05-30-1997
FORT WAYNE – That Warsaw Tiger track team sure has a flair for the dramatic.
At the sectional track meet a week ago, Warsaw picked up its only first place of the night in the final event, the 1600 relay. So, on Thursday night, all eyes were on the Warsaw team at the regional meet at Fort Wayne Wayne High School.
The Tigers ran the relay three seconds better than they did at the sectional despite one shaky handoff, placing second with a time of 3:24.02 to move on to the state meet.
Jon Hill ran the anchor leg and moved the team from third to second place in the final 200 meters to make up for a fourth place finish in the 200.
“(Hill) ran scared and he ran because he wanted to go to state in the 1600 relay,” Warsaw coach Troy Akers said. “I told him that there’s no guarantee that he’s in (in the 200), but he can make it a guarantee by putting it on the line in the 1600. These kids are incredible. The confidence was high, and it needed to be in a meet like this. That’s the first key to being a champion.”
On the evening, Fort Wayne Northrop surprised everyone by placing first as a team with 75 points. Fort Wayne Wayne took second with 58 points and the No. 1 team in the state, Elkhart Central, placed third with 55 points. Warsaw ended in 13th out of the 41 schools at the meet with 19 points. Wawasee ended tied for 25th with four points.
Warsaw wore T-shirts with two simple words on them – Think State. The Tigers were definitely in that frame of mind.
“That’s one thing that I did start at Wawasee that I brought with me,” Akers said. “When you get to this level, you better be thinking state. And they did, and we’re going.”
In the first event of the meet, the 3200 relay, Warsaw placed third, just .08 seconds out of second place. Warsaw’s time of 8:01.15 set a new school record and would have broken the meet record in the event if not for the two schools that finished better this year.
“We were so proud of those kids,” Akers said. “Two weeks ago we didn’t know if two of them would even run anymore with Seiss and Wiley. Outstanding effort, outstanding experience.”
In the 200, Jon Hill ran a 22.47 to place fourth overall. Hill was just .01 seconds from third place and a trip to the state meet. The state meet accepts 27 runners. The top three from each regional and every athlete who ran 22.4 seconds or better will be accepted to the state meet. After that, runners will be chosen to fill the remaining spots.
“I felt like I ran a good race,” Hill said. “They just got me right at the end.”
“Hill was seeded seventh and finished fourth,” Akers said. “I think he’s going to be one of those kids who make it now. He deserves it.”
Wawasee got points from Ryan Mikel, who placed seventh in the 800 with a time of 1:59.06. The Warriors’ 1600 relay team also placed seventh with a time of 3:26.92.
“We’re getting there,” Akers said. “We really are. It’s going to be good for the program, because we’re going to get a lot more kids involved. We’re going to have another week, and it’s going to be fun.”
The relay teams, and possibly Hill in the 200, will compete at the state track meet Friday, June 6 at North Central High School.
FW NORTHROP 75, FW WAYNE 58, ELKHART CENTRAL 55, FW CONCORDIA 53, FW ELMHURST 37, CARROLL 33, FW SNIDER 31, HOMESTEAD 30, LAKELAND 24, EAST NOBLE 24, FW SOUTH SIDE 22, NEW HAVEN 20, WARSAW 19, CONCORD 17, ANGOLA 16, FAIRFIELD 16, HARDING 15, BLUFFTON 11, WOODLAN 9, GOSHEN 8, LEO 8, FW NORTH SIDE 7, JIMTOWN 6, BELLMONT 5, WESTVIEW 4, WAWASEE 4, NORTHWOOD 3, NORWELL 3, DEKALB 3, FW BISHOP 3, NORTHRIDGE 2, WEST NOBLE 2, GARRETT 1
3200 Relay – 1. FW Northrop 7:56.78, 2. Goshen, 3. Warsaw, 4. Homestead, 5. FW Snider, 6. Concord, 7. Westview, 8. Norwell
100 – 1. Craig (Wayne) :10.85, 2. Eloms (Concordia), 3. Green (Elmhurst), 4. Scott (Concordia), 5. Bolyard (Leo), 6. James (Elmhurst), 7. Clark (Elk. Central), 8. Pettyjohn (DeKalb)
110 Hurdles – 1. Fikes (Wayne) :14.46, 2. Holt (Elk. Central), 3. Winters (Homestead), 4. Rush (Fairfield), 5. Bowick (Wayne), 6. Johnston (Carroll), 7. Jordan (Northrop), 8. Aloisio (Bellmont)
200 – 1. Scott (Concordia) :22.34, 2. Green (Elmhurst), 3. Craig (Wayne), 4. Hill (Warsaw), 5. Bolyard (Leo), 6. Clark (Elk. Central), 7. Morante (New Haven), 8. Baumgartner (Fairfield)
1600 – 1. Sherck (Elk. Central) 4:23.15, 2. Chandler (E. Noble), 3. Floyd (Elk. Central), 4. Jacquay (New Haven), 5. Tipton (Northrop), 6. Weiss (Northrop), 7. Leitch (W. Noble), 8. Myers (Concord)
400 Relay – 1. FW Concordia :42.35, 2. FW Wayne, 3. Elkhart Central, 4. Harding, 5. Lakeland, 6. Carroll, 7. DeKalb, 8. FW South Side
400 – 1. Morante (New Haven) :49.81, 2. Baumgartner (Fairfield), 3. Bynum (South Side), 4. Garlitz (E. Noble), 5. Lockett (South Side), 6. Belton (Snider), 7. Miller (Westview), 8. Dial (Harding)
300 Hurdles – 1. James (Elmhurst) :37.59, 2. Stewart (Snider), 3. Hunter (North), 4. Johnston (Carroll), 5. Holt (Elk. Central), 6. Martin (Concord), 7. Hill (Harding), 8. Whittaker (Jimtown)
800 – 1. Norton (Snider) 1:56.94, 2. Beasley (Wayne), 3. Sherck (Elk. Central), 4. Fritz (Northrop), 5. Richart (Woodlan), 6. Chandler (E. Noble), 7. Mikel (Wawasee), 8. Sanders (Harding)
3200 – 1. Headrick (Concord) 9:30.64, 2. Yoder (E. Noble), 3. Peffley (Northrop), 4. Walker (Woodlan), 5. Stout (Lakeland), 6. Jacquay (New Haven), 7. Niblick (Norwell), 8. Trahin (Carroll)
1600 Relay – 1. FW South Side 3:22.7, 2. Warsaw, 3. FW Snider, 4. FW Northrop, 5. Elkhart Central, 6. Homestead, 7. Wawasee, 8. FW North Side
Long Jump – 1. Fikes (Wayne) 23-0 1/2, 2. Eloms (Concordia), 3. Rogers (Harding), 4. Sharp (Jimtown), 5. Harshberger (Lakeland), 6. Scott (Concordia), 7. Ross (Wayne), 8. Rush (Fairfield)
High Jump – 1. Coda (Homestead) 6-2, 2. Jordan (Northrop), 3. Krouse (Carroll), 4. Gump (Concordia), 5. Vargo (Elk. Central), 6. Banks (Luers), T7. Sullivan (Garrett), Williams (South Side), Myers (Fairfield)
Discus – 1. Smith (Elmhurst) 172-9, 2. Koczan (Northrop), 3. Edwards (Angola), 4. Starost (Carroll), 5. Givens (Lakeland), 6. Hershberger (NorthWood), 7. Marcinkowski (Elk. Central), 8. Fey (Bluffton)
Shot Put – 1. Fey (Bluffton) 58-4, 2. Koczan (Northrop), 3. Lougheed (Homestead), 4. Edwards (Angola), 5. Brown (Angola), 6. Crawford (Lakeland), 7. Clapp (Carroll), 8. Caffee (Bellmont)
Pole Vault – 1. Gerardot (Northrop) 15-6, 2. Gensic (Carroll), 3. Strong (Northrop), 4. Efthimiou (Lakeland), 5. Lewis (Concordia), 6. Arnold (Bellmont), 7. Cassidy (Northridge), 8. Clawson (Angola)