The 30th Annual Max Truex Invitational will feature plenty of talent amongst the seven participating squads Friday at Warsaw Community High School. All seven teams that took part in the invitational last year return this time around, including defeating champion LaPorte, No. 14 Fort Wayne North Side, No. 15 Penn and the host No. 9 Warsaw Tigers. Also included in the field will be Hobart, Mishawaka Marian and Tippecanoe Valley. Field events are scheduled to start at 6 p.m. “You’re always looking for the best competition,” Warsaw coach Matt Thacker said about the meet, named after Warsaw’s own Olympian, who finished sixth in the 10,000 meters at the 1960 Olympics in Rome. “This year, we have Penn, North Side and LaPorte, who has Mitch Hubner, who’s a heck of a distance runner.” One of Hubner’s races will be the 1,600, where he’ll meet some stiff competition in Warsaw junior Jacob Poyner. In the state rankings, Hubner’s time of 4:19.90 is third in the state, while Poyner has run a time of 4:21.80. Both times came from Saturday’s Goshen Relays. “Mitch got him last week, but Jacob got Mitch down at the Franklin Central Showcase (on April 13),” Thacker said. “It’s kind of been back and forth. It just depends on how each runner attacks that race.” The 1,600 will be one to watch, but it won’t be the only one. In the 400, Warsaw junior Wyatt Jones’ time of 50.78 seconds ranks him eighth in the state, but Hobart’s Stephen Viator has run a time of 51.59. The high jump will also feature a good matchup, as Warsaw sophomore Stephen Kolbe, who cleared 6-6 earlier this season, meets Hobart’s Matt Stewart, who’s cleared 6-4. “There’s plenty of showcased talent, especially in the (1,600 relay), which is the last race,” Thacker said. The 1,600 relay pits North Side, Warsaw and Penn against each other. At Saturday’s Goshen Relays, which Warsaw tied for first place with Carroll, North Side ran the event in 3:23.29, Warsaw in 3:25.15 and Penn in 3:25.31. Penn and North Side ran in the same heat, while Warsaw ran in a separate one. So this time around, Thacker’s eager to see all three of them together. “Unfortunately, we weren’t able to go off last week head-to-head, but we will this week,” he said. The invitational is scored with each team having two participants in each event. The time, height or distance of each individual or relay is then added together to get a final result. With that kind of format, it takes more than just one dominate athlete to score points, and Thacker’s fine with that idea. “The good thing for us is, we get to showcase our depth,” he said. In a strategic move for the format, Thacker will put Jones in the second of Warsaw’s two 400 relays. “We have Wyatt Jones in our second (400 relay), and some people may think that’s strange because he’s been running so well,” Thacker said. “But it’s a way to give him a rest before the (1,600 relay). It works out for us as team to put him in the ‘B’ (400 relay), and also helps that ‘B’ (400 relay) with its time.” Against the likes of Penn and North Side, Thacker’s looking for various ways to score points in order to win the home team’s first Truex title since 2006 and eighth overall. “I know Fort Wayne North Side is going to be battling for it, and Penn got us earlier in the season in a dual, so they’ll also be battling for it,” he said.
