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Of seven local high schools, five will be represented at tonight's girls track and field state finals at IUPUI's Carroll Stadium. Of those five, three will be represented in the same event - high jump.
Triton's Emily Yankovich, NorthWood's Carol Duncan and Wawasee's Staci Weisser will all compete in the event.
Preliminaries for the long jump and discus begin at 3 p.m. High jump and shot preliminaries are slated to begin at 3:30 p.m. Running trials and finals are set to begin at 4:15 and 6:15 p.m., respectively.
Yankovich and Duncan are among 14 of the 37 high jumpers that come in seeded by a regional height of five feet three inches. Weisser, a senior making her second consecutive trip to state, enters after jumping 5-4 at last week's regional. Wawasee coach Kevin Gilbert is quick to point out that that is not her best jump.
"She's got a pretty good chance to win the championship," Gilbert said. "The best seed is 5-8. She (Weisser) has jumped 5-7 1/4, so anything can happen."
Madison's Kisha Stone comes in seeded No. 1 with her regional jump of 5-8. Weisser, took third at the state finals a year ago with a jump of 5-5, jumped 5-7 1/4 May 6 at the Concordia Relays in Fort Wayne, breaking the old school record set by Susan Setlack, who graduates this year from Ball State University.
Also representing Wawasee tonight at the state finals is Ericka Auker. Auker is seeded 20th out of 32 competitors in the 300 hurdles. Auker ran a time of 47.37 seconds an the regional and will be in the second of four eight-person heats. Fort Wayne Northrop senior Shannon Kelley is the top seed with a time of 44.13 seconds.
"She's in the second heat of four," Gilbert said. "It'll be very close. If she runs under 47 (seconds) she has a good chance of placing. Her best is a 47.2. If she runs a great race there's a possibility of placing."
NorthWood's Natalie Nunemaker is seeded 23rd out of 29 competitors in the shot put with her throw of 37-4 at the regional. Jay County's Kerri McClung is the top seed with a throw of 46-4.
Manchester sophomore Ann Harms will compete in the third and final nine-member flight of the long jump. Harms is seeded 21st with a jump of 16-5 1/4. Both Jennifer Dennie of Hammond Noll and Wabash's Jan Eichenauer come in seeded in the top spot with jumps of 17-7.
Warsaw is the only local school that will participate in three events. The Tigers are also the only local that will compete in a running event.
Junior Hillary Barlow comes in seeded 25th out of 27 runners in the 3200 with a time of 11:46.27. Wheeler junior Michelle dela Vina is the top seed with a time of 11:02.52
"She (Barlow) has a good chance of doing quite well," Warsaw coach Paul Boyd said. "She has been running very well. She has put herself in position for some self fulfillment. She has accomplished a lot from a year ago."
The Tigers will also be represented in the 1600 and 3200 relays.
The 1600 relay team of seniors Brittney Raber and Summer Boyd, sophomore Chelsea Boyd and junior Amy Robertson comes in seeded 11th with a time of 4:03.56, while the 3200 relay team of Barlow, freshman Rachel Rondeau, sophomore Kim Kurosky and Summer Boyd comes in seeded seventh with a time of 9:39.12.
"The 3200 team has put themselves in position to do well," Boyd said. "The 1600 relay team has been performing well all year and come in with the 11th seed. They aren't in the fast heat but they're in a good position."
Warsaw's 1600 relay team finished 13th in the state a year ago.
2000 GIRLS TRACK STATE FINALS
Five local schools will be represented at today's state finals for girls track at IUPUI. Listed below are starting times and names of local participants.
3 p.m. - preliminaries for long jump, discus
3:30 p.m. - preliminaries for high jump, shot put
4:15 p.m. - trials for running events
6:15 p.m. - finals for running events
MANCHESTER
Ann Harms (10) - long jump; seeded 21st (16-5 1/4)
NORTHWOOD
Carol Duncan - (10) high jump; seeded 30th (5-3)
Natalie Nunemaker (11) - shot put; seeded 23rd (37-4)
TRITON
Emily Yankovich (12) - high jump; seeded 29th (5-3)
WARSAW
Hillary Barlow (11) - 3200; seeded 25th (11:46.27)
1600 relay team - Brittney Raber 12, Chelsea Boyd 11, Amy Robertson 11, Summer Boyd 12; seeded 11th (4:03.56)
3200 relay team - Barlow 11, Rachel Rondeau 9, Kris Kurosky 10, S. Boyd 12; seeded 7th (9:39.12)
WAWASEE
Erica Auker (11) - 300 hurdles; seeded 20th (:47.37)
Staci Weisser (12) - high jump; seeded 18th (5-4)
