Area Athletes Shine In Warsaw Boys’ Track & Field Regionals
May 26, 2023 at 8:59 p.m.
Area Athletes Shine In Warsaw Boys’ Track & Field Regionals
By Chip Davenport-
The late afternoon and evening provided track and field fans with a collection of exciting short stories.
Friendly Foes Fight To The Finish
Warsaw freshman high jumper Jordan Randall matched his indoor season best height of 6’9” to take a blue ribbon in a showdown with Manchester’s Kolby Haecker. The friendly foes each cleared 6’7” and 6’8” on their first attempt, but Randall was able to stick the winning height for the regional crown.
Randall, who spent April battling walking pneumonia, experienced improved health and energy throughout May, punctuated by his state-bound performance Thursday.
Randall’s evening ended with three missed attempts at 6’10”, and it’s a target he’ll work on from now until Friday’s IHSAA state track and field championship meet at Indiana University Bloomington’s track and field facility.
“It feels great. I feel like I’m back to ‘indoor me,’ like the sickness is gone and I have energy back,” the freshman said. “I have my old self back, and it’s great to be back.”
Randall and Haecker were visibly supportive of each other’s performance, and it fueled their battle beyond the state “Participant 3” standard height of 6’5”.
“I might have (placed) second and (Randall) won,” Haecker – the Squires senior – remarked. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had in the high jump just going back and forth… it was great to see our growth from when we competed in unattached events this winter.”
Randall echoed Haecker’s sentiment.
“This was the best (atmosphere) for me competition-wise,” the Tiger added. “I’ve never had more fun competing before. I love going head-to-head with those guys (Mishawaka’s Trey Thomas, Haecker). They pushed me… and I think it’s why I kept jumping higher tonight.”
“I was thinking so much about going up, I lost my form a little bit,” Haecker added, explaining the comparable difference between his 6’8” jump - cleared with plenty of air to spare - and the three ensuing attempts when the bar was set to 6’9”. “Last time I jumped 6’9” a few weeks ago I was trying to do the same thing.”
Thomas, a familiar conference foe of Randall’s, finished fourth at 6’3”. The Cavemen junior catches air to snag interceptions in the fall and throws down two-hand dunks from a stand-still position on the hardcourt in the winter. This spring Thomas and Randall cultivated a friendly-but-competitive relationship. The top two high jumpers in the Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) have been swapping tips for success since the first of their two regular season encounters.
How Fast Can Wade Jones Run the 200-meter Dash?
Tippecanoe Valley’s Wade Jones, a 6’6” all-state safety in football, has the perfect build for the 200-meter dash.
His height allows him to take as many as six or seven fewer strides than his shorter competitors, and his football weight training gives him upper body strength for a grueling, predominantly curved race.
His competition in Plymouth was not as strong compared to sprinters from other sectionals present at Thursday’s regional meet. Jones, however, was confident his speed could continually increase competing in progressively stronger 200-meter dash fields in his post-season journey, as he did on the Fisher Field oval.
“I knew they were fast when I looked through the sectional (results),” Jones said referring to runner up Elijah Coker (Penn, 22.24 sec.), and another area sprinter, Lucas Linder of Wawasee (third place, 22.33 sec.), “So I had my sights set on them.”
The Warriors’ Linder will join Jones in the oval on Friday.
Jones spent the 50 meters on the final straightaway fighting fatigue by using his stride length and strength to win the race with a personal and school record of 22.07 seconds.
“This last 50 (meters) I could feel myself ahead,” Jones continued. “I couldn’t see anyone. So that last 50 (meters) I was telling myself, ‘C’mon, c’mon, c’mon.’”
How fast does Jones feel he could run following his second straight week taking home a blue-ribbon?
“I think the runners I’ve seen from Plainfield running in the twenty-one (second range) can push me to move below 22 (seconds),” he continued.
Tiger Thrower Channels Lazarus
The New Testament tells the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life at a wedding. Warsaw sophomore thrower James Leiter’s track and field season, seemingly over Thursday May 18, was resuscitated by a phone call two days later informing him he qualified for the Warsaw regional meet.
Leiter, whose sectional performance included all scratches in the discus and a fourth-place finish in the shot put, thought his season was finished, and he discussed the emotional rollercoaster ride he experienced over the last six days.
“Right after the meet it was rough,” the Tiger thrower said. “When I got done it took a lot not to just break down right there (at sectionals). I had to kind of lift my chin up and get my mental state back.
“It was rough tonight watching the discus competition, and not being a part of it. I really wanted to be there, too, so instead I worked hard to compete in the shot and make the most of it... (t)his sport has won my love.”
For what it’s worth, Leiter’s best regular season discus throw, greater than 154 feet, was farther than any of the regional qualifiers’ throws in Thursday’s regional.
Leiter’s monomaniacal focus on the shot put on the other hand resulted in a third-place preliminary round finish followed by 50’4” heave on his final attempt in the final round to secure a third-place finish and a berth to Bloomington.
Another regional athlete earning a new life with an IHSAA phone call this week, Robert Nabieu (South Bend Riley, long jump), used his second chance to win the regional title in the long jump (22-11.75). His winning leap was greater than the winning leap of last week’s sectional meet.
Crazy Finish In Meet’s Final Event
Northridge (3:25.38) captured the 1,600-meter relay, the evening’s final running event, and the Warsaw foursome of Morgan Johnson, Jackson Winey, Emiliano Juarez-Torres, and Colton Martin finished second (3:25.94) to join their NLC compadres in Bloomington.
The most remarkable finish, however, was a horizontal dive across the finish line by Concord senior Armen Koltookian giving the Minutemen the final automatic qualifying spot by 0.05 seconds (3:26.60) over Penn’s 1,600-meter relay squad.
Those who’ve witnessed Koltookian’s grit on the wrestling mat and on the football field in NLC action would agree his diving finish was par for the course for the multi-sport athlete who earned another week to an already impressive high school athletic career.
‘And Now, The Rest Of The Story’
Shamelessly stealing national radio newscaster Paul Harvey’s tag line appropriately segues to reporting the remaining area track and field athletes’ results.
Penn’s 82.5 team points were sufficient for a celebratory victory lap while Elkhart (71), Warsaw (62), LaVille and Northridge (45 points each) rounded out the top five team scoring finishes.
Five athletes broke the two-minute barrier in the 800-meter run with times ranging from 1:55.55 trough 1:59.71, but no area runners were among those finishers.
There were no additional area athletes with regional titles, but Warsaw’s Morgan Johnson, already bound for Bloomington as the first leg of the 1,600-meter relay team, finished second in the pole vault, clearing 14 feet. He’ll be joined by junior teammate Matt Marsh, whose 13’ vault landed an automatic qualifying third place finish.
Each event in the state meet will be comprised of 27 relay teams or individuals, affording fourth place finishers around the state an opportunity to still qualify for the field resulting from scratches and other causes of participant vacancies.
Tigers Blake Keene (110m hurdles, 15.54 sec.) who finished 0.01 short of an automatic berth, and Tyler Mimnaugh (1600m run 4:25.62; 3200m run 9:32.21) will have their mobile phones within reach for a possible call this weekend.
The late afternoon and evening provided track and field fans with a collection of exciting short stories.
Friendly Foes Fight To The Finish
Warsaw freshman high jumper Jordan Randall matched his indoor season best height of 6’9” to take a blue ribbon in a showdown with Manchester’s Kolby Haecker. The friendly foes each cleared 6’7” and 6’8” on their first attempt, but Randall was able to stick the winning height for the regional crown.
Randall, who spent April battling walking pneumonia, experienced improved health and energy throughout May, punctuated by his state-bound performance Thursday.
Randall’s evening ended with three missed attempts at 6’10”, and it’s a target he’ll work on from now until Friday’s IHSAA state track and field championship meet at Indiana University Bloomington’s track and field facility.
“It feels great. I feel like I’m back to ‘indoor me,’ like the sickness is gone and I have energy back,” the freshman said. “I have my old self back, and it’s great to be back.”
Randall and Haecker were visibly supportive of each other’s performance, and it fueled their battle beyond the state “Participant 3” standard height of 6’5”.
“I might have (placed) second and (Randall) won,” Haecker – the Squires senior – remarked. “It was the most fun I’ve ever had in the high jump just going back and forth… it was great to see our growth from when we competed in unattached events this winter.”
Randall echoed Haecker’s sentiment.
“This was the best (atmosphere) for me competition-wise,” the Tiger added. “I’ve never had more fun competing before. I love going head-to-head with those guys (Mishawaka’s Trey Thomas, Haecker). They pushed me… and I think it’s why I kept jumping higher tonight.”
“I was thinking so much about going up, I lost my form a little bit,” Haecker added, explaining the comparable difference between his 6’8” jump - cleared with plenty of air to spare - and the three ensuing attempts when the bar was set to 6’9”. “Last time I jumped 6’9” a few weeks ago I was trying to do the same thing.”
Thomas, a familiar conference foe of Randall’s, finished fourth at 6’3”. The Cavemen junior catches air to snag interceptions in the fall and throws down two-hand dunks from a stand-still position on the hardcourt in the winter. This spring Thomas and Randall cultivated a friendly-but-competitive relationship. The top two high jumpers in the Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) have been swapping tips for success since the first of their two regular season encounters.
How Fast Can Wade Jones Run the 200-meter Dash?
Tippecanoe Valley’s Wade Jones, a 6’6” all-state safety in football, has the perfect build for the 200-meter dash.
His height allows him to take as many as six or seven fewer strides than his shorter competitors, and his football weight training gives him upper body strength for a grueling, predominantly curved race.
His competition in Plymouth was not as strong compared to sprinters from other sectionals present at Thursday’s regional meet. Jones, however, was confident his speed could continually increase competing in progressively stronger 200-meter dash fields in his post-season journey, as he did on the Fisher Field oval.
“I knew they were fast when I looked through the sectional (results),” Jones said referring to runner up Elijah Coker (Penn, 22.24 sec.), and another area sprinter, Lucas Linder of Wawasee (third place, 22.33 sec.), “So I had my sights set on them.”
The Warriors’ Linder will join Jones in the oval on Friday.
Jones spent the 50 meters on the final straightaway fighting fatigue by using his stride length and strength to win the race with a personal and school record of 22.07 seconds.
“This last 50 (meters) I could feel myself ahead,” Jones continued. “I couldn’t see anyone. So that last 50 (meters) I was telling myself, ‘C’mon, c’mon, c’mon.’”
How fast does Jones feel he could run following his second straight week taking home a blue-ribbon?
“I think the runners I’ve seen from Plainfield running in the twenty-one (second range) can push me to move below 22 (seconds),” he continued.
Tiger Thrower Channels Lazarus
The New Testament tells the story of Jesus bringing Lazarus back to life at a wedding. Warsaw sophomore thrower James Leiter’s track and field season, seemingly over Thursday May 18, was resuscitated by a phone call two days later informing him he qualified for the Warsaw regional meet.
Leiter, whose sectional performance included all scratches in the discus and a fourth-place finish in the shot put, thought his season was finished, and he discussed the emotional rollercoaster ride he experienced over the last six days.
“Right after the meet it was rough,” the Tiger thrower said. “When I got done it took a lot not to just break down right there (at sectionals). I had to kind of lift my chin up and get my mental state back.
“It was rough tonight watching the discus competition, and not being a part of it. I really wanted to be there, too, so instead I worked hard to compete in the shot and make the most of it... (t)his sport has won my love.”
For what it’s worth, Leiter’s best regular season discus throw, greater than 154 feet, was farther than any of the regional qualifiers’ throws in Thursday’s regional.
Leiter’s monomaniacal focus on the shot put on the other hand resulted in a third-place preliminary round finish followed by 50’4” heave on his final attempt in the final round to secure a third-place finish and a berth to Bloomington.
Another regional athlete earning a new life with an IHSAA phone call this week, Robert Nabieu (South Bend Riley, long jump), used his second chance to win the regional title in the long jump (22-11.75). His winning leap was greater than the winning leap of last week’s sectional meet.
Crazy Finish In Meet’s Final Event
Northridge (3:25.38) captured the 1,600-meter relay, the evening’s final running event, and the Warsaw foursome of Morgan Johnson, Jackson Winey, Emiliano Juarez-Torres, and Colton Martin finished second (3:25.94) to join their NLC compadres in Bloomington.
The most remarkable finish, however, was a horizontal dive across the finish line by Concord senior Armen Koltookian giving the Minutemen the final automatic qualifying spot by 0.05 seconds (3:26.60) over Penn’s 1,600-meter relay squad.
Those who’ve witnessed Koltookian’s grit on the wrestling mat and on the football field in NLC action would agree his diving finish was par for the course for the multi-sport athlete who earned another week to an already impressive high school athletic career.
‘And Now, The Rest Of The Story’
Shamelessly stealing national radio newscaster Paul Harvey’s tag line appropriately segues to reporting the remaining area track and field athletes’ results.
Penn’s 82.5 team points were sufficient for a celebratory victory lap while Elkhart (71), Warsaw (62), LaVille and Northridge (45 points each) rounded out the top five team scoring finishes.
Five athletes broke the two-minute barrier in the 800-meter run with times ranging from 1:55.55 trough 1:59.71, but no area runners were among those finishers.
There were no additional area athletes with regional titles, but Warsaw’s Morgan Johnson, already bound for Bloomington as the first leg of the 1,600-meter relay team, finished second in the pole vault, clearing 14 feet. He’ll be joined by junior teammate Matt Marsh, whose 13’ vault landed an automatic qualifying third place finish.
Each event in the state meet will be comprised of 27 relay teams or individuals, affording fourth place finishers around the state an opportunity to still qualify for the field resulting from scratches and other causes of participant vacancies.
Tigers Blake Keene (110m hurdles, 15.54 sec.) who finished 0.01 short of an automatic berth, and Tyler Mimnaugh (1600m run 4:25.62; 3200m run 9:32.21) will have their mobile phones within reach for a possible call this weekend.
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