BREMEN - With heavy rain falling, and lightning striking all around, Warsaw's girls track and field team finished the Bremen Regional the same way it started it Tuesday - winning a relay.
Opening the night with a first-place finish in the 3200 relay, the 1,600 relay team closed things out for the Lady Tiger in exciting fashion, getting a big response from their coaches."It's been six years to win this one," Warsaw head coach Scott Erba said about the 1,600 relay. "We've been close. We've been run down, we've been fourth and it's just great to have this group come in and win the final event."
That group consisted of sophomore Leah Moore and juniors Cendall Ogle, Emily Hickerson and Corinne Coon.
Trailing the entire race, Coon found a way to catch Penn's Natalie Obren in the final 50 meters, finishing in 4:03.39 to Penn's 4:03.82.
"It wasn't just one person, it was all four girls that ran fantastic," Erba said.
The story was the same in the first track event of the evening, but in the 3200 relay, it was Ogle that caught Penn's Katie Husband in the final 100 meters, winning the event in 9:34.46.
"We had a last minute change with Lauren Smolen running for Lilly Fleming, and they ran a time we didn't think they'd be running right now," Erba said of the relay, which consisted of seniors Erica Ridderman, Lauren Smolen, freshman Brooke Kline and Ogle. "All four girls PR'd, and what a way to start the meet. Things just went from there."
From there, Warsaw advanced the two relays and five individuals on to the June 6 state finals at Indiana University in Bloomington.
"I knew we'd do really great, but to do as well as we did - I did not expect that," Ogle said. "I'm really happy."
By the time the meet was finished, fans and athletes had begun to rush to their vehicles to avoid the downpour.
Still on the field, Penn was awarded the championship with 97.83 points, followed by Warsaw's 65.
"This is just a very, very pleasant surprise," Erba said about the second-place finish. "From where we were before the season started, to the beginning of the season to come to the regional and send this amount of individuals to state is nothing short of amazing."
At regionals, the top three move on to state, with Warsaw's first advancing individual being sophomore Leah Moore, who placed third in the 400.
"Leah Moore was looking strong, breaking a minute for the first time," Erba said of Moore's 59.96 run. "So she's going to state as a track runner, after she already did this winter as a swimmer."
In the 300 hurdles, Coon used a strong kick down the stretch to get close to South Bend Riley's Jacques Donaldson, but lost by four-hundredths of a second thanks to a lunge by Donaldson at the end.
Once the times were calculated, Donaldson crossed the finish line in 46.88 seconds, followed by Coon's time of 46.92. Regardless, Coon advanced to state.
Following the 300 hurdles, Ogle once again took the track for the 800, where she was seeded behind South Bend Riley senior Maria Catanzarite.
After trailing the entire race, Ogle eventually stormed by Catanzarite in the home stretch, finishing in 2:17.59.
Just as she finished the 3,200 relay, Ogle seemed to have an extra burst down the stretch.
"It was just the fact that I had someone in front of me that I could really chase," Ogle said. "That always helps me, and I like to look ahead. If they're ahead of me, that just gives me more motivation to go catch them."
Ogle's kick down the stretch was pretty standard for the Warsaw girls, as Coon did the same thing in the 300 hurdles and as the anchor of the 1,600 relay team, and Ridderman also used one to catch Bremen's Hope Jordan and Penn's Valerie Burns in the 1,600, finishing second behind Culver Girls Academy's Waverly Neer.
However, according to Erba, the strong finishes just showcase the discipline of his girls.
"If you look at her splits, she had pretty even splits," he said about Ogle's 800 run. "A lot of times, the other girls run out a little too fast, and just don't have the finishing power. Our distance girls just ran really smart races tonight. That's just a testament to the girls learning and coaches (Jerry) Gackenheimer and (Troy) Furnivall coaching them the right way."
Ogle's time of 2:17.59 in the 800 will be the seventh-fastest at the state meet, with Park Tudor freshman Abby Farley's 2:14.89 being the fastest.
"I'd definitely like to podium, so top nine is my main goal, but if I could get top five, that would be really awesome," Ogle said.
At shot put, Warsaw junior Sarah Shilling punched her ticket to the state finals, placing third with a throw of 37-7, while Manchester senior Brit Sievers will also be at state, taking third place in the discus with a 119-2.
Last year, Warsaw's 3,200 relay team of Courtnie Lyke, Ashley Henry, Ogle and Ridderman placed seventh at state, with Lauren Pridgen placing ninth in the 400, making it the most success the Warsaw girls have had at state.
This year, Erba hopes to top that.
"I'd like to say we can get one or two relays up, and two or three individuals up there - maybe four," he said. "That's the exciting part - going down there. We've been invited to the dance. Now we get to shine down there."
PENN 97.83, WARSAW 65, SB RILEY 54, SB WASHINGTON 50, CULVER GIRLS ACADEMY 43, ELKHART MEMORIAL 37, SB ST. JOE'S 31, KOKOMO 30, SB ADAMS 27, SB CLAY 25
