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INDIANAPOLIS - For Wawasee High School senior Staci Weisser, the hardest thing to do at Friday's girls track state finals at IUPUI's Carroll Stadium in Indianapolis may have been sitting in the stands and watching after she was done.
A year ago, Weisser jumped her way to a third-place finish at the state finals with an effort of 5 feet, 5 inches. Last night she ended her prep career with an 11th-place jump of 5-4. Rochester's Alisha Ewing, who won last week's Bremen Regional, where Weisser finished third, won last night's high jump state championship with a jump of 5-8.
"She's cleared everything up to 5-5," Wawasee coach Kevin Gilbert said of Weisser. "She's been consistant at 5-5 all year. She just couldn't get over the bar. We're a little disappointed, but she still had a great year."
NorthWood's Carol Duncan and Triton's Emily Yankovich didn't record heights in last night's high jump competition. Both came in after jumping 5-3 at the Bremen Regional.
"The key is to do what you've done all year, and that should take care of it," Gilbert said of pressure at the state finals. "It's just one of those things where you don't know what's going to happen until you do it."
Take, for instance, Jasper freshman Julie Bosler, who came into Friday's competition seeded last with a jump of 5-2. She finished eighth in the state with a jump of 5-5.
Fort Wayne Northrop scored 44 points to take the team title. Gary West Side finished second with 35. Hammond Noll (29), South Bend Adams (25), Elkhart Central (23), Fort Wayne Wayne (22), Carmel (22), Bloomington North (21), Indianapolis Pike (20.5), Merrillville (18) and Wheeler (18) rounded out the top 10.
Warsaw, Wawasee, Manchester, NorthWood and Triton failed to score a team point. Points were awarded to the top nine individuals or teams in each event.
Weisser's teammate, junior Ericka Auker, finished 22nd in the 300 hurdles after running a time of 48.30 seconds. Fort Wayne Wayne senior April Royal won the event with a time of 43.48 seconds.
Warsaw competed in three events, with its best finish being a 16th-place time of 9:44.05 in the 3200 relay by the quartet of freshman Rachel Rondeau, sophomore Kris Kurosky, junior Hillary Barlow and senior Summer Boyd. The Tiger foursome came in seeded seventh. The West Lafayette quartet of Janice Babbs, Lindsay Keazer, Katie DeCarlo and Jessica Gall took first in the event with a time of 9:21.38.
Barlow finished 24th individually with her time of 11:42.64 in the 3200. Wheeler junior Michelle de la Vina, who came in seeded second, won the two-mile race with a time of 10:37.93.
The Tiger foursome of sophomore Chelsea Boyd, senior Brittney Raber, junior Amy Robertson and Summer Boyd ran to an 18th-place time of 4:08.09 in the 1600 relay. The Gary West Side quartet of Regina Harvey, Latrice Wynne, Jarge Protho and Tabith Flournoy won the mile relay with a time of 3:53.85
The lone competitor for Manchester, sophomore Ann Harms, finished 17th in the long jump with with a leap of 16-4 1/4. Harms came in seeded 21st.
NorthWood junior Natalie Nunemaker came into last night's meet seeded 23rd in the shot put. She finished 13th with a toss of 38-8 1/4.
One of the biggest individual performances of the evening was turned in by Elkhart Central senior Alicia Miller. Miller won the 100 and 200 and finished third in the 400. Fort Wayne Northrop senior Shannon Kelley won the 100 hurdles with a time of 14.39 seconds, followed by a second-place time of 43.89 seconds in the 300 hurdles. Hammond Noll senior Jennifer Dennie took second in the 100 and long jump.
2000 GIRLS TRACK STATE FINALS
Top 10 teams - 1. Fort Wayne Northrop 44, 2. Gary West Side 35, 3. Hammond Noll 29, 4. South Bend Adams 25, 5. Elkhart Central 23, 6. (tie) Fort Wayne Wayne 22, Carmel 22, 8. Bloomington North 21, 9. Indianapolis Pike 20.5, 10. (tie) Merrillville 18, Wheeler 18
Note - No points were scored by Manchester, NorthWood, Triton, Warsaw or Wawasee
Listed below are the first-place and local individuals or teams in Friday's girls track state finals.
100 hurdles - 1. Shannon Kelley (FW Northrop) :14.19
300 hurdles - 1. April Royal (FW Wayne) :43.38, 22. Ericka Auker (Wawasee) :48.30
100 - 1. Jennifer Dennie (Hammond Noll) :12.27
200 - 1. Tabitha Flournoy (Gary West) :24.83
400 - 1. Ellen Alkire (Homestead) :56.76
800 - 1. Renee Schlabach (Fairfield) 2:15.95
1600 - 1. Winter Holman (Brownstown) 4:58.50
3200 - 1. Michelle de la Vina (Wheeler) 10:37.93 24. Hillary Barlow (Warsaw) 11:42.64
3200 relay - 1. West Lafayette (Janice Babbs, Lindsay Keazer, Katie DeCarlo, Jessica Gall) 9:21.38, 16. Warsaw (Rachel Rondeau, Kim Kurosky, Barlow, Summer Boyd) 9:44.05
400 relay - 1. S.B. Clay (Crystal Riley, Altarea Hall, Latoya, Hamilton, Kay Pancheri) :48.59
Discus - 1. Sara Fields (Bloomington North) 158'7"
Shot put - 1. Kerri McClung (Jay County) 44-9 1/4, 13. Natalie Nunemaker (NorthWood) 38-8 1/4
High jump - 1. Alisha Ewing (Rochester) 5-8, 11. Staci Weisser (Wawasee) 5-4, Carol Duncan (NorthWood) no height, Emily Yankovich (Triton) no height
Long jump - 1. Jan Eichenauer (Wabash) 18-10, 17. Ann Harms (Manchester) 16-4 1/4
1600 relay - 1. Gary West Side (Regina Harvey, Latrice Wynne, Jarge Protho, Tabitha Flournoy) 3:53.85, 18. Warsaw (Chelsea Boyd, Brittney Raber, Amy Robertson, Summer Boyd) 4:08.09
