The Warsaw Tigers girls track team wrapped up its third-straight sectional championship Tuesday at the Tigers Athletic Complex, defeating second-place Elkhart Memorial 140-120.5.
"We went a long time where we didn't even know what our lineup was going to look like," Warsaw coach Scott Erba about his team early in the season. "Little by little, week by week, we had girls begin to solidify events. Right now, we're running, and competing, as well as we have the past three years. That's exciting."Some of the events that were solidified long before the season began were senior Erica Ridderman in the 1600 and 3200, junior Cendall Ogle in the 800 and junior Sarah Shilling in the shot put.
At the sectional, each of those girls won her respective event.
Overcoming an illness from the weekend, Shilling failed to reach the finals in the discus, but bounced back to win the shot put with a throw of 36-10.25 feet.
"It was nice to see her win her big event," Erba said.
In the 800, Ogle trailed Wawasee senior Ashlee Ort by about 15 meters after 500 meters, but caught the Warrior over the next 100, going on to win in a time of 2:18.43.
"She's still trying to figure out how to beat Ogle," Wawasee coach Scott Lancaster said of Ort, who placed second in a time of 2:22. "Ogle's just good. She's a little bit faster, and Ashlee's trying to figure out how to attack her. Luckily for her, she's good enough where it's not going to affect her not to advance."
Ort still moves on to Tuesday's Bremen Regional by placing in the top four, but for Ogle, she didn't only want to advance, she wanted a sectional title.
"Cendall has learned to be patient," Erba said of Ogle's race with Ort. "A couple years ago, she would have been right out there on Ashlee's tail. This year, she says, 'This is the pace I'm going to run each lap.'"
For Ridderman, having to catch a competitor wasn't something she had to worry about.
Displaying the most dominate runs, Ridderman won the 1600 in 5:15.32, seven seconds faster than second-place Ogle, and the 3200 in 11:28.62, 26 seconds faster than Jimtown's Emily Dean.
"I was just trying to stick with the pace I wanted to run, then see how much I had left for my run next week," Ridderman said, referring to the regional.
"The competition definitely goes up (at the regional)," she added. "It can get pretty intense, but I just have to stay focused on the race I can run."
A year ago, Ridderman advanced out of the Bremen Regional, and on to state by finishing second in the 1600 to one of Indiana's all-time great distance runners in Culver Girls Academy's Alex Banfich.
This year, Erba sees Ridderman getting out once again, along with a few others.
"Our 4x800 and 4x400 relays really have a good shot, and 4x100 may be able to do it as well," he said. "Erica and Cendall will also have a good shot in some individual events - Cendall in the 800 and Erica in the 1600. Leah Moore has a shot too in the (400). Corrine Coon will go in as the No. 1 seed in the 300 hurdles, and Erica may also advance in the 3200. It will be fun to see how things pan out."
At the sectional, Coon won the 300 hurdles in 47.19 seconds, while Warsaw also picked up a win with its 3200 relay team of Lauren Smolen, Ridderman, Lilly Fleming and Brooke Kline.
The Bremen Regional begins at 6 p.m. Tuesday.
WARSAW 140, ELKHART MEMORIAL 120.5, FAIRFIELD 67, ELKHART CENTRAL 64, GOSHEN 55, CONCORD 55, NORTHWOOD 47.5, NORTHRIDGE 37, JIMTOWN 15, WAWASEE 14, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 6, ELKHART CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 3
