Warsaw Wins Track Showdown
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NAPPANEE - Who could have thought a matchup between three Northern Lakes Conference boys track unbeatens would be such a mismatch?
Troy Akers, for one.
The Warsaw boys track coach knew his Tigers had the talent, it was just a matter of being in the right mental frame of mind for its big matchup with NorthWood and Concord. And they were certainly there as the Tigers racked up 86 1/2 points. Concord had 53, and NorthWood scored 27 1/2.
"Yeah, I anticipated it," Akers said of Warsaw's dominating performance. "We were ready to break loose. I knew Concord and NorthWood had strong teams, but I thought we had a little more depth."
That is exactly where Warsaw got it done, with its depth.
Warsaw got the big performances out of the usual standouts - Jon Hill and David Hoffert - but coming up big were the likes of Greg Seiss, Shaun Mudd, Scott Shepherd, Marvin Farmer and Steve Fribley.
Hill won the 100, 200 and 400, while Hoffert captured the 1600 and was second in the 800. But Seiss beat Hoffert out in the 800 and came up big on two relay teams. Shepherd won the long jump; Fribley won the discus and was third in the shot put; Farmer won the shot put and Mudd was second in the 200 and 400.
"We had some familiar names do what they had to do," Akers said. "But other kids came up big as supporting cast members. Field events have been our Achilles' heel, but we scored well there and did the things we needed to do there.
"Physically, they (Warsaw) have had it," he said. "We have to add the mental part of it to be a great team, and I thought we grew up tonight."
Warsaw also captured two of the three relay events.
On paper, the matchup looked as it might have been closer than it turned out to be. Concord is the two-time defending NLC champion, and a young NorthWood team just came off a second-place finish in the B division of Saturday's Goshen Relays.
"We talked that if we came out on top tonight, we would control our own destiny," Akers said. "We did it with an exclamation point."
The wins put Warsaw in the driver's seat in the NLC and also put a big bullseye on the its chest when the NLC championship meet rolls around May 14.
"We have the NLC meet coming up when we all get together for a big party," Akers said. "If we come in there like we did tonight on a mission, we will be tough to beat."
Warsaw was pumped up for the matchup early and took control of the meet in the field events and the sprints. The Tigers cemented things when Hill finished first in the 100 and was followed closely by Jose Esquivel in third and Derrick Duncan in fifth.
The Tigers pushed things to a 30-1/2-21 lead over Concord after just six events.
Things got even better for the Tigers, and the margin was 50-1/2-33 after 10 events and the rout was on. Hoffert and Seiss finished 1-2 in the 800, and Warsaw never looked back.
NorthWood got first-place finishes by Aaron Hoover (3200), Jason Brenneman (high jump) and Bill Mitscheler (pole vault).
Warsaw (5-0, 4-0 NLC) is at the East Noble Invite Saturday. NorthWood is at Northridge with Wawasee May 5.
WARSAW 86 1/2, CONCORD 53,
NORTHWOOD 27 1/2
3200 relay - 1. Warsaw 8:46.74 (Rob Peters, Justin Rice, Will Woodward, Greg Seiss), 2. Concord, 3. NorthWood
110 hurdles - 1. Matt Huber (C) 15:82, 2. Brian Lantz (C), 3. Brian Peterson (C), 4. James Taylor (W)
100 - 1. Jon Hill (W) :11.30, 2. Daniel Martin (C), 3. Jose Esquivel (W), 4. Cory Brown (NW), 5. Derrick Duncan (W)
1600 - 1. David Hoffert (W) 4:30.7, 2. Amir Tahmassebi (C), 3. J.D. Myers (C), 4. Jon Dock (W)
400 relay - 1. Concord :44.20 (Suggs, McKenzie, Huber, Martin), 2. Warsaw :44.64 (Esquivel, Duncan, Shepherd, Chabot), 3. NorthWood
400 - 1. Hill (W) :51.0, 2. Shaun Mudd (W), 3. Brenneman (NW), 4. Joe Covey (C)
300 hurdles - 1. Martin (C) :38.89, 2. Huber (C), 3. Esquivel (W), 4. Jon Cook (NW)
800 - 1. Seiss (W) 1:58.2, 2. Hoffert (W), 3. Tahmassebi (C), 4. Jon Dock (W)
200 - 1. Hill (W) :22.3, 2. Mudd (W), 3. Jeremy Davis (C), 4. Cory Brown (NW)
3200 - 1. Hoover (NW) 10:07, 2. Myers (C), 3. Woodward (W)
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw 3:30.24, 2. Concord, 3. NorthWood
High jump - 1. Brennaman (NW) 5-10, 2t. Doug Brown (NW), Mudd (W), Fitzsimmons (W)
Long jump - 1. Scott Shepherd (W) 19-9, 2. Jon Cook (NW), 3. Chabot (W), 4. Rodney Suggs (C)
Discus - 1. Steve Fribley (W) 133-7, 2. Don Jackson (C), 3. Jerrod Leisure (W), 4. Hershberger (C)
Shot put - 1. Marvin Farmer (W) 46-2, 2. Steve McKinley (W), 3. Fribley (W), 4. Leisure (W)
Pole vault - 1. Bill Mitscheler (NW) 12-0, 2. Matt Traub (NW), 3. Zach Scheetz (W), 4. Swinehart (C) [[In-content Ad]]
NAPPANEE - Who could have thought a matchup between three Northern Lakes Conference boys track unbeatens would be such a mismatch?
Troy Akers, for one.
The Warsaw boys track coach knew his Tigers had the talent, it was just a matter of being in the right mental frame of mind for its big matchup with NorthWood and Concord. And they were certainly there as the Tigers racked up 86 1/2 points. Concord had 53, and NorthWood scored 27 1/2.
"Yeah, I anticipated it," Akers said of Warsaw's dominating performance. "We were ready to break loose. I knew Concord and NorthWood had strong teams, but I thought we had a little more depth."
That is exactly where Warsaw got it done, with its depth.
Warsaw got the big performances out of the usual standouts - Jon Hill and David Hoffert - but coming up big were the likes of Greg Seiss, Shaun Mudd, Scott Shepherd, Marvin Farmer and Steve Fribley.
Hill won the 100, 200 and 400, while Hoffert captured the 1600 and was second in the 800. But Seiss beat Hoffert out in the 800 and came up big on two relay teams. Shepherd won the long jump; Fribley won the discus and was third in the shot put; Farmer won the shot put and Mudd was second in the 200 and 400.
"We had some familiar names do what they had to do," Akers said. "But other kids came up big as supporting cast members. Field events have been our Achilles' heel, but we scored well there and did the things we needed to do there.
"Physically, they (Warsaw) have had it," he said. "We have to add the mental part of it to be a great team, and I thought we grew up tonight."
Warsaw also captured two of the three relay events.
On paper, the matchup looked as it might have been closer than it turned out to be. Concord is the two-time defending NLC champion, and a young NorthWood team just came off a second-place finish in the B division of Saturday's Goshen Relays.
"We talked that if we came out on top tonight, we would control our own destiny," Akers said. "We did it with an exclamation point."
The wins put Warsaw in the driver's seat in the NLC and also put a big bullseye on the its chest when the NLC championship meet rolls around May 14.
"We have the NLC meet coming up when we all get together for a big party," Akers said. "If we come in there like we did tonight on a mission, we will be tough to beat."
Warsaw was pumped up for the matchup early and took control of the meet in the field events and the sprints. The Tigers cemented things when Hill finished first in the 100 and was followed closely by Jose Esquivel in third and Derrick Duncan in fifth.
The Tigers pushed things to a 30-1/2-21 lead over Concord after just six events.
Things got even better for the Tigers, and the margin was 50-1/2-33 after 10 events and the rout was on. Hoffert and Seiss finished 1-2 in the 800, and Warsaw never looked back.
NorthWood got first-place finishes by Aaron Hoover (3200), Jason Brenneman (high jump) and Bill Mitscheler (pole vault).
Warsaw (5-0, 4-0 NLC) is at the East Noble Invite Saturday. NorthWood is at Northridge with Wawasee May 5.
WARSAW 86 1/2, CONCORD 53,
NORTHWOOD 27 1/2
3200 relay - 1. Warsaw 8:46.74 (Rob Peters, Justin Rice, Will Woodward, Greg Seiss), 2. Concord, 3. NorthWood
110 hurdles - 1. Matt Huber (C) 15:82, 2. Brian Lantz (C), 3. Brian Peterson (C), 4. James Taylor (W)
100 - 1. Jon Hill (W) :11.30, 2. Daniel Martin (C), 3. Jose Esquivel (W), 4. Cory Brown (NW), 5. Derrick Duncan (W)
1600 - 1. David Hoffert (W) 4:30.7, 2. Amir Tahmassebi (C), 3. J.D. Myers (C), 4. Jon Dock (W)
400 relay - 1. Concord :44.20 (Suggs, McKenzie, Huber, Martin), 2. Warsaw :44.64 (Esquivel, Duncan, Shepherd, Chabot), 3. NorthWood
400 - 1. Hill (W) :51.0, 2. Shaun Mudd (W), 3. Brenneman (NW), 4. Joe Covey (C)
300 hurdles - 1. Martin (C) :38.89, 2. Huber (C), 3. Esquivel (W), 4. Jon Cook (NW)
800 - 1. Seiss (W) 1:58.2, 2. Hoffert (W), 3. Tahmassebi (C), 4. Jon Dock (W)
200 - 1. Hill (W) :22.3, 2. Mudd (W), 3. Jeremy Davis (C), 4. Cory Brown (NW)
3200 - 1. Hoover (NW) 10:07, 2. Myers (C), 3. Woodward (W)
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw 3:30.24, 2. Concord, 3. NorthWood
High jump - 1. Brennaman (NW) 5-10, 2t. Doug Brown (NW), Mudd (W), Fitzsimmons (W)
Long jump - 1. Scott Shepherd (W) 19-9, 2. Jon Cook (NW), 3. Chabot (W), 4. Rodney Suggs (C)
Discus - 1. Steve Fribley (W) 133-7, 2. Don Jackson (C), 3. Jerrod Leisure (W), 4. Hershberger (C)
Shot put - 1. Marvin Farmer (W) 46-2, 2. Steve McKinley (W), 3. Fribley (W), 4. Leisure (W)
Pole vault - 1. Bill Mitscheler (NW) 12-0, 2. Matt Traub (NW), 3. Zach Scheetz (W), 4. Swinehart (C) [[In-content Ad]]