AKRON - Tippecanoe Valley and Whitko got ready for Friday's Three Rivers Conference Championship with a three-way meet with North Miami in boys and girls track action Monday at Tippecanoe Valley High School.

Whitko won the boys competition with a score of 80, while North Miami finished in second and host Valley placed third.

Valley won the girls competition with a score of 69.5 to North Miami's 41.5 and Whitko's 32.

The Wildcats used Monday's meet as a gauge to see where they were at and how they could improve between now and Friday.

"We finished the year strong," said Whitko head track coach Ron Cherry. "Our depth is something we have to deal with, but I'm happy with the kids we have."

Whitko's depth was challenged greatly in the 400 relay. The Wildcats' John Calhoun was forced to sit out due to injury. Cherry hopes for him to be back Friday.

Josh Licata ran in place of Calhoun in the first leg of the relay, getting off to a good start but bobbled his baton handoff. Luckily for Whitko, the rest of the team picked up the slack and came back to win.

"Matt Tracy, who runs the 800 for us, actually ran a really strong anchor leg," said Cherry.

Freshman Brian Winget was impressive in his first foray into varsity distance running. Winget won the 1600 and finished second in the 3200.

Tyler Wilkinson won the 300 hurdles for the Wildcats with a time of :41.40 and his improvement throughout the year has Cherry optimistic.

"He is really starting to come around. I'm anxious to see what he can do Friday," said Cherry.

Friday's events may be more of a coronation, as Rochester appears to be the odds-on favorite. The Zebras have won the conference for three straight years, while the Wildcats have finished in second.

Cherry is realistic about his team's goals for Friday.

"You never know what is going to happen. But it's a bit discouraging since Rochester has been so dominant. It's really going to be a battle for second place with Oak Hill, Manchester and Whitko," said Cherry.

A young Valley squad struggled in track events but was strong in field events. Eric Cody and Wes Austin finished first and third in the shot put.

Cody threw a 49-11, while Austin tossed a 38-1.

"Our field events are definitely our strong suit," said Valley head coach Chad Andrews. "They are what carry us."

The Viking boys have 22 tracksters on their roster, with 12 being freshmen.

So the goals for Valley Friday are more about improvement and effort than placing.

"I just want our kids to do their best," said Andrews. "It'd be nice if they could get some personal records. Team-wise I don't know where we'll be."

On the girls side, Valley's roster has only nine names on it. So for Andrews, there aren't going to be many surprises.

"We know what we have," said Andrews. "We just try to look at individual events and try and get the best efforts we can."

Janelle Doody won the 400 for Valley with a time of 1:06.87. Andrea Clampitt won the high jump with an attempt of 4-8.

The Whitko girls won the 1600 relay with a time of 9:38.15.

Valley sophomore Kristal Gearhart tied North Miami's Rachel Worden in the 100 with a time of :17.61.

Both squads are in action Friday when the TRC Championship takes place at Tippecanoe Valley High School with a start time of 5 p.m. [[In-content Ad]]