Seniors Highlight Talented Warsaw Boys Track Roster
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
Asked to talk about his talented senior class of athletes, Warsaw boys track coach Matt Thacker said the first thing that comes to mind is the word legacy. The Tigers’ roster features 19 seniors, many of whom have helped the program to regional championships in two of the past three seasons. Warsaw, which is scheduled to open the season today against Penn, has won its last 20 Northern Lakes Conference meets and is coming off of a fifth-place finish in the state finals. “The word legacy comes to mind,” said Thacker. “This group of seniors has helped us get where we are.” Headlining the Tigers’ standout senior class are sprint and relay team members Gabe Furnivall, Tristan McClone, Chad Goon and Ryan Goon, field event stars Seth Fouts (shot put) and Stephen Kolbe (high jump), and Ellis Coon, one of the best distance runners in the state. Fouts, who has signed with the Kentucky Wildcats, finished sixth in the shot put at last year’s state finals. McClone and Ryan Goon were part of the 1,600 relay team that finished sixth at state. Coon, who missed the track season a year ago because of a foot injury, is back and healthy. Coon, who will run collegiately at University of Tulsa, finished third in the cross country state finals in the fall, and his return to track will help fill the void left by the graduation of disctance standouts Jake Poyner and Robert Murphy. “Confidence is a big strength of this group,” said Thacker. “They’re confident, but they’re also very hard-working, and that’s passed on to the younger guys. That’s something that will help the program continue to grow. This team has a great work ethic.” Seniors Tanner Balazs and Michael Miller are new to the team, and Thacker said they will add depth to the Tigers’ already talented group of runners. “We have a couple newcomers, and we have pretty good numbers overall,” said Thacker. “We have 85 guys on the team, and they’re 85 guys that want to be on the team. In years past, we’ve had 110 guys on the team and not all of them wanted to be there work hard. I really like the group we have.” The Tigers are scheduled to open defense of their NLC championship on April 17 when they host NorthWood and Plymouth. The Max Truex Invitational is scheduled for May 2, while the NLC Championships are at Warsaw on May 13, the sectional is at Goshen on May 22 and the regional is at Kokomo on May 29. The final meet of the season, the state finals in Bloomington on June 7, is what Thacker is really looking forward to. “It never gets old winning championships,” said Thacker. “We really want to win the conference again, and then win the sectional and regional again. We also expect to do well at the state meet. We want to win the state championship. Is that over-zealous? Do we really have a realistic chance of winning state? I think we can compete with the best teams in the state. This is a very talented and confident team. I’m excited to see what we can do.”
