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Continuing her record-setting postseason, Wawasee High School standout distance runner Rachel Stichter set yet another new mark in the 1,600-meter run Tuesday.
Last week the talented junior broke the Northern Lakes Conference record in both the 1,600 and 3,200. Tuesday evening she won both events at the Warsaw Sectional, helping her team to a second-place finish in the 10-team field with 106 points, and broke the 21-year old sectional record in the mile.
Stichter's time of 5:06.87 broke the old mark of 5:07.51 set by Connie Everage of Prairie Heights in 1983.
"I wasn't looking for records or anything like that," said Stichter, who won the two-mile run in 11:12.20. "I just want to get my times down."
She certainly did that.
At Thursday's NLC Meet she shattered the 3,200-meter conference record by 13 seconds. Tuesday at the sectional she dropped six seconds off that time, though it wasn't a sectional record.
While Stichter distanced herself from the competition, beating runner-up Stephanie Swendsen of Northridge in the 3,200 by 15 seconds and third-place finisher Jessie LaFree of Northridge by 49 seconds, the team scores went down to the last event.
With just the 1,600 relay remaining, Wawasee and Elkhart Central were tied with 101 points.
Central's speedy foursome of Erika Young, Alishia Carr, Nicole Mady and Tiffany Aikin won the event in a time of 4:05.91, four seconds ahead of runner-up Warsaw, to lift the Blue Blazers to the sectional championship with 111 points.
Wawasee's team of Brooke Mark, Brittany Winchester, Gloria Boesenberg and Jessie Spearman finished fourth in the event with a time of 4:15.16 and qualified for Tuesday's Bremen Regional.
Following Elkhart Central and Wawasee in the team standings were Northridge (90), Warsaw (88), Elkhart Memorial (58), NorthWood (53), Goshen (38), Fairfield (20), Jimtown (11) and Concord (10).
The top four teams and or individuals in each event advanced to Tuesday's Bremen Regional.
All totaled, Wawasee will be represented at the regional in 11 events, while host Warsaw advanced in nine events.
Joining Stichter as a sectional champion Tuesday for Wawasee was sophomore Jessie Spearman, who won the 200 in a time of 26.55 seconds and finished second in the 100 with a time of 13.37 seconds. Teammate Havilah Rensberger also advanced in the 200 with her third-place time of 27.09 seconds.
Rensberger and Spearman teammed with Claire List and Boesenberg to finish second in the 400 relay, while the 3,200 relay team of Sue Camire, Ashley Pollen, Winchester and Stichter advanced with a fourth-place time of 10:25.15.
Boesenberg advanced in the 300 hurdles with a fourth-place finish, as did Pollen in the 800.
Shaina Bauman and Tiffany Fick moved on in the discus with third- and fourth-place finishes, respectively, while Tara Clouse advanced with a second-place finish in the high jump.
Just as she did at the NLC Meet super sophomore Julie Seiss led the Tigers in first-place finishes.
Seiss won the 800 with a time of 2:18.03, and also finished first in the high jump with a leap of 5-2.
In two years of high school track, the only time Seiss hasn't finished first in the high jump was at last year's state meet.
"It's not just what she does out on the track," Warsaw coach Scott Erba said of Seiss. "She's a great leader. She's always out front in practice and I've never seen her slack off. When your best athlete is also your hardest worker, that's a great combination. Julie can compete at a level not many can compete at."
Seiss, who is just now coming into her own after missing the first part of the season with an injury suffered in basketball, also anchored the second-place 1,600 relay team, advancing to the Bremen Regional with freshman teammates Karrie Burch, Katie Furnivall and senior Ashley Kitchens.
Furnivall, whose father Troy Furnivall still holds the school record in the 400, advanced in the 400 with a fourth-place time of 1:02.62, while Burch moved on in the 200 with a fourth-place finish and in the 400 relay with teammates Jessica Garcia, Mariel Land and Tiffany Shepherd after a third-place time of 51.60 seconds.
Warsaw's only other sectional championship came in the long jump, where Land won with a personal best leap of 17-1.
"Mariel Land at the start of the year cleared 15 feet and was so excited," said Erba. "That was her goal, she hadn't ever gone 15 feet. In the last three weeks she's gone from 15-5 to 17-1. She did great tonight."
Also moving on for Warsaw are Lindsay Francis, who finished second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.61 seconds, and Ashley Sparks after a fourth-place throw of 34-9 in the shot put.
WARSAW SECTIONAL
Team Scores - Elkhart Central 111, Wawasee 106, Northridge 90, Warsaw 88, Elkhart Memorial 58, NorthWood 53, Goshen 38, Fairfield 20, Jimtown 11, Concord 10
3200 relay - 1. Northridge (Jackson, Miller, Pezzanite, Swendsen) 9:59.66, 2. Goshen 10:09.43, 3. Elkhart Central 10:14.25, 4. Wawasee 10:25.15, 5. Concord 10:28.20, 6. NorthWood 10:39.72
100 - 1. Sanders (EC) :13.2, 2. Spearman (Waw) :13.37, 3. Capre (NW) :13.39, 4. Pettis (EC) :13.43, 5. Bumpus (J) :13.53, 6. Burch (War) :13.56
100 hurdles - 1. Kizinski (EC) :16.10, 2. Francis (War) :16.61, 3. Jakubowicz (NR) :16.63, 4. Davis (EM) :16.66, 5. Steffen (NW) :17.33, 6. Purviance (NR) :17.39
200 - 1. Spearman (Waw) :26.55, 2. Sanders (EC) :26.95, 3. Rensberger (Waw) :27.09, 4. Burch (War) :27.12, 5. Bumpus (J) :27.28, 6. Capre (NW) :27.44
1600 - 1. Stichter (Waw) 5:06.7, 2. Jackson (NR) 5:10.29, 3. LaFree (NR) 5:30.27, 4. Pollen (Waw) 5:30.43, 5. Miller (C) 5:30.44, 6. Rohrer (EM) 5:38.85
400 relay - 1. Elkhart Central (Carr, Pettis, Sanders, Aikin) :50.22, 2. Wawasee :51.21, 3. Warsaw :51.60, 4. NorthWood :51.70, 5. Elkhart Memorial :52.47, 6. Jimtown :53.13
400 - 1. Pezzanite (NR) 1:01.56, 2. Mady (EC) 1:02.41, 3. Peterson (EM) 1:02.44, 4. Furnivall (War) 1:02.62, 5. Kitchens (War) 1:03.00, 6. Young (EC) 1:03.18
300 hurdles - 1. Aikin (EC) :46.98, 2. Gangloff (FF) :47.67, 3. Kolbus (G) :48.40, 4. Boesenberg (Waw) :48.46, 5. Campbell (NR) :48.80, 6. Clay (War) :50.51
800 - 1. Seiss (War) 2:18.03, 2. Jackson (NR) 2:20.17, 3. Pezzanite (NR) 2:22.71, 4. Pollen (Waw) 2:24.63, 5. Rozelle (G) 2:25.16, 6. Winchester (Waw) 2:28.60
3200 - 1. Stichter (Waw) 11:12.20, 2. Swendsen (NR) 11:27.85, 3. LaFree (NR) 12:01.13, 4. Trcka (G) 12:02.90, 5. Booth (EC) 12:25.34, 6. Houvener (War) 12:35.56
1600 relay - 1. Elkhart Central (Young, Carr, Mady, Aikin) 4:05.01, 2. Warsaw 4:09.21, 3. Goshen 4:14.60, 4. Wawasee 4:15.16, 5. Northridge 4:19.51, 6. NorthWood 4:23.12
Long jump - 1. Land (War) 17-1, 2. Aikin (EC) 16-10 1/2, 3. Silasa (EC) 16-3, 4. Harrell (NR) 16-2 1/4, 5. Jackson (EC) 15-9, 6. Logan (War) 15-8 3/4
High jump - 1. Seiss (War) 5-2, 2. Clouse (Waw) 5-2, 3. Ellington (G) 5-1, 4. Davis (EM) 4-10, 5. Silasa (EC) 4-10, 6. Herschberger (FF) 4-8
Discus - 1. Boling (EM) 114-6, 2. Kronk (NW) 108-6, 3. Bauman (Waw) 108-3, 4. Fick (Waw) 105-6, 5. Mills (EM) 103-2, 6. Mast (NW) 102-4
Shot put - 1. Mills (EM) 37-6 1/2, 2. Kronk (NW) 36-7 1/2, 3, Duncan (NW) 36-2 1/2, 4. Sparks (War) 34-9, 5. Hoover (FF) 34-4 1/2, 6. Fick (Waw) 33-5
