Chalfant, Seiss Place In Top 5 At State
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
INDIANAPOLIS -ÊWhen Wawsee's Rob Chalfant got to Carroll Track an Field Stadium in Indianapolis Friday night to watch the girls state finals, the first thing he thought of was the Olympics.
"My goal is to run in the Olympics someday, and when I walked in and saw this track, it's the first thing I thought of," said Chalfant. "I was just so proud to be here."
"Then when I got here today (Saturday), the crowd was huge, and I was really nervous."
Chalfant felt those nerves through most of the meet, but before he stepped to the line to begin the 3200 race, something happened.
"It's weird," said Chalfant. "I was nervous until I got to the start line. Then instead of being nervous and scared, I was just happy. It felt good to be there, and all of a sudden it was fun."
Going into the competition, Chalfant was seeded second in the 3200. After the fist lap, he had fallen to ninth place in the race.
"The first mile, everyone went out fast," said Chalfant. "My strategy was to start near last place and move up. The first- place guys ran the first lap in 60 seconds, and I ran about a 66 or 67. Then I wanted to run the last lap all guts. It was a matter of who wanted it most."
Chalfant stuck to his plan. At the beginning of the last lap, he sat in ninth place, but he used a burst of energy at the end to sprint the last lap. Chalfant placed fourth overall in the race.
"Rob averaged about 69 seconds for each of the eight laps," said Wawasee coach Dave Stookey. "But he ran the last lap in 61 seconds. His fourth-place finish was only .32 seconds from second place and six seconds from the winning time of 9:12 by Charlie Koeppen of Carmel."
Earlier in the season, Chalfant broke Cam Boyer's 20-year-old school record time of 9:39. Since then, Chalfant has broken his own record three times, and he set a new standard at the state meet with his time of 9:18.69.
"I had no idea I would be able to run a 9:18," said Chalfant. "Coach (Dave) Stookey told me I could all along, and he was right. I'm just very proud. This was an amazing experience. I definitely want to be back here next year."
Along with Chalfant, six other area track athletes made the trek to Indianpolis Saturday for the 2000 State Finals, and each fared well in the competition.
Warsaw, which sent the most local athletes to the finals, had a 3200 relay team and an individual in the 800 run. Greg Seiss was seeded first in the 800 and placed second with a time of 1:54.30. Sixth-seeded Michael Taylor of Portage won the event with a time of 1:53.47.
"My goal was to win, but mainly to run smart," said Seiss. "I did what I needed to do. I just didn't have the kick at the end. I knew the kid who beat me was really good. Overall, I ran well."
Going into the state meet, Warsaw's 3200 relay team was seeded 14th overall and ran in the second fastest heat of the race. Jason Sibray, Rob Peters, Jon Dock and Seiss surprised their competitors with a time of 7:59.83, nearly seven seconds faster than their qualifying time. The Tigers placed sixth overall in the competition.
"The relay was seeded 14th, and we placed sixth," said Seiss. "We were not expected to place that well. We weren't even in the fast heat."
Triton freshman Matt Anders competed in the 400. He placed 17th overall with a personal best time of 50.72.
"It was different to be behind everybody in the race," said Anders, "but this was a really good experience. I wasn't disappointed with the race. My goal was to come down here and beat my old time, and I did that."
Aaron Hoover was the other area competitor in the state finals. He placed 27th in the 3200 with a time of 10:07.03.
2000 Boys Track State Finals
Team Standings -Ê1. Carmel 52, 2. Ben Davis 40, 3. Carroll (Ft. Wayne) 29.50, 4. (tie) Fort Wayne Wayne, Richmond, Fort Wayne Northrop 24, 7. Indianapolis Northwest 23, 8. (tie) South Bend LaSalle, Portage 22, 10. Lawrence North 21, 11. (tie) Franklin Central, Union County 20, 13. (tie) Fort Wayne Concordia, Evansville F.J. Reitz 19, 15. Merrillville 17.50; 16. Fort Wayne South Side 17, 17. (tie)Terre Haute South, Bloomington North 16, 19. Marion 15, 20. (tie) Concord, Warren Central, Indianapolis Roncalli 14, 23. Warsaw 12, 24. (tie) Hammond Gavit, White River Valley, South Bend Adams 10, 27. (tie) Lawrence Central, Bloomintgon South, Michigan City 9, 30. (tie) Huntington North, South Dearborn, DeKalb, Indianapolis North Central 8, 34. (tie) Wabash, Corydon Central, Owen Valley 7, 37. Brebeuf, Vincennes Lincoln, Bremen, Anderson, Wawasee, Bluffton, Evansville Central 6, 44. (tie) Tri-West Hendricks, Fort Wayne Elmhurst, South Bend St. Joseph's, Gary Wallace, Lake Central 5, 49. (tie) Columbus East, Floyd Central, Valparaiso, Forest Park, Kankakee Valley, Delta 4, 55. Indianapolis Broad Ripple, Pike, Norwell, Frankfort, Southmont, Hammond Noll 3, 61. (tie) North Putnam, Terre Haute North, Chesterton, East Noble, Jennings County, Morgan Township, Gary West Side 2, 68. (tie) Columbia City, Greensburg, Center Grove, Elkhart Central, Leo, Plainfield, South Spencer 1
(DNS = did not show)
110 High Hurdles -Ê1. Montrell Person, Merrillville, 13.96
300 Intermediate Hurdles -Ê1. Chris Tredway, Fort Wayne Carroll, 37.68
100 Meters - 1. ÊKevin Harrington, Indianapolis Northwest, 10.77
200 Meters -Ê1. Ryan Sarbinoff, Carmel, 21.75
400 Meters -Ê1. Gustin Smith, Fort Wayne Concordia, 47.65
800 Meters -Ê1. Michael Taylor, Portage, 1:53.47
1600 Meters -Ê1. Aaron Fisher, Franklin Central, 4:12.0
3200 Meters -ÊCharlie Koeppen, Carmel, 9:12.62
400 Relay -Ê1. Ben Davis, 41.60
1600 Relay -Ê1. Warren Central 3:18.0
3200 Relay -Ê1. Portage, 7:45.65
Discus -Ê1. Rocky Moore, Union County, 180-6
Shot Put -Ê1. Rocky Moore, Union County, 62-2 3/4
High Jump -ÊNoah Shelton, South Bend Adams, 6-9
Long Jump -ÊRolando Mays, Richmond, 22-10 3/4
Pole Vault - Matthew Campbell, White River Valley, 16-3
Warsaw finishers -ÊGreg Seiss 2. 800M, 1:54.30; 3200 Relay (Seiss, Jason Sibray, Rob Peters, Jon Dock), 7:59.83
Wawasee finisher -ÊRob Chalfant 4. 3200M, 9:18.69
Triton finisher -ÊMatt Anders 17. 400M, 50.72
NorthWood finisher -ÊAaron Hoover 27. 3200M 10:07.03
Manchester finisher -ÊDavid Bazzoni, pole vault, DNS [[In-content Ad]]
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INDIANAPOLIS -ÊWhen Wawsee's Rob Chalfant got to Carroll Track an Field Stadium in Indianapolis Friday night to watch the girls state finals, the first thing he thought of was the Olympics.
"My goal is to run in the Olympics someday, and when I walked in and saw this track, it's the first thing I thought of," said Chalfant. "I was just so proud to be here."
"Then when I got here today (Saturday), the crowd was huge, and I was really nervous."
Chalfant felt those nerves through most of the meet, but before he stepped to the line to begin the 3200 race, something happened.
"It's weird," said Chalfant. "I was nervous until I got to the start line. Then instead of being nervous and scared, I was just happy. It felt good to be there, and all of a sudden it was fun."
Going into the competition, Chalfant was seeded second in the 3200. After the fist lap, he had fallen to ninth place in the race.
"The first mile, everyone went out fast," said Chalfant. "My strategy was to start near last place and move up. The first- place guys ran the first lap in 60 seconds, and I ran about a 66 or 67. Then I wanted to run the last lap all guts. It was a matter of who wanted it most."
Chalfant stuck to his plan. At the beginning of the last lap, he sat in ninth place, but he used a burst of energy at the end to sprint the last lap. Chalfant placed fourth overall in the race.
"Rob averaged about 69 seconds for each of the eight laps," said Wawasee coach Dave Stookey. "But he ran the last lap in 61 seconds. His fourth-place finish was only .32 seconds from second place and six seconds from the winning time of 9:12 by Charlie Koeppen of Carmel."
Earlier in the season, Chalfant broke Cam Boyer's 20-year-old school record time of 9:39. Since then, Chalfant has broken his own record three times, and he set a new standard at the state meet with his time of 9:18.69.
"I had no idea I would be able to run a 9:18," said Chalfant. "Coach (Dave) Stookey told me I could all along, and he was right. I'm just very proud. This was an amazing experience. I definitely want to be back here next year."
Along with Chalfant, six other area track athletes made the trek to Indianpolis Saturday for the 2000 State Finals, and each fared well in the competition.
Warsaw, which sent the most local athletes to the finals, had a 3200 relay team and an individual in the 800 run. Greg Seiss was seeded first in the 800 and placed second with a time of 1:54.30. Sixth-seeded Michael Taylor of Portage won the event with a time of 1:53.47.
"My goal was to win, but mainly to run smart," said Seiss. "I did what I needed to do. I just didn't have the kick at the end. I knew the kid who beat me was really good. Overall, I ran well."
Going into the state meet, Warsaw's 3200 relay team was seeded 14th overall and ran in the second fastest heat of the race. Jason Sibray, Rob Peters, Jon Dock and Seiss surprised their competitors with a time of 7:59.83, nearly seven seconds faster than their qualifying time. The Tigers placed sixth overall in the competition.
"The relay was seeded 14th, and we placed sixth," said Seiss. "We were not expected to place that well. We weren't even in the fast heat."
Triton freshman Matt Anders competed in the 400. He placed 17th overall with a personal best time of 50.72.
"It was different to be behind everybody in the race," said Anders, "but this was a really good experience. I wasn't disappointed with the race. My goal was to come down here and beat my old time, and I did that."
Aaron Hoover was the other area competitor in the state finals. He placed 27th in the 3200 with a time of 10:07.03.
2000 Boys Track State Finals
Team Standings -Ê1. Carmel 52, 2. Ben Davis 40, 3. Carroll (Ft. Wayne) 29.50, 4. (tie) Fort Wayne Wayne, Richmond, Fort Wayne Northrop 24, 7. Indianapolis Northwest 23, 8. (tie) South Bend LaSalle, Portage 22, 10. Lawrence North 21, 11. (tie) Franklin Central, Union County 20, 13. (tie) Fort Wayne Concordia, Evansville F.J. Reitz 19, 15. Merrillville 17.50; 16. Fort Wayne South Side 17, 17. (tie)Terre Haute South, Bloomington North 16, 19. Marion 15, 20. (tie) Concord, Warren Central, Indianapolis Roncalli 14, 23. Warsaw 12, 24. (tie) Hammond Gavit, White River Valley, South Bend Adams 10, 27. (tie) Lawrence Central, Bloomintgon South, Michigan City 9, 30. (tie) Huntington North, South Dearborn, DeKalb, Indianapolis North Central 8, 34. (tie) Wabash, Corydon Central, Owen Valley 7, 37. Brebeuf, Vincennes Lincoln, Bremen, Anderson, Wawasee, Bluffton, Evansville Central 6, 44. (tie) Tri-West Hendricks, Fort Wayne Elmhurst, South Bend St. Joseph's, Gary Wallace, Lake Central 5, 49. (tie) Columbus East, Floyd Central, Valparaiso, Forest Park, Kankakee Valley, Delta 4, 55. Indianapolis Broad Ripple, Pike, Norwell, Frankfort, Southmont, Hammond Noll 3, 61. (tie) North Putnam, Terre Haute North, Chesterton, East Noble, Jennings County, Morgan Township, Gary West Side 2, 68. (tie) Columbia City, Greensburg, Center Grove, Elkhart Central, Leo, Plainfield, South Spencer 1
(DNS = did not show)
110 High Hurdles -Ê1. Montrell Person, Merrillville, 13.96
300 Intermediate Hurdles -Ê1. Chris Tredway, Fort Wayne Carroll, 37.68
100 Meters - 1. ÊKevin Harrington, Indianapolis Northwest, 10.77
200 Meters -Ê1. Ryan Sarbinoff, Carmel, 21.75
400 Meters -Ê1. Gustin Smith, Fort Wayne Concordia, 47.65
800 Meters -Ê1. Michael Taylor, Portage, 1:53.47
1600 Meters -Ê1. Aaron Fisher, Franklin Central, 4:12.0
3200 Meters -ÊCharlie Koeppen, Carmel, 9:12.62
400 Relay -Ê1. Ben Davis, 41.60
1600 Relay -Ê1. Warren Central 3:18.0
3200 Relay -Ê1. Portage, 7:45.65
Discus -Ê1. Rocky Moore, Union County, 180-6
Shot Put -Ê1. Rocky Moore, Union County, 62-2 3/4
High Jump -ÊNoah Shelton, South Bend Adams, 6-9
Long Jump -ÊRolando Mays, Richmond, 22-10 3/4
Pole Vault - Matthew Campbell, White River Valley, 16-3
Warsaw finishers -ÊGreg Seiss 2. 800M, 1:54.30; 3200 Relay (Seiss, Jason Sibray, Rob Peters, Jon Dock), 7:59.83
Wawasee finisher -ÊRob Chalfant 4. 3200M, 9:18.69
Triton finisher -ÊMatt Anders 17. 400M, 50.72
NorthWood finisher -ÊAaron Hoover 27. 3200M 10:07.03
Manchester finisher -ÊDavid Bazzoni, pole vault, DNS [[In-content Ad]]