rylan said, because he didn't know anybody there and didn't want to hurdle. It was his only practice before his first race. He still won.
"He was so distressed about it," George said.
Rylan didn't like hurdles until sectionals last year, when he hit 15.04 and placed third. With that performance, he knew he could be good at it.
His intuition was spot-on. Rylan came out of the gates fast during indoor season. He broke Franklin Central's school record early on. Then he set Indiana's 60 hurdles record with a time of 7.78, and again in 7.76 — among the nation's fastest times.
Speed and athleticism have never been a problem for Rylan. Having the confidence needed to perform has been the difficult part of switching to hurdles, he said. His performances vary as he gets in his head, always thinking about parts of races he can change.
Rylan barely slept the night before the Hoosier State Relays in March, knowing he would face stiff competition from Merrillville's John Peters. That got in his head, he said.
"I was nervous," Hainje said. "When I got out, I knew John had me by the first hurdle."
George and his friends have helped when they can. Rylan credited friends Zeke and Jett for pushing him through practices and meets, always telling him he's going to win. And George always tells him not to get in his head.
George's goals for Rylan aren't concrete, saying she doesn't know all he's capable of. She just wants him to be comfortable on the track.
"I want him to get confident," George said. "I want to see our 300 times drop and I want him to learn that he is strong enough to do multiple events. I want him to have that confidence."
It's a work in progress, but the results keep coming. Hainje set a personal best of 13.98 at a tri-meet against Greenwood and Cathedral on April 10. That 13.78 mark at Lawrence Central was a major dip and a major step forward. On Friday at Mooresville, he dropped a 13.66 — one of the fastest times in the nation this year for non-seniors. He's performed well enough to talk with some colleges, including IU and Marian.
Rylan's goals for the rest of the year: break the state record in the 110 hurdles and 36.5 seconds in the 300 hurdles, though he expects the latter to be difficult because it's not his best race. He also wants to break Fishers alum Tyler Tarter's hurdles marks at the state meet.
Sub-par performances are just data points. Steps on the path toward improved confidence and new records.
In fact, his dad's proudest moment was watching him lose at the Hoosier State Relays. It's given Rylan more drive, he said.
"For him to lose and (to) see how he bounced back has been tremendous," he said.
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Bouncing back is one of many lessons that can be learned from sports — a topic the older Hainje has thoughts on as a former college athlete. He said he's always told his kids sports have lots to teach them, whether it's dealing with a coach you disagree with or a situation you don't like. Just like having a job, he said, it's something you stick with.
George, who has coached hurdles at several Indiana schools, said Hainje has already tied her fastest athlete who won the state meet in 2014. Rylan is a great kid, she said — consistently cheerful.
"Rylan's always happy," George said. "He's so excited, like when he first broke the school record and then to break the state record — he's always smiling."
That joy was palpable after he crossed the line at Lawrence Central's Kenny Randle Invitational, exhausted but with a new personal best in hand. There will certainly be more of that for Rylan as track and field heats up in May: big smiles, big wins, big hugs, big improvement.
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