NLC Dominates Warsaw Track Sectional

Want to win a sectional championship? Concord head coach Craig Shafer showed how easy it is. Just retire.

Shafer, who will retire after this season, watched his girls flex their depth on the way to releasing Wawasee's three-year hold on the Warsaw Girls Track Sectional championship. Although Concord finished first in just one event, the 400 relay, the Minutemen grabbed five second-place finishes and enough points to defeat NorthWood by 15 points.

"I'm as happy for Craig and his team as I am for ours," NorthWood coach Kirt Hunsberger said.

And Hunsberger had plenty to be proud of from his team. NorthWood was expected to battle with Northridge for second place, and the Panthers edged the Minutemen by five points for that spot. Kelli Andrews won the 100 and the 200 for NorthWood, and Grace Bonewitz added a victory in the 100 hurdles.

"No one was going to catch Concord tonight," Hunsberger said. "In the 200, we took first and eighth, and they took second and fourth. But when you get to sectional, you don't focus on team. Those kids who should go to the next level, you want to give every possible advantage to."

It was the type of depth that Hunsberger talked about in the 200 that saw the Northern Lakes Conference dominate the meet. The top three teams were all NLC teams and Warsaw tied Elkhart Memorial for sixth. Goshen placed eighth and Wawasee ninth.

Even though Concord, NorthWood and Northridge took the top three spots and six of the 10 teams in the sectional came from the NLC, less than half (seven out of 15) of the first place winners came from the conference.

However, 12 of the 15 second-place finishes went to NLC teams as well as 11 of 15 third-place finishes.

Although Wawasee has slipped from its perch at the top the last few years, the rest of the NLC picked up the slack.

For instance, the Tigers have more athletes advancing to the regional meet at Bremen in more events than any Warsaw girls team in recent history. After having just one athlete move on last year, Warsaw will take three members in four events.

Sophomore Summer Boyd moved on in two events, placing second in the 1600 and fourth in the 800. Ashlee Bouse finished fourth in the 300 hurdles with a time of :48.32. Her previous best was :49.1. Finally, Faith Gonzalez took third in the discus for the Tigers.

"We wanted to qualify as many as possible," Warsaw coach Doug Ogle said. "We've improved a lot this year, and we're steadily getting better. Now, we've got to make sure we don't backslide. We have some talented kids who will be freshmen next year."

The Tigers also had some near misses that could get in if an athlete scratches before the regional meet Tuesday. Amy Robertson ended fifth in the 400, and Hillary Barlow finished one spot from advancing in the 3200. La'Torie Frantz also placed fifth in the high jump. Any of those three could compete Tuesday if one of the top four can't participate.

Wawasee had a number of runners advance, even though the Warriors' depth was lacking at the sectional. Sophomore Staci Weisser won the high jump with a leap of 5-feet-2 and the 3200 relay team placed second behind Elkhart Central.

The top four finishers in each event will compete in the Bremen Regional Tuesday combining those qualifiers from sectionals held at Bremen, Northwestern, Tippecanoe Valley and Warsaw.

WARSAW GIRLS TRACK SECTIONAL

CONCORD 98, NORTHWOOD 83, NORTHRIDGE 78, ELKHART CENTRAL 64, FAIRFIELD 63, ELKHART MEMORIAL 45, WARSAW 45, GOSHEN 43, WAWASEE 42, JIMTOWN 21

Top four in each event advance to regionals

3200 relay - 1. Elkhart Central 9:48.73, 2. Wawasee, 3. Northridge, 4. Concord, 5. Goshen, 6. Fairfield

100 - 1. Andrews (NorthWood) :12.98, 2. Kellie (Concord), 3. Miller (Elkhart Central), 4. Rightsell (Concord), 5. Edwards (Elkhart Central), 6. Hutchison (Northridge), 7. Wolfe (Elkhart Memorial), 8. Taylor (Elkhart Memorial)

100 hurdles - 1. Bonewitz (NorthWood) :15.78, 2. Miller (Goshen), 3. Marshall (Concord), 4. Key (Concord), 5. Hostetler (Fairfield), 6. Payne (Northridge), 7. Morris (Jimtown), 8. Lunetto (Elkhart Memorial)

200 - 1. Andrews (NorthWood) :27.26, 2. Rightsell (Concord), 3. Hutchison (Northridge), 4. Kellie (Concord), 5. Baker (Elkhart Memorial), 6. Wildman (Warsaw), 7. Edwards (Elkhart Central), 8. Yoder (NorthWood)

1600 - 1. Lipps (Elkhart Central) 5:19.2, 2. Boyd (Warsaw), 3. Sandy (NorthWood), 4. Spangle (Northridge), 5. Henderson (Wawasee), 6. Hanje (Northridge), 7. Simpson (Elkhart Memorial), 8. Brown (Fairfield)

400 relay - 1. Concord :50.68, 2. NorthWood, 3. Elkhart Memorial, 4. Fairfield, 5. Northridge, 6. Warsaw, 7. Wawasee, 8. Goshen

400 - 1. Wolfe (Jimtown) :59.55, 2. Miller (Elkhart Central), 3. Brim (Concord), 4. Charette (Northridge), 5. Robertson (Warsaw), 6. Holderread (Goshen), 7. Auker (Wawasee), 8. Reuter (Wawasee)

300 hurdles - 1. Hostetler (Fairfield) :46.55, 2. Marshall (Concord), 3. Payne (Northridge), 4. Bouse (Warsaw), 5. Green (Fairfield), 6. Morris (Jimtown), 7. Key (Concord), 8. Chang (Wawasee)

800 - 1. Schlabach (Fairfield) 2:19.71, 2. Peterson (Concord), 3. Jolgren (Elkhart Central), 4. Boyd (Warsaw), 5. Veenstra (Elkhart Memorial), 6. Sonko (Elkhart Central), 7. Biddle (Wawasee), 8. Sawyer (Wawasee)

3200 - 1. Lipps (Elkhart Central) 11:54.54, 2. Sandy (NorthWood), 3. Caton (Goshen), 4. Juntunen (Northridge), 5. Barlow (Warsaw), 6. Spangle (Northridge), 7. Latzke (Concord), 8. Simpson (Elkhart Memorial)

1600 relay - 1. Fairfield 4:05.31, 2. Concord, 3. Northridge, 4. Elkhart Central, 5. Wawasee, 6. Elkhart Memorial, 7. Goshen, 8. Warsaw

long jump - 1. McAllister (Elkhart Memorial) 16-8, 2. Veenstra (Elkhart Memorial), 3. Hutchison (Northridge), 4. Cerame (NorthWood), 5. Bounmythavong (NorthWood), 6. Yoder (Fairfield), 7. Brown (Wawasee), 8. Theis (Goshen)

high jump - 1. Weisser (Wawasee) 5-2, 2. Stichter (NorthWood), 3. Homan (Concord), 4. Payne (Northridge), 5. Frantz (Warsaw), 6. Hoover (Elkhart Memorial), 7. Dewilde (Northridge), 8. Reuter (Wawasee)

discus - 1. Rogers (Northridge) 116-6, 2. Adkins (Goshen), 3. Gonzalez (Warsaw), 4. Miller (Fairfield), 5. Vanbruaene (NorthWood), 6. Almager (NorthWood), 7. Barnes (Concord), 8. Hale (Concord)

shot put - 1. Adkins (Goshen) 35-4, 2. Good (Fairfield), 3. Longlieliere (Jimtown), 4. Nunemaker (NorthWood), 5. Lamb (Wawasee), 6. Hale (Concord), 7. Gonzalez (Warsaw), 8. Vanbruaene (NorthWood)