Wawasee Warrior Girls Win Three-Way NLC Track Meet
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
Led by individual first-place finshes from Rachel Stichter, Jessie Spearman, Brooke Mark and Gloria Boesenberg, the host Warriors scored 65 points to top rival Warsaw (52) and NorthWood (39).
The wins improved Wawasee to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the NLC. With the win over NorthWood and the loss to the Warriors, Warsaw is now 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the NLC.
"This was a great NLC meet," said Warsaw coach Scott Erba. "Wawasee has some outstanding athletes and NorthWood has some great throwers. This was a real fun NLC meet, a chance to see the NLC at its best."
A meet already filled with strong performances, the evening finished on a high note with an exciting finish to the 1600 relay, which was won by the Warsaw foursome of Katie Furnivall, Katie Logan, Ashley Kitchens and Julie Seiss in a time of 4:14.5.
Warsaw held a slight advantage over the Warriors after the third leg and then super sophomores Seiss and Jessie Spearman battled for three quarters of a lap until Seiss poured it on down the front stretch, finishing her anchor leg in 59.6 seconds and beating Spearman to the line by a second.
"That was a great race to finish the meet with," said Erba. "We changed our lineup a little bit to take pressure off Julie (Seiss) so she doesn't have to work her magic and come back every night. Ashley (Kitchens) had a great leg and ran her season best, and then Julie ran a great anchor leg."
Seiss also won the high jump with a height of 5-1 and the 800 in a time of 2:22.7, two seconds ahead of second-place Rachel Stichter of Wawasee, and was second in the long jump with a leap of 16-1 3/4.
Warsaw's only other first-place finish came in the 100 hurdles where sophomore Lindsay Francis ran a time of 16.6 seconds and beat teammate and second-place finisher Ashley Timmons to the line by a half-second. Wawasee's Jodie Buhrt finished third in the event, while Tiger Kim Clay was fourth.
Going into Thursday's Northern Lakes Conference tennis match, both Wawasee and Warsaw knew it was huge.
Since both team were undefeated overall and in the Northern Lakes Conference, the winner of Thursday's match would take sole possession of first-place in the conference.
When all was said and done, Warsaw came out on top, 5-0, and took its spot atop the NLC.
"I am exteremly pleased with the performance tonight," said Warsaw coach Rick Orban. "The girls were really focused the entire match."
"I was a bit disappointed," said Wawasee coach Cindy Peterson. "But Warsaw is a very good team. They played a good match."
Due to injuries and illness Orban shuffled his lineup to fill in for injured No. 2 singles player Kaitlin Macdonald.
In the first match to finish, Warsaw's No. 1 singles player Jessica Davis took on Wawasee's Carly Murphy. Davis took control of the match early and won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
"Jessica turned it on against Carly," said Orban. "Jess played her best match of the year."
"Carly did not play to her game at all," said Peterson. "I know she was disappointed."
The No. 3 singles match was the second to finish as Wawasee's Kira Steiner faced off against Warsaw's Jessica Sadler.
Sadler took a 3-0 lead in the first set before Steiner made a run to make the score 3-2. Sadler then went up 5-2 before Steiner turned an ankle. After a break to get her ankle wrapped, Steiner resumed play and finished the match.
Sadler came out on top 6-2, 6-4.
"I just told (Kira) to keep the ball in play," said Peterson. "She was not able to run on it, but she wanted finish the match. That's tough."
"Jessica stayed focused the whole time," said Orban. "I am thrilled."
In the third match to finish, No. 2 doubles teams Erin Windle and Jaclyn Abrams of Wawasee and Alicia Swank and Brandy Allen of Warsaw hit the courts.
The Tiger duo of Swank and Allen picked up a point for Warsaw with a 6-3, 6-2 win.
"Alicia normally plays JV No. 1 doubles, and she came into the match and played very well," said Orban. "She never wavered a bit. Brandy played smart and had a great attitude. Both girls did a good job of not getting down when they missed a shot."
The fourth Tiger point of the day came in the No. 1 doubles match. Warsaw senior Kristi Haddad and sophomore Jillian Harrison defeated Wawasee's Krista VanLue and Alison Kropf 6-4, 7-5.
"Jillian had never played a No. 1 doubles match," said Orban. "She came out and played with confidence. Kristi is a senior, and she led Jillian through the match. They communicated and played extremely well in a very close match."
In the longest match of the night, Kendra Ganz of Wawasee and Ashley Harrison of Warsaw played the No. 2 singles match.
Ganz took the first set 6-4. Then Harrison, playing the first singles match of the year, took a 5-0 lead in the second set. Ganz fought back to tie the score at 5-all before Harrison won 7-5 and forced a third set.
Harrison then took the deciding set with a 6-2 score.
"This was the first singles match of the year for Ashley," said Orban. "Kendra is a wonderful player, but Ashley came all the way back. She showed a lot of guts, especially considering she has not played singles - even in practice."
The win makes the Tigers 8-0 overall and more importantly 3-0 in NLC play.
"This match was huge," said Orban. "We have three matches left in the NLC - Concord, Goshen and NorthWood and they all have losing records."
Wawasee is now 7-1 on the season and 2-1 in the NLC.
"This means we'll have to fight harder in the NLC and try to get back into it," said Peterson.
In all, Warsaw had four first-place finishes, six seconds and six thirds.
Wawasee led the way with eight first-place finishes, four seconds and five thirds.
Spearman dominated the sprinting events, winning the 100 and 200 and running the anchor leg for the victorious 400 relay team. The Warrior foursome of Buhrt, Claire List, Boesenberg and Spearman circled the track in 51.5 seconds. NorthWood was second with a time of 51.8 seconds.
Stichter, a senior, ran away from the field in the distance events. She won the 1600 in a time of 5:28.1, finishing 14 seconds ahead of freshman teammate and runner-up Ashlee Pollen.
Stichter won the 3200 in a time of 12:19.2, 22 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Lindsay Houvener of Warsaw, who finished 49 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Pollen.
Wawasee's other individual first-place finishes came in the 400 where Brooke Mark won in a time of 1:03.4, edging Furnivall at the line by a half-second, and the 300 hurdles where Boesenberg won with a time of 49.2 seconds. Warsaw's Timmons was second in the event, followed by Wawasee's Shawn Knafel and Warsaw's Clay.
The Warrior quartet of Pollen, Sue Camire, Brittany Winchester and Stichter won the 3200 relay in a time of 10:38.8, nine seconds ahead of the second-place team from NorthWood.
NorthWood's three first-place finishes came in the field events, where Audrey Duncan won the shot put with an effort of 39-11, Deanna Kronk the discus with a distance of 113-3, and Beenne Capre the long jump with a leap of 16-4 1/4.
Wawasee is in action again Saturday at the East Noble Relays, while the Tigers are at the Kokomo Relays Saturday.
WAWASEE 65, WARSAW 52, NORTHWOOD 39
100 hurdles - 1.Francis (War) :16.6, 2. Timmons (War) :17.1, 3. Buhrt (Wawa) :17.4
100 - 1. Spearman (Wawa) :13.1, 2. Capre (NW) :13.5, 3. Burch (War) :13.7
1600 - 1. Stichter (Wawa) 5:28.1, 2. Pollen (Wawa) 5:42.4, 3. Houvener (War) 5:45.1
Discus - 1. Kronk (NW) 113-3, 2. Mast (NW) 105-10, 3. Bauman (Wawa) 103-7
Long jump - 1. Capre (NW) 16-4 1/4, 2. Seiss (War) 16-1 3/4, 3. Bechtel (NW) 16-0
400 - 1. Mark (Wawa) 1:03.4, 2. Furnivall (War) 1:03.9, 2. Kitchens (War) 1:04.3
300 hurdles - 1. Boesenberg (Wawa) :49.2, 2. Timmons (War) :50.6, 3. Knafel (Wawa) :51.1
800 - 1. Seiss (War) 2:22.7, 2. Stichter (Wawa) 2:24.7, 3. Pollen (Wawa) 2:30.6
Shot put - 1. Duncan (NW) 39-11, 2. Kronk (NW) 36-11, 3. Sparks (War) 35-7
200 - 1. Spearman (Wawa) :26.4, 2. Burch (War) :27.4, 3. Capre (NW) :28.0
3200 - 1. Stichter (Wawa) 12:19.2, 2. Houvener (War) 12:41.1, 3. Pollen (Wawa) 13:30.3
High jump - 1. Seiss (War) 5-1, 2. Wolf (Wawa) 5-0, 3. Bechtel (NW) 4-10
3200 relay - 1. Wawasee (Pollen, Camire, Winchester, Stichter) 10:38.8, 2. NorthWood 10:47.8, 3. Warsaw 10:56.3
400 relay - 1. Wawasee (Burht, List, Boesenberg, Spearman) :51.5, 2. NorthWood :51.8, 3. Warsaw :52.1
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw (Furnivall, Logan, Kitchens, Seiss) 4:14.5, 2. Wawasee 4:15.5, 3. NorthWood 4:37.4
JV - Warsaw 82, NorthWood 39, Wawasee 31
100 hurdles - 1. Williams (War) :19.6, 2. Schmucker (NW) :19.7, 3. Lawlor (War) :20.1
100 - 1. Watts (NW) :14.0, 2. Shepherd (War) :14.2, 3. Steiner (NW) :14.4
1600 - 1. McNulty (War) 6:43.1, 2. Tuggle (War) 6:44.1, 3. Warner (War) 7:01.0
Discus - 1. Fick (Wawa) 94-0, 2. Wood (War) 90-6, 3. Sparks (War) 89-4
Long jump - 1. Land (War) 15-4 3/4, 2. Steiner (NW) 15-2, 3. Krizmanich (War) 14-6 1/4
400 - 1. Gymrek (War) 1:07.8, 2. Teifer (War) 1:09.5, 3. Whitmer (NW) 1:12.0
300 hurdles - 1. Williams (War) :57.7, 2. Lawlor (War) :58.4, 3. Schmucker (NW) 1:00.2
800 - 1. Wallace (Wawa) 2:54.4, 2. Lawton (War) 3:03.2, 3. Smolen (War) 3:05.4
Shot put - 1. Wood (War) 30-9 1/2, 2. Coffing (War) 29-0 1/2, 3. Fick (Wawa) 28-4 1/2
200 - 1. Marandet (War) :28.8, 2. Brown (NW) :28.9, 3. Witmer :29.1
3200 - 1. Gunn (NW) 13:46.8, 2. Lantz (Wawa) 13:56.5
High jump - 1. Kurtz (NW) 4-8, 2. List (Wawa) 4-8
3200 relay - 1. Warsaw (Gymrek, Lawton, Yero, Landes) 12:00.0, 2. Warsaw 12:28.6
400 relay - 1. Wawaee (Pearson, Hasse, Ganz, Knafel) :59.4
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw (Timmons, Clay, Gymrek, Leek) 4:40.5, 2. NorthWood, 3. Warsaw [[In-content Ad]]
Led by individual first-place finshes from Rachel Stichter, Jessie Spearman, Brooke Mark and Gloria Boesenberg, the host Warriors scored 65 points to top rival Warsaw (52) and NorthWood (39).
The wins improved Wawasee to 9-0 overall and 5-0 in the NLC. With the win over NorthWood and the loss to the Warriors, Warsaw is now 4-3 overall and 3-2 in the NLC.
"This was a great NLC meet," said Warsaw coach Scott Erba. "Wawasee has some outstanding athletes and NorthWood has some great throwers. This was a real fun NLC meet, a chance to see the NLC at its best."
A meet already filled with strong performances, the evening finished on a high note with an exciting finish to the 1600 relay, which was won by the Warsaw foursome of Katie Furnivall, Katie Logan, Ashley Kitchens and Julie Seiss in a time of 4:14.5.
Warsaw held a slight advantage over the Warriors after the third leg and then super sophomores Seiss and Jessie Spearman battled for three quarters of a lap until Seiss poured it on down the front stretch, finishing her anchor leg in 59.6 seconds and beating Spearman to the line by a second.
"That was a great race to finish the meet with," said Erba. "We changed our lineup a little bit to take pressure off Julie (Seiss) so she doesn't have to work her magic and come back every night. Ashley (Kitchens) had a great leg and ran her season best, and then Julie ran a great anchor leg."
Seiss also won the high jump with a height of 5-1 and the 800 in a time of 2:22.7, two seconds ahead of second-place Rachel Stichter of Wawasee, and was second in the long jump with a leap of 16-1 3/4.
Warsaw's only other first-place finish came in the 100 hurdles where sophomore Lindsay Francis ran a time of 16.6 seconds and beat teammate and second-place finisher Ashley Timmons to the line by a half-second. Wawasee's Jodie Buhrt finished third in the event, while Tiger Kim Clay was fourth.
Going into Thursday's Northern Lakes Conference tennis match, both Wawasee and Warsaw knew it was huge.
Since both team were undefeated overall and in the Northern Lakes Conference, the winner of Thursday's match would take sole possession of first-place in the conference.
When all was said and done, Warsaw came out on top, 5-0, and took its spot atop the NLC.
"I am exteremly pleased with the performance tonight," said Warsaw coach Rick Orban. "The girls were really focused the entire match."
"I was a bit disappointed," said Wawasee coach Cindy Peterson. "But Warsaw is a very good team. They played a good match."
Due to injuries and illness Orban shuffled his lineup to fill in for injured No. 2 singles player Kaitlin Macdonald.
In the first match to finish, Warsaw's No. 1 singles player Jessica Davis took on Wawasee's Carly Murphy. Davis took control of the match early and won in straight sets, 6-1, 6-2.
"Jessica turned it on against Carly," said Orban. "Jess played her best match of the year."
"Carly did not play to her game at all," said Peterson. "I know she was disappointed."
The No. 3 singles match was the second to finish as Wawasee's Kira Steiner faced off against Warsaw's Jessica Sadler.
Sadler took a 3-0 lead in the first set before Steiner made a run to make the score 3-2. Sadler then went up 5-2 before Steiner turned an ankle. After a break to get her ankle wrapped, Steiner resumed play and finished the match.
Sadler came out on top 6-2, 6-4.
"I just told (Kira) to keep the ball in play," said Peterson. "She was not able to run on it, but she wanted finish the match. That's tough."
"Jessica stayed focused the whole time," said Orban. "I am thrilled."
In the third match to finish, No. 2 doubles teams Erin Windle and Jaclyn Abrams of Wawasee and Alicia Swank and Brandy Allen of Warsaw hit the courts.
The Tiger duo of Swank and Allen picked up a point for Warsaw with a 6-3, 6-2 win.
"Alicia normally plays JV No. 1 doubles, and she came into the match and played very well," said Orban. "She never wavered a bit. Brandy played smart and had a great attitude. Both girls did a good job of not getting down when they missed a shot."
The fourth Tiger point of the day came in the No. 1 doubles match. Warsaw senior Kristi Haddad and sophomore Jillian Harrison defeated Wawasee's Krista VanLue and Alison Kropf 6-4, 7-5.
"Jillian had never played a No. 1 doubles match," said Orban. "She came out and played with confidence. Kristi is a senior, and she led Jillian through the match. They communicated and played extremely well in a very close match."
In the longest match of the night, Kendra Ganz of Wawasee and Ashley Harrison of Warsaw played the No. 2 singles match.
Ganz took the first set 6-4. Then Harrison, playing the first singles match of the year, took a 5-0 lead in the second set. Ganz fought back to tie the score at 5-all before Harrison won 7-5 and forced a third set.
Harrison then took the deciding set with a 6-2 score.
"This was the first singles match of the year for Ashley," said Orban. "Kendra is a wonderful player, but Ashley came all the way back. She showed a lot of guts, especially considering she has not played singles - even in practice."
The win makes the Tigers 8-0 overall and more importantly 3-0 in NLC play.
"This match was huge," said Orban. "We have three matches left in the NLC - Concord, Goshen and NorthWood and they all have losing records."
Wawasee is now 7-1 on the season and 2-1 in the NLC.
"This means we'll have to fight harder in the NLC and try to get back into it," said Peterson.
In all, Warsaw had four first-place finishes, six seconds and six thirds.
Wawasee led the way with eight first-place finishes, four seconds and five thirds.
Spearman dominated the sprinting events, winning the 100 and 200 and running the anchor leg for the victorious 400 relay team. The Warrior foursome of Buhrt, Claire List, Boesenberg and Spearman circled the track in 51.5 seconds. NorthWood was second with a time of 51.8 seconds.
Stichter, a senior, ran away from the field in the distance events. She won the 1600 in a time of 5:28.1, finishing 14 seconds ahead of freshman teammate and runner-up Ashlee Pollen.
Stichter won the 3200 in a time of 12:19.2, 22 seconds ahead of second-place finisher Lindsay Houvener of Warsaw, who finished 49 seconds ahead of third-place finisher Pollen.
Wawasee's other individual first-place finishes came in the 400 where Brooke Mark won in a time of 1:03.4, edging Furnivall at the line by a half-second, and the 300 hurdles where Boesenberg won with a time of 49.2 seconds. Warsaw's Timmons was second in the event, followed by Wawasee's Shawn Knafel and Warsaw's Clay.
The Warrior quartet of Pollen, Sue Camire, Brittany Winchester and Stichter won the 3200 relay in a time of 10:38.8, nine seconds ahead of the second-place team from NorthWood.
NorthWood's three first-place finishes came in the field events, where Audrey Duncan won the shot put with an effort of 39-11, Deanna Kronk the discus with a distance of 113-3, and Beenne Capre the long jump with a leap of 16-4 1/4.
Wawasee is in action again Saturday at the East Noble Relays, while the Tigers are at the Kokomo Relays Saturday.
WAWASEE 65, WARSAW 52, NORTHWOOD 39
100 hurdles - 1.Francis (War) :16.6, 2. Timmons (War) :17.1, 3. Buhrt (Wawa) :17.4
100 - 1. Spearman (Wawa) :13.1, 2. Capre (NW) :13.5, 3. Burch (War) :13.7
1600 - 1. Stichter (Wawa) 5:28.1, 2. Pollen (Wawa) 5:42.4, 3. Houvener (War) 5:45.1
Discus - 1. Kronk (NW) 113-3, 2. Mast (NW) 105-10, 3. Bauman (Wawa) 103-7
Long jump - 1. Capre (NW) 16-4 1/4, 2. Seiss (War) 16-1 3/4, 3. Bechtel (NW) 16-0
400 - 1. Mark (Wawa) 1:03.4, 2. Furnivall (War) 1:03.9, 2. Kitchens (War) 1:04.3
300 hurdles - 1. Boesenberg (Wawa) :49.2, 2. Timmons (War) :50.6, 3. Knafel (Wawa) :51.1
800 - 1. Seiss (War) 2:22.7, 2. Stichter (Wawa) 2:24.7, 3. Pollen (Wawa) 2:30.6
Shot put - 1. Duncan (NW) 39-11, 2. Kronk (NW) 36-11, 3. Sparks (War) 35-7
200 - 1. Spearman (Wawa) :26.4, 2. Burch (War) :27.4, 3. Capre (NW) :28.0
3200 - 1. Stichter (Wawa) 12:19.2, 2. Houvener (War) 12:41.1, 3. Pollen (Wawa) 13:30.3
High jump - 1. Seiss (War) 5-1, 2. Wolf (Wawa) 5-0, 3. Bechtel (NW) 4-10
3200 relay - 1. Wawasee (Pollen, Camire, Winchester, Stichter) 10:38.8, 2. NorthWood 10:47.8, 3. Warsaw 10:56.3
400 relay - 1. Wawasee (Burht, List, Boesenberg, Spearman) :51.5, 2. NorthWood :51.8, 3. Warsaw :52.1
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw (Furnivall, Logan, Kitchens, Seiss) 4:14.5, 2. Wawasee 4:15.5, 3. NorthWood 4:37.4
JV - Warsaw 82, NorthWood 39, Wawasee 31
100 hurdles - 1. Williams (War) :19.6, 2. Schmucker (NW) :19.7, 3. Lawlor (War) :20.1
100 - 1. Watts (NW) :14.0, 2. Shepherd (War) :14.2, 3. Steiner (NW) :14.4
1600 - 1. McNulty (War) 6:43.1, 2. Tuggle (War) 6:44.1, 3. Warner (War) 7:01.0
Discus - 1. Fick (Wawa) 94-0, 2. Wood (War) 90-6, 3. Sparks (War) 89-4
Long jump - 1. Land (War) 15-4 3/4, 2. Steiner (NW) 15-2, 3. Krizmanich (War) 14-6 1/4
400 - 1. Gymrek (War) 1:07.8, 2. Teifer (War) 1:09.5, 3. Whitmer (NW) 1:12.0
300 hurdles - 1. Williams (War) :57.7, 2. Lawlor (War) :58.4, 3. Schmucker (NW) 1:00.2
800 - 1. Wallace (Wawa) 2:54.4, 2. Lawton (War) 3:03.2, 3. Smolen (War) 3:05.4
Shot put - 1. Wood (War) 30-9 1/2, 2. Coffing (War) 29-0 1/2, 3. Fick (Wawa) 28-4 1/2
200 - 1. Marandet (War) :28.8, 2. Brown (NW) :28.9, 3. Witmer :29.1
3200 - 1. Gunn (NW) 13:46.8, 2. Lantz (Wawa) 13:56.5
High jump - 1. Kurtz (NW) 4-8, 2. List (Wawa) 4-8
3200 relay - 1. Warsaw (Gymrek, Lawton, Yero, Landes) 12:00.0, 2. Warsaw 12:28.6
400 relay - 1. Wawaee (Pearson, Hasse, Ganz, Knafel) :59.4
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw (Timmons, Clay, Gymrek, Leek) 4:40.5, 2. NorthWood, 3. Warsaw [[In-content Ad]]