Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
INDIANAPOLIS -ÊOn a night when many students were graduating from high school, several area boys traveled to Indianapolis to compete in the track and field state finals.
Seniors Rex Reimer of Manchester and Justin Rice and Juan Garcia of Warsaw left the track just after they finished their events in attempts to make their respective graduation ceremonies in time to get their diplomas.
Another senior, Matthew Traub of NorthWood, decided to compete in the pole vault competition at the state finals instead of attending his graduation. As if this weren't bad enough, meet officials told him he was using an illegal pole.
Rice and Garcia, along with Jon Dock and Greg Seiss, competed in the 3,200-meter relay and placed fifth out of 27 teams to earn a state medal. The team topped its best time of the year by finishing the relay in 7:54.07, seconds off their previous record.
"They ran their best time of the year," said Warsaw coach Troy Akers. "They had good split times, and they ran very well. The teams that placed first and second each broke the state record by five seconds.
"It was a very fast race. We came in expecting the top times to be around 7:50, but they ended up closer to 7:40. I am very pleased with this relay team's performance."
"We ran well," said Seiss. "We took four seconds off our best time. At the beginning of the year we weren't expected to be any good, but we really got it together and did a good job."
"I would have liked to run it two seconds faster," said Rice. "But we made it farther than anyone expected us to. I think we did a pretty good job."
"I know we ran better than we were expected to, but you always come into these things wanting to win," said Dock. "It just didn't work out that way."
"I feel good although I think we could have done better," said Garcia. "This was a neat experience. I was nervous and shaking at the start line, but my team members helped me feel better."
"The kids are a little down on themselves right now, but they have nothing to be sad about," said Akers. "It is an honor just to come here to compete, and this team earned a medal."
After resting and mentally preparing himself, Seiss also competed in the 800. Seiss ran the race in 1:54.75 to place sixth. Tippecanoe Valley senior David Hileman also competed in the 800, placing 26th with a time of 2:06.90.
Reimer had a different take than Warsaw's relay team on the opportunity to compete at the state meet. After taking all three of his jumps consecutively so he could leave for his graduation, Reimer placed 14th out of 32 individuals in the long jump with a leap of 21-5.
Even though he attempted his three jumps one right after the other with no breaks, he finished 15 places higher than his No. 29 seed.
"I just wanted to be here," said Reimer. "This is a fun meet to be at.
"This season was rocky, up and down. It wasn't my best year. I think my sophomore and junior years were my best in track. But I've had fun, so I'm not going to complain."
Traub was seeded 12th in the preliminary standings for the state meet after he cleared a vault of 14-3 in the regional, but he ran into some trouble when he got to Indianapolis.
"I felt that I was prepared coming into this meet, but when I got here they told me I couldn't use the pole I'm used to," said Traub. "I had to switch to a pole I've never used, and that really threw me off."
After clearing 13 feet, Traub was unable to clear 13-6 and finished the evening in a four-way tie for 25th place.
"I still feel good," said Traub. "I came to a place most people only dream about. I got to come here and compete with 31 of the top vaulters in Indiana."
David Bazzoni joined Traub in the pole vault competition, but the sophomore from Manchester topped out at 13 feet as well. Bazzoni placed 29th in the competition.
In another field event, Warsaw's Justin Bellamy participated in the high jump competition. After hitting the bar on his first two attempts at 6-4, Bellamy was on the verge of being eliminated. On his third attempt, Bellamy cleared the bar with several inches to spare and continued in the competition. He missed the jump at 6-6 to finish in 14th place with a jump of 6-4.
NorthWood's Aaron Hoover finished the night for area competitors by running in the 3,200. He finished the race in 9:43.23 to place 15th out of 27 runners.
Fort Wayne schools dominated the team competiton as Concordia, Northrop and Carroll placed first, second and third respectively.
BOYS TRACK AND FIELD STATE FINALS
First-place distances and times are listed, as well as results for local athletes.
100 M -Ê1. Rolando Scott, FW Concordia, 10.98
200 M -Ê1. Andre Grimes, Richmond, 22.04
400 M -Ê1. Reginald Cross, Indianapolis Arlington, 47.77
800 M -Ê1. Jason Briggs, Richmond, 1:52.32; 6. Greg Seiss, Warsaw, 1:54.75; 27. Kevin Hileman, Tippecanoe Valley, 2:06.90
1,600 M -Ê1. Brett Tipton, FW Northrop, 4:15.71
3,200 M -Ê1. Phil Yoder, East Noble, 9:06.69; 15. Aaron Hoover, NorthWood, 9:43.23
110 M Hurdles -Ê1. David Lewis, Terre Haute South, 14.30
300 M Hurdles -Ê1. Daniel Martin, Concord, 37.43
4X100 Relay -Ê1. FW Concordia, 41.39
4X400 Relay -Ê1. FW South Side, 3:17.69
4X800 Relay -Ê1. Bloomington South, 7:42.64 (state record); 5. Warsaw (Justin Rice, Jon Dock, Juan Garcia, Greg Seiss), 7:54.07
High Jump -Ê1. John Miles, Lawrence North, 6-10; 14. Justin Bellamy, Warsaw, 6-4
Pole Vault -Ê1. Matt Campbell, White River Valley, 15-3; 2. 25. (tie) Matthew Traub, NorthWood 13-0; 29. David Bazzoni, Manchester, 13-0
Long Jump -Ê1. George Tinnin, SB Washington, 23-3.75; 14. Rex Reimer, Manchester, 21-05
Shot Put -Ê1. Wil Fleming, Bloomington North, 59-4.5
Discus -Ê1. Scott Starost, FW Carroll, 167-11
