Squires Second At Sectional

MENTONE - They expected to be pushed. They just didn't expect it to come from Culver Girls Academy.

"I thought it was Plymouth," Manchester head coach Keith Metzger said. "I really did. But then when I looked at Culver Girls Academy, I realized they've got something. They had some good kids."

Manchester placed second at the Valley Sectional on Tuesday with 98 points. CGA ended with 110 points. The early favorite, Plymouth, ended a distant fifth with just 57 points, just 1/2 point in front of Whitko.

The star of the meet for the Squires was senior Tara Wion. She had a hand in all three of Manchester's first-place finishes. Wion placed first in the 100 and the long jump. She also ran a leg on the winning 400 relay team. Not to be outdone, however, the other seniors also contributed much to the Manchester scoring.

Christy Stephan took second place in the 100 hurdles and third place in the 300 hurdles. She also ran on the 1600 relay team that placed second. Dani Wion ran a leg on the 400 relay team and Erin Groombridge ran a leg on the 1600 relay team. It was the seniors who did the job.

"The seniors came through," Metzger said. "It was just a good team effort. Tara handles the pressure. Erin Groombridge and Christy Stephan handled the pressure. Dani Wion's shins are so bad. She ran the 400 relay. She probably shouldn't even be out there running."

Whitko placed a solid sixth out of the 11 teams at the Sectional. They were led by Susan Dome, who placed second in the 800 and third in the 1600. She also ran on the 3200 relay team that placed second.

"We had some surprises," Whitko head coach Brian Balsmeyer said. "Heidi Hull in the 300 low hurdles really came on. Dome ran a good race in the 800. We're looking for her to make it to state. I didn't feel we could come in and place for the title. We wanted to place as well as we could. We've got a track team of 14 girls, and it's kind of hard to come in here and run the legs off of them."

Triton placed seventh with 42 points, but head coach Jason Hunter may have been the most excited coach at the meet.

"I think they did outstanding," Hunter said. "We were disappointed at conference. I asked them to define what winning is to them, and they did it tonight."

When asked if any athletes stood out, Hunter said, "Every one of them. I'll go down the roster and take every one of them."

Tippecanoe Valley ended a disappointing ninth place with 38 points. Heather Wilcox took third in the long jump and fifth in the 200 for the Vikings. The Valley relay teams competed well, placing third in the 400 relay and fourth in the 3200 relay.

The top four individuals and the top four relay teams in each event will head to the Bremen regional on Tuesday. The Manchester Squires should place well next week as they will send competitors in nine different events.

"It's so easy to go get that job at McDonalds flipping burgers," Metzger said. "For these kids to come out and pay the price, it's tremendous. I take my hat off to them. It wasn't us coaches. It was what the kids wanted to do tonight. I couldn't ask for a better meet."

CULVER GIRLS ACADEMY 110, MANCHESTER 98, NORTHFIELD 63, ROCHESTER 59, PLYMOUTH 57, WHITKO 56.5, TRITON 42, CASTON 40, VALLEY 38, CULVER COMMUNITY 18,

OREGON-DAVIS 2.5

Long Jump - 1. T. Wion (Man) 16-4, 2. Foltz (Cas), 3. Wilcox (Val), 4. Liggins (Cul), 5. Weissert (Tri), T6. Berg (O-D), T6. Landis (Whi), 8. VanHerk (Ply)

Discus - 1. Orsund (Ply) 110-3, 2. McGaughey (Roc), 3. Stambaugh (Man), 4. Rose (Val), 5. Poe (Man), 6. Gaskill (CGA), 7. Raderstorf (Cas), 8. Shepherd (Whi)

Shot Put - 1. McGaughey (Roc) 33-1 1/4, 2. Raderstorf (Cas), 3. Poe (Man), 4. Melzoni (Nor), 5. Grant (CGA), 6. Parker (Val), 7. Christian (Tri), 8. Seagert (Man)

High Jump - 1. Pilgrim (Nor) 5-2, T2. Kyser (CGA), T2. Thomas (Nor), 4. Ewing (Roc), T5. Yankovich (Tri), T5. Weissert (Tri), 7. Foltz (Cas), 8. Pratt (Val)

100 - 1. Wion (Man) :13.37, 2. Liggins (Cul), 3. Grant (CGA), 4. Miller (Man), 5. Moreford (Whi), 6. Ajirotutu (CGA), 7. Rife (Whi), 8. Crabb (Cul)

100 Hurdles - 1. Pilgrim (Nor) :16.57, 2. Stephan (Man), 3. Timoteo (Man), T4. VanHerk (Ply), T4. Roahrig (Ply), 6. Hull (Whi), 7. Kyser (CGA), 8. Eby (Cul)

200 - 1. Stewart (CGA) :28.13, 2. Onyeji (Man), 3. Foltz (Cas), 4. Glatfelter (Tri), 5. Wilcox (Val), 6. Moreford (Whi), 7. D. Wion (Man), 8. Rife (Whi)

400 - 1. Foltz (Cas) 1:03.29, 2. Thompson (CGA), 3. Fisher (Ply), 4. Wagoner (Roc), 5. Spencer (Roc), 6. Davis (Ply), 7. Groombridge (Man), 8. Till (Whi)

800 - 1. Honzik (CGA) 2:28.00, 2. Dome (Whi), 3. Hartzler (Roc), 4. Large (Ply), 5. Cordes (Nor), 6. Sipe (Roc), 7. Lauridsen (CGA), 8. Deckena (Whi)

300 Hurdles - 1. Pilgrim (Nor) :50.00, 2. Hull (Whi), 3. Stephan (Man), 4. Kyser (CGA), 5. Roahrig (Ply), 6. VanHerk (Ply), 7. Ewing (Roc), 8. Markstahler (Man)

1600 - 1. Harzler (Roc) 5:33.32, 2. Mayfield (CGA), 3. Dome (Whi), 4. Kreft (Tri), 5. Lauridsen (CGA), 6. Knecht (Man), 7. Guenin (Nor), 8. Gaul (Ply)

3200 - 1. Mayfield (CGA) 13:10.15, 2. Kreft (Tri), 3. Guenin (Nor), 4. Day (Val), 5. Gaul (Ply), 6. Mirante (Nor), 7. Knecht (Man), 8. Poor (Ply)

400 Relay - 1. Manchester (Michel, Miller, D. Wion, T. Wion) :52.16, 2. Culver Girls Academy, 3. Valley, 4. Triton, 5. Whitko, 6. Culver Community, 7. Plymouth, 8. Caston

1600 Relay - 1. Culver Girls Academy (Honzik, Kyser, Libman, Mayfield) 4:21.92, 2. Manchester, 3. Triton, 4. Plymouth, 5. Whitko, 6. Valley, 7. Northfield, 8. Caston

3200 Relay - 1. Culver Girls Academy (Cregar, Honzik, Lauridsen, Lynch) 10:16.95, 2. Whitko, 3. Rochester, 4. Valley, 5. Northfield, 6. Plymouth, 7. Caston