BREMEN -ÊOnce teams get to the regional level in track, coaches have one goal -ÊAdvance people to the state meet. Several area coaches reached that goal Tuesday night at the Bremen Girls Track Regional as area competitors from five schools advanced in 10 events.

Eight individuals and two relay teams will advance to the state finals in Indianapolis June 2.

Three area competitors advanced to the state meet in the high jump. Staci Weisser of Wawasee placed third at the Bremen Regional with a leap of 5-foot-4. However, four other competitors, including NorthWood's Carol Duncan and Triton's Emily Yankovich, advanced to the state finals by meeting the state qualifying height of 5 feet, 3 inches.

Seven of the eight finalists in the high jump advanced to the state meet.

As a team, Warsaw fared best at the competition, with one individual and two relay teams qualifying for the state competition. Hillary Barlow, Warsaw's lone individual state qualifier, placed third in the 3200 with a time of 11:46.27.

The Tigers were most successful in the relay events. Warsaw's 1600 relay team of Brittney Raber, Chelsea Boyd, Amy Robertson and Summer Boyd placed second with a time of 4:03.56 to move on to the state finals, while the quartet of Barlow, Summer Boyd, Kim Kurosky and Rachel Rondeau moved on in the 3200 distance relay.

"I'm very happy with our team's performance," said Warsaw coach Paul Boyd. "We just wanted to get as many girls as possible to the state meet."

Along with Weisser's success in the high jump, Wawasee had one runner advance to the state finals. Erica Auker placed second in the 300 meter hurdles with a time of 47.37 seconds.

Natalie Nunemaker was NorthWood's second state qualifier of the night. Nunemaker won the Regional shot put competition with a toss of 37-4, five and one-half inches farther than her nearest competitor.

Ann Harms was Manchester's lone state qualifier. Her leap of 16-5 1/4 in the long jump was good enough to place second in the regional. Harms sat in first place after two jumps, but when she went to run the 300 hurdles, Kokomo's Lashonda Davis topped the 16-5 1/4 mark with a leap of 16-6 1/2. Harms was unable to better Davis on her third jump, and had to settle for second place.

"Ann Harms was second in the long jump," said Manchester coach Keith Metzger. "She was first until the last jump. After she came back from the 300 hurdles, Lashonda Davis had passed her.

"Now she can concentrate on just one event. We will work on her form and speed. She's a smart girl and she knows what she needs to do. This is a fun way to get someone to the state meet."

Warsaw was the top area team, finishing sixth with 34 points and missing the top five by just three points. Wawasee and NorthWood tied for ninth with 22 points each, while Manchester was 20th with 10 points. Tippecanoe Valley was 29th with one point.

All qualifiers from the Bremen Regional will compete in the state meet in Indianapolis June 2.

"For the next three days, the girls wil experience euphoria, and think 'I'm there (at state)'," said Boyd. "Then we'll get down to it. We'll give them the hoilday weekend off, and then we'll probably go back to the usual routine.

"I just want to keep everyone healthy. At this point, I would like to keep them in a padded cell until the state finals. I don't want to tell them not to be kids, but in a way I do. I just want them to stay healthy."

BREMEN GIRLS TRACK REGIONAL

Team Results -Ê1. South Bend Adams 83, 2. South Bend Clay 47, 3. Elkhart Central 46, 4. Kokomo 42, 5. Penn 37, 6. Warsaw 34, 7. Plymouth 31, 8. Northridge 29, 9. (tie) NorthWood and Wawasee 22, 11. Elkhart Memorial 21, 12. (tie) Western and Rochester 19, 14. Lewis Cass 16, 15. Culver Military 15, 16. Fairfield 14, 17. Bremen 12, 18. (tie) Maconaquah 11 and Peru 11, 20. Manchester 10, 21. Mishawaka 9, 22. South Bend St. Joe 8, 23 (tie) Concord and Pioneer 6, 25. John Glenn 5, 26. (tie) Triton and South Bend Riley 3, 28. Northfield 2, 29. (tie) Taylor and Tippecanoe Valley 1

Key -ÊSouth Bend Adams = SBA, South Bend Clay = SBC, Elkhart Central = EC, Kokomo = K, Penn = Pen, Warsaw = War, Plymouth = Ply, Northridge = NR, NorthWood = NW, Wawasee = Waw, Elkhart Memorial = EM, Western = Wes, Rochester = R, Lewis Cass = LC, Culver Military = CMA, Fairfield = F, Bremen = B, Maconaquah = Mac, Peru = Per, Manchester = Man, Mishawaka = Mis, South Bend St. Joe = SBJ, Concord = C, Pioneer = Pio, John Glenn = JG, Triton = Tri, South Bend Riley = SBR, Northfield = NF, Taylor = Tay, Tippecanoe Valley = TV

Top three finishers receive automatic bids

* Met state qualifying mark and will advance to state competition as well

High Jump -Ê1. Alisha Ewing (R) 5-5, 2. Keira Youngdale (Wes) 5-5, 3. Staci Weisser (Waw) 5-4, 4. Carol Duncan (NW) 5-3*, 5. Emily Yankovich (Tri) 5-3*, 6. Shanel Johnson (K) 5-3*, 7. Leah Hoover (EM) 5-3*, 8. Gail DeWilde (NR)

Discus -Ê1. Molly Engstrom (CMA) 140-2, 2. Sandy Orsund (Ply), 3. Megan Cenkush (Mis), 4. Ruth Chase (Mac), 5. Stacey Barber (F), 6. Karen Mason (Wes), 7. Jenelle Palmer (Ply), 8. Jennipher Ervin (Tay)

Shot Put -Ê1. Natalie Nunemaker (NW) 37-04, 2. Candace Gooden (SBA), 3. Jen Hale (C), 4. Ginny Gardonio (War), 5. Carol Duncan (NW), 6. Megan Cenkush (Mis), 7. Tameka Simmons (SBA), 8. Molly Engstrom (CMA)

1600 Relay -Ê1. South Bend Adams (Jennifer Winters, LaQuesha Taylor, Katie Koellner, Shiela May), 4:02.53; 2. Warsaw (Brittney Raber, Chelsea Boyd, Amy Robertson, Summer Boyd), 3. Plymouth, 4. South Bend Clay, 5. Penn, 6. Wawasee (Ashley Zumbrun, Erica Auker, Megan Waller, Staci Weisser), 7. Elkhart Central, 8. Kokomo

Long Jump -Ê1. LaShonda Davis (K) 16-6 1/2, 2. Ann Harms (Man), 3. Amy Leeper (B), 4. Lyndi Cruikshank (Per), 5. Glenna Meister (Pen), 6. Gayle Lukes (Wes), 7. Latasha Clark (EC), 8. Shaun McAllister (EM)

300 Hurdles -Ê1. LaQuesha Taylor (SBA) 46.62, 2. Erica Auker (Waw), 3. Shannon Radecki (SBC), 4. Karolyn Leninski (Pen), 5. Melissa Lunetto (EM), 6. Santina Cerame (NW), 7. Jennifer Gensinger (JG), 8. Tami VanHerk (P)

800 -Ê1. Renee Schlabach (F) 2:17.35, 2. Erica Pretowski (Pen), 3. Jenel Darland (Per), 4. Summer Boyd (War), 5. Erin Tschida (SBA), 6. Kari Vincent (Pio), 7. Bridget Sanders (K), 8. Gillian Wiescher (SBJ)

3200 -Ê1. Natalie Ewing (NR) 11:29.29, 2. Leslie Carden (LC), 3. Hillary Barlow (War), 4. Katie Ellgass (SBJ), 5. Christian Bahler (Wes), 6. Nicole Robinson (Pio), 7. Kristin Ware (CMA), 8. Stephanie Miller (Mac)

400 Relay -Ê1. South Bend Clay (Crystal Riley, Altarea Hall, Kay Pancheri, Latoya Hamilton) 48.59, 2. Kokomo, 3. South Bend Adams, 4. Penn, 5. Warsaw (Jartu Schulterbrandt, Amy Robertson, Kim Love, Claire Beckett), 6. South Bend Riley, 7. Elkhart Central, 8. Tippecanoe Valley (Kristi Rudd, Holly Green, Lynette Wilcox, Tara Pratt)

400 -ÊAlicia Miller (EC) 58.76, 2. Sheila May (SBA), 3. Rachael Phillips (B), 4. Maggie Noonan (Mac), 5. Cassie Bjurgstrom (NR), 6. Kelly Dooley (EC), 7. Kristen VanBuskirk (NF), 8. Christan Bahler (Wes)

100 Hurdles -Ê1. Melissa Lunetto (EM) 14.80, 2. LaQuesha Taylor (SBA), 3. Sarah Eiler (R), 4. Erica Auker (Waw), 5. Karolyn Leniski (Pen), 6. Leah Hoover (EM), 7. Ann Harms (Man), 8. Laura Dickerson (SBA)

200 -ÊLatisha Poulard (K) 25.19, 2. Alicia Miller (EC), 3. Crystal Riley (SBC), 4. Jennifer Winters (SBA)*, 5. Latasha Clark (EC), 6. Lindahl Weigand (JG), 7. Isis Dixon (SBA), 8. Mary Whitehead (CMA)

1600 -Ê1. Natalie Ewing (NR) 5:14.08, 2. Leslie Carden (LC), 3. Morgan Uceny (Ply), 4. Katie Koellner (SBA), 5. Rachel Kroll (SBC), 6. Jaymi Hartzler (R), 7. Kelli Lipps (EC), 8. Katie Ellgass (SBJ)

3200 Relay -Ê1. Sotuh Bend Adams (Katie Koellner, Johanna Phillips, Shiela May, Erin Tschida) 9:36.67, 2. Plymouth, 3. Warsaw (Rachel Rondeau, Kim Kurosky, Hillary Barlow, Summer Boyd), 4. Penn*, 5. Northridge, 6. South Bend Clay, 7. Kokomo, 8. South Bend St. Joe

100 -Ê1. Alicia Miller (EC) 12.13, 2. Crystal Riley (SBC), 3. Lashonda Davis (K), 4. Latoya Hamilton (SBC)*, 5. Jennifer Winters (SBA)*, 6. Latasha Clark (EC), 7. Kaitlyn Wills (Pen), 8. Mary Whitehead (CMA) [[In-content Ad]]