According to Warsaw's 3200 relay team, rule No. 1 when returning to the state track and field meet this year is "No Meatballs."

Last year, the Warsaw track team ate at Olive Garden restaurant before the meet and had a pretty heavy meal. The Tigers didn't perform as well as they hoped, so the meatballs will be avoided this year.

For the second consecutive year, Warsaw will compete in the 3,200 relay at the state meet. After a 10th-place finish last year, the Tigers lost just one runner to graduation, P.J. Wiley. This year's version, just like last year's, has one member from each grade.

There's senior leader David Hoffert, junior Justin Rice, sophomore Greg Seiss and freshman Jon Dock. Freshman Rob Peters, who ran on the team in the conference and sectional meets, and senior Will Woodward are the alternates.

"Most teams would be happy to have one person running the times that we have four or five running," Hoffert said.

That complete-team effort has translated into the Tigers' No. 2 seed at the state meet, behind only Fort Wayne Northrop. Northrop won the state meet last year and gained the top seed by running a 7:54.68. Warsaw ran about four seconds slower with a time of 7:58.65. But according to the relay team, that's no problem.

"It takes me dropping four seconds," Dock piped up.

"All you have to do is have three guys cut down one second," Rice added. "If we do that, we're right there."

But as Hoffert, the seasoned veteran, added, it doesn't take much for the Tigers to fall further away from Northrop either.

"One person having a bad meet kills the relay team."

There's good reason for this team to be excited about the possibilities of beating Northrop this year. This is Warsaw's best shot at winning an event at the state meet since Troy Furnivall won the 400 in 1982.

And this team combines leadership, experience, youth and blazing speed for a lethal combination.

Hoffert, Rice and Seiss all competed at the state meet last year. They've seen the competition before and been through the nervous tension of competing there. But if anyone questions whether or not Dock can handle the pressure of a meet that big, Hoffert quickly put that to rest when he called Dock "probably the smartest freshman I've met."

For Hoffert, although it's his best chance to be a state champion, it's also his last chance. For that, he'll be laying it all on the line.

"It's a do-or-die situation for me," Hoffert said. "It's my last chance."

These four runners are a large part of a new tradition at Warsaw in track and field. They look at themselves as the beginning of what could be a state power in the sport.

"Last year really started it all up," Seiss said.

Although that carries a great positive as future runners aim for the names and records of the past two seasons, it also brings with it a negative.

"I'm scared that all of the records I set are going to be gone next year with Seiss running," Hoffert said.

And much of this talk goes back to the addition of head coach Troy Akers. Many of the athletes competing on Warsaw's track team this year also ran under former coach Scott Nieveen. Although Nieveen, who is still an assistant coach for the team, built the foundation for what the program has become, Akers has taken it a step further.

"We've had to work a lot harder," Hoffert said. "The mentality has changed. Akers has taken over where Nieveen left off."

"(Akers) took the desire and pointed us in the right direction," Rice added.

The state track meet will take place Saturday at the Indiana University Track Stadium in Indianapolis beginning at 4 p.m. The 3200 relay is scheduled to take place at 4:30 p.m.

Local Athletes' Seeds At State Meet

Girls Meet

100 low hurdles - 24. Grace Bonewitz (NorthWood)

200 - 23. Kelli Andrews (NorthWood)

800 - 15. Summer Boyd (Warsaw)

3200 - 26. Cort Sandy (NorthWood)

400 relay - 15. NorthWood

Boys Meet

long jump - 4. Tim Mason (Whitko), 16. Rex Reimer (Manchester)

3200 relay - 2. Warsaw 7:58.65

100 - 12. Tim Mason (Whitko)

110 hurdles - 13. Nick Iden (Manchester)

200 - 7. Tim Mason (Whitko)

400 - 7. Jon Hill (Warsaw)

300 hurdles - 9. Nick Iden (Manchester)

800 - 12. Greg Seiss (Warsaw) [[In-content Ad]]