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DUNLAP - Unbeaten and virtually unchallenged all year, Warsaw freshman phenom Julie Seiss certainly got tested Thursday night.
The top seed in Thursday night's Northern Lakes Conference Meet high jump event at Concord High School, the talented three-sport athlete won the NLC title with a jump of 5-foot-5, but not without a gutty challenge from Wawasee freshman Tara Clouse.
Seiss, whose jump of 5-6 earlier in the season was tops in the conference this year, missed her first two attempts at 5-4 last night before clearing it on her third and final attempt.
She then missed her first attempt at 5-6 before clearing the bar on her second attempt.
Clouse, whose best jump all season was 5-0, missed her first two attempts at 5-5, and then nearly cleared it on her final attempt, which came as the starter's gun sounded in the background for a running event.
"It made me want to jump higher and make it over on the third try," Seiss said of Clouse's challenge. "I didn't want to lose."
Said Clouse, "I was really excited. I'm happy with where I placed. I got beat by a lot of these girls in the regular season, so I was really excited about how I did tonight."
The conference championship was just another accolade for Seiss, who already owns records in meets at South Bend and Kokomo.
In the team competition, Wawasee scored 71 points and finished in a tie for fourth with Plymouth. Warsaw was seventh out of eight teams with 54 points.
Northridge took the team title Thursday night, as well as the overall championship after posting the best record in the round robin scoring, with 139 points. Elkhart Memorial was second with 79 points, followed by Goshen (72), Wawasee (71), Plymouth (71), Concord (57), Warsaw (54) and NorthWood 52.
Seiss later finished second in the 800 with a time of 2:15.74 in a race that saw the top three finishers shatter the conference record of 2:17.92 set last year by Plymouth's Morgan Uceny.
Uceny finished third last night in a time of 2:15.80, while Northridge senior Tiffany Brenneman won the conference title in the 800 with a record-setting time of 2:14.92.
Seiss also ran the anchor leg for the winning 1600 relay team, pairing up with Rachel Rondeau, Jaclyn Leininger and Claire Beckett for a conference championship time of 4:05.94.
Other local girls to win NLC championships Thursday night included Wawasee sophomore Rachel Stichter in the 3200 and the Warrior foursome of Jodi Buhrt, Claire List, Gloria Boesenburg and Jessie Spearman.
Stichter finished second for Wawasee in the 1600, while Spearman finished third in both the 100 and 200.
On the boys side, it was a Stichter winning a conference championship for Wawasee as well - senior Ryan Stichter, who broke the 20-year-old conference record and won with a time of 1:55.22. Teammate Eric Gingerich finished second in the event.
Warrior Flaco Perales finished second in the 3200.
Of not for the Wawasee boys team was the absence of junior star Anthony Argentino in the 110 and 300 hurdle events. Argentino injured his ankle in the long jump competition and was scratched from both of Thursday's hurdles events.
Leading the way for Warsaw's boys team was junior Kyle Boley, who won the pole vault - which took place Tuesday - by setting a new school record and tying the conference record with his vault of 15-0.
"Kyle has really been coming on," first-year Warsaw coach David Hoffert said. "When he gets on a roll he really gets going. It's gonna be really exciting to see where he goes from here. I think 15-0 is only the beginning."
The Tigers got a second-place finish in the 1600 relay with the foursome of Tony Castillo, Dan Erickson, Brandon Stogsdill and Joel Popenfoose.
The Warsaw 400 relay team of David Burnley, Nate Miller, Thomas Balestri and Popenfoose finished second with a time of :43.79.
Popenfoose finished second in the 100, while Miller was third in the 200 and Cory Hill third in the 110 hurdles.
Elkhart Memorial scored 120 points in the NLC Meet, winning both the meet and overall championships. Wawasee was second with 106 points, followed by Warsaw (93), NorthWood (75), Concord (75), Plymouth (61), Northridge (50) and Goshen (42).
The Warsaw and Wawasee girls teams will be in action again Tuesday in the Warsaw Sectional, while the boys teams will compete next Thursday in the Goshen Sectional.
NLC TRACK MEET
Girls - Northridge 139, Elkhart Memorial 79, Goshen 72, Wawasee 71, Plymouth 71, Concord 57, Warsaw 54, NorthWood 42
Discus - 1. Halyley Boling (EM) 112-07, 2. Deanna Kronk (NW), 3. Shaina Bauman (Wawa), 4. Jenni Headings (G), 5. Natasha Mills (EM), 6. Amy Mast (NW)
Shot put - 1. Mills (EM) 37-7, 2. Audrey Duncan (NW), 3. Boling (EM), 4. Jessica Leach (Wawa), 5. Kronk (NW), 6. Ashley Sparks (War)
Long jump - 1. Cassie Bjurstrom (NR) 16-8, 2. Morgan Uceny (P), 3. Natasha Kinsey (EM), 4. Amanda Kemp (NW), 5. Beth Harrell (NR), 6. Cheyenne Runnells (War)
High jump - 1. Julie Seiss (War) 5-5, 2. Tara Clouse (Wawa), 3. Nickie Rash (P), 4. Renaye Davis (EM), 5. Rebekah Schoolcraft (G), 6. Caitlin Campbell (NR)
3200 relay - 1. Northridge (Lynn Pezzanite, Kayla Yoder, Megan Jackson, Tiffany Brenneman) 9:33.76, 2. Plymouth, 3. Warsaw, 4. Concord, 5. Wawasee, 6. Goshen
100 hurdles - 1. Kelly Hale (C) :15.33, 2. Nicole Latham (G), 3. Elizabeth Bradshaw (C) 4. Davis (EM), 5. Julie Jakubowicz (NR), 6. Lindsay Francis (War)
100 - 1. Ali Burroughs (P) :12.68, 2. Bjurstrom (NR), 3. Jessie Spearman (Wawa), 4. Beth Brown (G), 5. Kim Mohr (NR), 6. Kinsey (EM)
400 relay - 1. Wawasee (Jodi Buhrt, Claire List, Gloria Boesenburg, Spearman) :51.87, 2. Memorial, 3. Concord, 4. Northridge, 5. Goshen, 6. NorthWood
400 - 1. Bjurstrom (NR) :59.34, 2. Zorina Keyser (G), 3. Vera Zadorzhnaya (P), 4. Nicole Blue (NR), 5. Brooke Mark (Wawa), 6. Kendra Ellington (G)
300 hurdles - 1. Bradshaw (C) :47.84, 2. Hale (C), 3. Davis (EM), 4. Syon Jones (EM), 5. Campbell (EM), 6. Jakubowicz (NR)
800 - 1. Brenneman (NR) 2:14.92, 2. Seiss (War), 3. Uceny (P), 4. Rachel Rondeau (War), 5. Jackson (NR), 6. Brittany Winchester (Wawa)
200 - 1. Bjurstrom (NR) :25.93, 2. Burroughs (P), 3. Spearman (Wawa), 4. Brown (G), 5. Mohr (NR), 6. Hannah Brown (NW)
3200 - 1. Stichter (Wawa) 11:39.84, 2. Stacy Matteson (EM), 3. Aubree Draper (NR), 4. Kristina Trcka (G), 5. Jamie Kruis (NR), 6. Kayla Yoder (G)
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw (Rondeau, Jaclyn Leininger, Claire Beckett, Seiss) 4:05.94, 2. Northridge, 3. Plymouth, 4. Wawasee, 5. Goshen, 6. Concord
Boys - Elkhart Memorial 120, Wawasee 106, Warsaw 93, NorthWood 75, Concord 75, Plymouth 61, Northridge 50, Goshen 42
Pole vault - 1. Kyle Boley (War) 15-0, 2. Bryan Pedler (EM), 3. Ryan Morningstar (EM), 4. Brandon Steffen (NW), 5. Grant Gibson (Wawa), 6. Mike Berkey (NR)
Discus - 1. Julius Smith (EM) 151-3, 2. Damon Sparklin (G), 3. Tim Popenfoose (Wawa), 4. Steve Ott (G), 5. Nathan Walker (EM), 6. Nick Hanlin (Wawa)
Shot put - 1. Tyler Miller (G) 58-3 1/2, 2. David Koronkiewicz (G), 3. Johnson Black (P), 4. Jason Smith (Wawa), 5. Drew Evans (Wawa), 6. Aaron Speheger (P)
Long jump - 1. Trent Chupp (NW) 22-1, 2. Pedler (EM), 3. LeVon Parker (C), 4. Nate Miller (War), 5. Kyle Schoof (P), 6. C.J. Shafer (C)
High jump - 1. Schoof (P) 6-5, 2. Ross Bauman (NW), 3. Alex Similton (Wawa), 4. Parker (C), 5. Greg Duvall (EM), 6. Jesse Hershberger (G)
3200 relay - 1. Wawasee (David Slabaugh, Luke Stoffel, Ryan Stichter, Eric Gingerich) 8:00.20, 2. Memorial, 3. Plymouth, 4. Northridge, 5. Warsaw, 6. Concord
110 hurdles - 1. Corey Miller (EM) :14.22, 2. Rob Lappin (P), 3. Cory Hill (War), 4. Brandon Stogsdill (War), 5. Bauman (NW), 6. Drew Raholin (C)
100 - 1. Chupp (NW) :11.09, 2. Joel Popenfoose (War), 3. Mike Simpson (C), 4. Thomas Balestri (War), 5. Josiah Boomershine (NR), 6. James House (C)
1600 - 1. Matthew Cummins (EM) 4:14.59, 2. Flaco Perales (Wawa), 3. Mark Byelick (P), 4. Stoffel (Wawa), 5. Bryce Matteson (EM), 6. Baxter Burnworth (War)
400 relay - 1. NorthWood (Matt Myers, David Brown, Andrew Huber, Chupp) :43.30, 2. Warsaw, 3. Memorial, 4. Concord, 5. Wawasee, 6. Plymouth
400 - 1. Shafer (C) :49.66, 2. Miller (C), 3. Andrew Harman (EM), 4. Slabaugh (Wawa), 5. Jason Young (NR), 6. Nik Conley (Wawa)
300 hurdles - 1. Miller (EM :39.63, 2. Lappin (P), 3. Hill (War), 4. Hubler (NW), 5. Jeremy Bechtle (NW), 6. Raholin (C)
800 - 1. Stichter (WawaA) 1:55.22, 2. Gingerich (Wawa), 3. Jaris Suggs (EM), 4. David Sabo (NR), 5. David Prieb (C), 6. Peter Mansfield (War)
200 - 1. Chupp (NW) :22.64, 2. Young (NR), 3. Nate Miller (War), 4. Thomas Balestri (War), 5. Tim McGraw (C), 6. Boomershine (NR)
3200 - 1. Cummins (EM) 9:31.93, 2. Flaco Perales (War), 3. Robert Grooms (EM), 4. Ken Collins (NR), 5. Braxton Fritz (NR), 6. Stoffel (Wawa)
1600 relay - 1. Concord (Raholin, McGraw, Shafer, Miller) 3:24.18, 2. Warsaw, 3. Wawasee, 4. Northridge, 5. Plymouth, 6. NorthWood
