Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
Not even a steady downpour and a sky full of gray clouds could keep freshman phenom Julie Seiss and her Warsaw girls track team from shining Thursday.
Led by Seiss, who took three individual first-place finishes and anchored the winning 1,600 relay team, the Tigers won a three-way Northern Lakes Conference meet over visiting Wawasee and NorthWood with 62.5 points. Wawasee was second with 53, while NorthWood scored 40.5.
"It's a mindset," Tiger coach Paul Boyd said of the rainy weather conditions the meet was run in. "Being a young group, that's just something you have to get beyond."
A team with 31 freshman and sophomores on a 40-person roster, Warsaw improved to 3-6 overall and 2-3 in the NLC. Wawasee is now 7-3 overall and 3-3 in the NLC.
Seiss started her hat-trick of individual firsts with a winning jump of 4-foot-10 in the high jump. Seiss, who earlier in the year jumped 5-5, cleared Thursday's winning height with ease and stopped when there was no longer any competition and she had to compete in another event.
Seiss took first in the 400 with a time of 1:01.4, outrunning NorthWood's second-place runner by two seconds.
She then won the 800 in a time of 2:29.5, edging teammate Rachel Rondeau by three seconds and the third-place finisher from NorthWood by 14 seconds.
"I was telling her father (former Indiana State track star and WCHS teacher Stan Seiss), we could put Julie in any event. She's that talented. Even in the workouts it shows. She's always leading the workouts and she has a great work ethic. I'm glad I've got three more years of seeing that."
Seiss teamed up with Jaclyn Leininger, Claire Beckett and Rondeau to win the 1,600 relay event in a time of 4:14.5, seven seconds ahead of second-place Wawasee.
Two weeks ago, Boyd was talking about the youth of his team, after tying for second in Saturday's Churubusco Invitational and performing well last night, things are looking promising for Boyd and his young Tigers.
"I couldn't have been more proud of these girls on Saturday," Boyd said. "They really went and competed, not just ran the races. That was what I was most concerned about, but now we're competing, and it's showing."
Other Warsaw first-place finishes came from freshman Lindsay Francis in the 100 hurdles and sophomore Cheyenne Runnells in the long jump.
The Tigers also took second-place finishes in six events.
For Wawasee, the story was also youth.
Freshman speedster Jessie Spearman, whose aunt Lorene Spearman-Teel was also a standout runner for the Warriors, won the 100 in a time of 13.1 seconds and the 200 in a time of 26.7 seconds.
Wawasee sophomore Rachel Stichter took two individual first-place finishes as well, winning the 1600 and 3200 distance events.
Other Warriors to win events included Shaina Bauman (discus), Jodi Buhrt (300 hurdles), and the 400 relay team of Gloria Boesenberg, Claire List, Spearman and Buhrt.
Warsaw is in action again Saturday at the Kokomo Relays, while Wawasee is at East Noble Saturday.
WARSAW 62.5, WAWASEE 53, NORTHWOOD 40.5
100 hurdles - 1. Francis (War) :16.6, 2. Hinton (NW), 3. Buhrt (Wawa)
100 - 1. Spearman (Wawa) :13.1, 2. List (Wawa), 3. Brown (NW)
Discus - 1. Bauman (Wawa) 97-6, 2. Sparks (War), 3. Krollin (NW)
Long jump - 1. Runnells (War) 15-0 1/4, 2. Land (War), 3. Stichter (Wawa)
300 hurdles - 1. Buhrt (Wawa) :52.7, 2. Stump (NW), 3. Francis (War)
High jump - 1. Seiss (War) 4-10, 2. List (Wawa), 3. Duncan (NW)
800 - 1. Seiss (War) 2:29.5, 2. Rondeau (War), 3. Stichter (NW)
200 - 1. Spearman (Wawa) :26.7, 2. Leininger (War), 3. Brown (NW)
Shot put - 1. Duncan (NW) 36-5, 2. Krollin (NW), 3. Sparks (War)
3200 - 1. Stichter (Wawa) 11:54.8, 2. Huff (NW), 3. Lantz (Wawa)
1600 - 1. Stichter (Wawa) 5:25.9, 2. Huff (NW), 3. Grossnickle (War)
400 - 1. Seiss (War) 1:01.4, 2. Schoof (NW), 3. Beckett (War)
3200 relay - 1. Warsaw (Rondeau, Grossnickle, DeRenzo, Beckett) 10:19.1, 2. Wawasee
400 relay - 1. Wawasee (Spearman, Boesenburg, List, Buhrt) :53.3, 2. Warsaw
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw (Rondeau, Leininger, Beckett, Seiss) 4:14.5, 2. Wawasee
