The Wawasee girls' track team fell victim to the Concord Minutemen on Thursday 63-60, but not without a fight. The meet came down to the final lap of the final race to decide the winner.

The meet was even the entire way, and with three races left, Wawasee and Concord were knotted at 50-50. Concord had dominated the short distance and field events all evening, while Wawasee had dominated the relay and long distance events.

In the 200 dash, Concord's Nikkie Kellie and Stacey Peterson came in first and second to put the Minutemen ahead by seven, but the 3200 meter run was next. Wawasee grabbed the top three spots as Alisha Henderson, Aubrey Coy and Mary Cockburn put Wawasee ahead 60-58 with only the 1600 relay to go.

Wawasee ran out to a big lead in the four-lap race. However, on the final turn of the final lap, the Concord anchor Stacey Peterson took over the lead and ran on for the victory. The Minutemen won with a time of 4:18.6 seconds while Wawasee ran a 4:22.6.

"We never talked about the streak," Wawasee head coach Lisa Dilbone said. "It was in the back of the girls' minds though. They knew about it."

"It was hard for the girls to lose tonight," she said. "It's tough to lose for the first time in so many years, but I really think the girls can grow from this and can turn this loss into something positive that can help them become stronger competitors in the future."

Wawasee jumped out to a 15-8 lead early as Mandy McGuire won the high jump with a leap of 5-feet-2 and the Wawasee 3200 relay team grabbed first. But Concord struck back with three straight victories in the discuss, the 100 hurdles and the 100 dash to take a 27-23 advantage.

Wawasee then won the 1600 run, the 400 relay and the 800 meter run, while Concord won the 400 run, the 300 hurdles and the shot put to tie the meet at 50-50.

Despite the loss, Dilbone found some positives from a pair of freshmen, Kim Reuter and Alisha Henderson.

Reuter placed second in the 100 dash and third in the 200 dash. Those were the top Wawasee finishes in each of those events. She also ran on the 400 relay team that got a time of 53.36 seconds. Henderson grabbed first in the 800 run with a time of 2:36 and first in the 1600 run with a time of 5:58.

"I was impressed with freshman Kim Reuter's performances' tonight," Dilbone said. "I look forward to seeing her improve throughout the season."

Kassie Biddle also picked up two first place ribbons. She helped the 3200 relay team to a time of 10:34.8. That was more than 30 seconds better than Concord's relay team. She also took second in the 800 run, just one second behind Henderson.

The Wawasee junior varsity squad cruised to a 64-48 victory over Concord as the Warriors won nine of 14 events and grabbed six second place finishes.

Now that the streak is over, Wawasee (4-1) has a long rest to get back on the winning track. They will not compete again until an April 21 meet at Bremen at 4:30 p.m.

CONCORD 63, WAWASEE 60

High Jump - Mandy McGuire (Wawasee) 5-2, Mariah Wells (Concord), Staci Weisser (Wawasee)

Long Jump - Stacey Peterson (Concord) 15-7, Angie Beer (Wawasee), Lydia Carpenter (Wawasee)

3200 Relay - Wawasee (Kassie Biddle, Alison Morgan, Mary Cockburn, Aubrey Coy) 10:34.8, Concord

Discus - Lisa Teitsna (Concord) 103-8, Heather Long (Wawasee), Star Barnes (Concord)

100 hurdles - Crystal Key (Concord) 16.6, LaToshia Davis (Concord), Alexis Culver (Wawasee)

100 - Nikkie Kellie (Concord) 13.0, Kim Reuter (Wawasee), Stefanie Tarner (Wawasee)

1600 - Alisha Henderson (Wawasee) 5:58.2, Alison Morgan (Wawasee), Julie Latzke (Concord)

400 Relay - Wawasee (Kim Reuter, Lydia Carpenter, Stefanie Tarner, Alexis Culver), Concord

400 - Stacey Peterson (Concord) 1:01.2, Crystal Brim (Concord), Staci Weisser (Wawasee)

300 hurdles - Crystal Key (Concord) 50.1, Kimber Chang (Wawasee), Alexis Culver (Wawasee)

Shot Put - Lisa Teitsna (Concord) 37-5 1/2, Star Barnes (Concord), Sharada Nethaway (Wawasee)

800 - Alisha Henderson (Wawasee) 2:36, Kassie Biddle (Wawasee), Jeannelle Kantz (Concord)

200 - Nikkie Kellie (Concord) 27.3, Stacey Peterson (Concord), Kim Reuter (Wawasee)

3200 - Alisha Henderson (Wawasee) 13:07.5, Aubrey Coy (Wawasee), Mary Cockburn (Wawasee)

1600 - Concord (Stacey Peterson, Nikkie Kellie, Crystal Brim, Jeannelle Kantz) 4:18.6, Wawasee [[In-content Ad]]