MENTONE - As the old saying goes, "Always save the best for last."

And that's exactly what happened in the boys shot put event of Tuesday's Triton/Rochester/Tippecanoe Valley boys and girls track meet.

Rochester's Dustin Burkett was the last thrower on the list of 20, and his throw of 44 feet, 1/2-inch was good enough to take first place. With throws of 42-plus feet each, Valley's Craig Kuhn and Jeremy Fox placed second and third, respectively.

"Those (Kuhn's and Fox's throws) are both personal bests," said Valley coach Terry Screeton. "That's usually a strong event for us but not overly strong. Those are pretty good throws for high school."

Burkett's throw of just over 132 feet was good enough to give him a first-place finish in the discus too, but in the end it was Triton who had saved the best for last as its total team score of 60 took first place. Valley (4-3) came in a close second with 57 points, and Rochester was third with 50 points.

After half of the afternoon's events, Valley held a 10-point lead, and that's when Triton's Mason McIntyre took center stage. McIntyre took first-place honors in the 800, 1,600 and 3,200.

"Triton is real strong in the distance and pole vault," said Screeton. "When they came in first in those events we started to drop. In the two-mile Triton finished first, second and fourth. We didn't score a point."

Valley won the last event of the evening, the 1,600 relay. Eric Prater anchored the team running the last leg as the Vikings finished with a time of 4:34.69. Before the 1,600 relay began fans and Rochester and Triton runners questioned whether or not Prater would run or if he was injured after his third-place finish in the 400. Screeton quickly put any rumors of Prater being injured to rest.

"In the 400 he was fine, he just started cramping up," said Screeton. "He came back and ran fine in the 1,600 relay; he's fine. He doesn't usually get beat in the 400 and people started talking."

On the girls side of things Valley (5-2) came in first with a team score of 61. Triton and Rochester finished second and third with 50 and 45 points, respectively.

The Vikings took first-place finishes in six of the 15 events including three sprint events, the 100 hurdles, 100 dash and 400.

"Some of our strengths have been hurdles and the 100 with Kristi Rudd and Dana McFarren," said Screeton. "Our sprints are pretty strong. The good thing about this team is its depth. We have somebody in every event. We don't get shut out and that helps out in meets like this."

Triton's girls team took first-place honors in four events including both throwing events. Amber Feldman's throw of 95-5 was good enough for tops in the discus, while teammate Sisteen Christian won with a throw of 34-6 1/2 in the shot put.

Both the Valley boys and girls teams will be in action Friday at 5:30 p.m. in the Oak Hill Relays. Triton's boys and girls will host LaVille Thursday at 4:30 p.m.

BOYS

TRITON 60, TIPPECANOE VALLEY 57, ROCHESTER 50

110 hurdles - 1. Smith (TV) :15.69, 2. Carlen (TV), 3. Pierce (T)

100 - 1. McNeil (TV) :11.38, 2. Clark (R), 3. Hayes (T)

1,600 - 1. McIntyre (T) 4:53.97, 2. Gephart (T), 3. Rettinger (T)

Discus - 1. Burkett (R) 132-1, 2. Grose (T), 3. Moore (T)

300 hurdles - 1. Carlen (TV) :42.76, 2. Smith (TV), 3. Bules (T)

800 - 1. McIntyre (T) 2:07.84, 2. Hileman (TV), 3. Hoover (R)

200 - 1. Carlen (TV) :23.91, 2. Jimenez (R), 3. Hayes (T)

Pole vault - 1. Wagner (R) 11-6, 2. Yankovich (T), 3. Hooley (T)

Long jump - 1. Frownfetter (R) 17-11.25, 2. Tilden (TV), 3. Read (T)

3,200 - 1. McIntyre (T) 10:26.81, 2. Gephart (T), 3. Dubois (R)

Shot put - 1. Burkett (R) 44-0.5, 2. Kuhn (TV), 3. Fox (TV)

400 - Jiminez (R) :53.25, 2. Wise (T), 3. Prater (TV)

High jump - 1. Silveus (TV) 6-2, 2. Wise (T), 3. Read (T)

3,200 relay - 1. Triton 8:41.90, 2. Rochester, 3. Valley

400 relay - 1. Valley :46.53, 2. Rochester, 3. Triton

1,600 relay - 1. Valley 2:39.38, 2. Triton, 3. Triton

GIRLS

TIPPECANOE VALLEY 61, TRITON 50, ROCHESTER 45

100 hurdles - 1. Rudd (TV) :17.18, 2. McFarren (TV), 3. Boardman (T)

100 - 1. Rudd (TV) :13.63, 2. Stutzman (TV), 3. Williams (T)

1,600 - 1. Hartzler (R) 5:25.25, 2. Miller (T), 3. Kreft (T)

400 - 1. Kindig (TV) 1:06.4, 2. Spencer (R), 3. Wilcox (TV)

800 - 1. Hartzler (R) 2:30.78, 2. Williams (T), 3. Pontious (TV)

200 - 1. Williams (T) :29.15, 2. Kreiter (T), 3. Allen (TV)

Long jump - 1. Wilcox (TV) 14-11.25, 2. Ewing (R), 3. Kindig (TV)

Discus - 1. Feldman (T) 95-5, 2. McGaughery (R), 3. Rose (TV)

3,200 - 1. Kreft (T) 13:00.81, 2. DuBois (R), 3. McFarren (TV)

Shot put - 1. Christian (T) 34-6.5, 2. McGaughery (R), 3. Salyer (T)

High jump - 1. Ewing (R) 5-4, 2. Speicher (T), 3. Pratt (TV)

300 hurdles - 1. Ewing (R) :51.59, 2. Eiler (R), 3. Rudd (TV)

3,200 relay - 1. Rochester 10:43.19, 2. Valley, 3. Triton

400 relay - 1. Valley :55.62, 2. Triton, 3. Rochester

1,600 relay - 1. Valley 4:34.69, 2. Triton, 3. Rochester [[In-content Ad]]