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A day that started with rain, hail, lightning and dark skies, Friday ended on a much brighter note for Warsaw's boys track team.
After stormy skies cleared and gave way to drier conditions, the Tigers hosted the 23rd annual Max Truex Invitational Friday evening at Lakeview Middle School, scoring 112 points and winning the team championship for the third time in four years.
"I called the athletic department and asked if we were gonna have the meet," said second-year Tiger coach David Hoffert, who was part of Warsaw's 1998 Max Truex Invitational championship team. "They told me I was about the 90th person to call. I watched the weather all day long. This is the best weather we've had for a meet all year long."
Elkhart Central finished second in the eight-team invitational after scoring 100.5 points and was followed in the team standings by Fort Wayne Snider, Penn, Homestead, Garrett, Fort Wayne North and Manchester.
The team championship was the fifth in seven years for the Tigers, who had their championship streak stopped at three a year ago as Penn won the meet after it was called at the conclusion of 13 events because of bad weather.
"This is a great feeling for the guys," said Hoffert. "This kind of meet is a total team effort. They gave everything they had and once again they went to the next level."
While competitors compete individually like a regularly scored track meet, the Max Truex Invitational is more team oriented, and the team that wins must thrive on depth.
Two individuals or relay teams from each school compete in each event. The two times, height or distances from each team are added together to determine the winner in each event.
Of the 16 events Friday evening, the Tigers won five under the "team scoring" method.
Warsaw won the 3200 relay as the team of Ryan Holbrook, Baxter Burnworth, Peter Mansfield and David Compson took first with a time of 8:12.20, while Warsaw's second team of Matt Campbell, Steve Robinson, Kyle McNulty and Alf Eherenman ran the eight-lap race in a seventh-place time of 8:33.90.
What Hoffert called his team's "bread and butter event", the Tigers won the 1600, the meet's final race, as the foursome of Nate Miller, Thomas Balestri, Tony Castillo and Daniel Erickson ran a first-place time of 3:25.18. Warsaw's second team of Dan Scott, Nate Abbit, Peter Osorio and Mansfield ran an eighth-place time of 3:35.63.
"That's our bread and butter event," said Hoffert. "We feel like we really have a chance to not only go to state in that event, but place. They have worked so hard this year. This is Thomas Balestri's first year running the event, and his times have really picked up. He has far and away exceeded any expectations. Tony Castillo and Daniel Erickson are strong in that event, and Nate Miller is an end of the year runner."
Erickson and Castillo combined to give Warsaw a first-place team finish in the 400 as Castillo ran a second-place time of 51.95 seconds and Erickson a third-place individual time of 52.36 seconds.
In the 110 hurdles, Kyle Boley teammed up with Scott Sands to win in a combined time of 31.33 seconds. Boley, who paired up with Cory Hill to set the Max Truex Invitational in the event last year, ran the fastest individual time Friday, crossing the line in 15.14 seconds. Sands ran an individual fifth-place time of 16.19 seconds.
Warsaw's other first-place team finish came in the 1600 where Holbrook ran a second-place time of 4:33.99, while Burnworth ran a fifth-place individual time of 4:38.58.
With momentum on their side, the Tigers next compete Tuesday and Thursday in the Northern Lakes Conference Meet at Concord High School.
"These guys have a great opportunity next week," said Hoffert. "We came close to beating Elkhart Memorial in the dual season. I think we have a great chance of being conference co-champs."
Manchester's best finish Friday came in the high jump, where Greg Lengel finished first individually with a height of 6-0. He and Sam McFadden finished third in the team competition.
Elkhart Central's Marcus Perez, who won the 100, 200, long jump and ran on the fastest finishing 400 relay team, was named the meet's top sprinter and overall competitor.
Garrett's Randy Placencia, who won the 1600 and 3200, was named outstanding performer for distance events.
After placing first individually in the shot put and discus, Garrett's Derek Hicks garnered the award for outstanding performer in field events.
The Max Truex Invitational, which began in 1982, is named after 1954 Warsaw graduate Max Truex, who as a high school senior set the national record in the mile with his time of 4:20.4. His time stood as a WCHS school record for 36 years until Jay Hicks broke it as a sophomore in 1990.
After graduating from WCHS, Truex competed at the collegiate level for the University of Southern California and ran for the 1956 U.S. Olympic Team. He won the NCAA cross country championship in 1957 and set an American record in the 5,000 meters. In 1956 and 1959 he won the 10,000-meter race at the National AAU Meet.
Truex finished sixth in the 10,000-meter event in the 1960 Olympics and was the highest-placing American in the event since the 1912 Olympics.
Truex later became a lawyer for Los Angeles County and tried his last case in 1981.
Truex died March 24, 1991, at the age of 55.
2004 MAX TRUEX INVITATIONAL
Team Standings - 1. Warsaw (W), 2. Elkhart Central (EC), 3. Snider (S), 4. Penn (P), 5. Homestead (H), 6. Garrett (G), 7. North Side (NS), 8. Manchester (M)
Note - Listed are the top six individuals or teams in each event. Two individuals (or teams in relays) compete from each school in each event. The two times, heights or distances are added together and overall meet points are based off the team concept.
3200 relay - 1. Warsaw (Holbrook, Burnworth, Mansfield, Compson) 8:12.20, 2. Penn 8:16.60, 3. Snider 8:18.40, 4. North Side 8:30.50, 5. Homestead 8:32.00, 6. Snider 8:33.80
110 hurdles - 1. Boley (W) :15.14, 2. Reid (H) :15.30, 3. Healey (EC) :15.47, 4. White (S) :15.58, 5. Sands (W) :16.19, 6. Sykes (S) :16.31
100 - 1. Perez (EC) :10.98, 2. Horton (EC) :11.20, 3. Talley (S) :11.27, 4. Duong (P) :11.33, 5. Lewis (S) :11.44, 6. Clark (NS) :11.47
1600 - 1. Placencia (G) 4:32.18, 2. Holbrook (W) 4:33.99, 3. Tippman (S) 4:37.82, 4. Clark (H) 4:38.19, 5. Burnworth (W) 4:38.58, 6. Townsend (H) 4:46.94
400 relay - 1. Elkhart Central (Strycker, Horton, Williamson, Perez) :42.55, 2. Snider :43.36, 3. Warsaw :43.81, 4. Homestead :44.17, 5. Penn :44.53, 6. Warsaw :44.80
400 - 1. Dieringer (P) :51.68, 2. Castillo (W) :51.95, 3. Erickson (W) :52.36, 4. Coughlin (P) :52.72, 5. Dill (NS) :53.00, 6. Didion (G) :53.07
300 hurdles - 1. White (S) :39.93, 2. Reid (H) :40.42, 3. Campbell (P) :41.17, 4. Sykes (S) :41.50, 5. Maierle (W) :42.64, 6. Osorio (W) :42.79
800 - 1. Sanders (S) 1:58.42, 2. Fox (P) 2:00.59, 3. Snyder (P) 2:03.99, 4. Mansfield (W) 2:05.14, 5. Fezi (H) 2:05.47, 6. Compson (W) 2:05.98
200 - 1. Perez (EC) :21.90, 2. Horton (EC) :22.22, 3. Balestri (W) :22.80, 4. Miller (W) :22.82, 5. Kiessling (H) :23.01, 6. Didion (G) :23.31
3200 - 1. Placencia (G) 9:47.79, 2. Messman (S) 9:57.37, 3. Holbrook (W) 10:07.56, 4. Laubhan (S) 10:12.06, 5. Milentis (NS) 10:18.11, 6. Bolger (NS) 10:19.44
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw (Miller, Balestri, Castillo, Erickson) 3:25.18, 2. Snider 3:28.10, 3. Penn 3:29.33, 4. North Side 3:31.99, 5. Snider 3:33.08, 6. North Side 3:33.70
High jump - 1. Lengel (M) 6-0, 2. Cunningham (EC) 5-10, 3. (tie) Hums (P), Malone (NS), McKinney (NS), Peat (EC), Moe (G), Messmore (W), Knezovich (H) 5-8
Long jump - 1. Perez (EC) 23-1 3/4, 2. Duong (P) 22-2, 3. Didion (G) 21-10, 4. Hood (NS) 20-9, 5. Miller (W) 20-7 1/2, 6. Furnas (P) 20-6
Discus - 1. Hicks (G) 161-8, 2. Nnachi (EC) 152-4, 3. Craven (S) 146-1, 4. Caudill (W) 129-11, 5. Bogss (W) 128-4, 6. Green (S) 126-1
Shot put - 1. Hicks (G) 54-11 1/2, 2. Nellist (EC) 50-9 1/2, 3. Herndon (S) 46-3 1/2, 4. Nnachi (EC) 46-1 1/2, 5. Sapper (W) 46-1, 6. Boggs (W) 45-4
Pole vault - 1. Lechlitner (P) 13-6, 2. (tie) Moe (G), Anuta (W), Bultemier (H) 13-0, 5. (tie) Hall (H), Ludwig (S), Robertson (P) 12-0
(Outstanding Individual Awards)
Sprinter - Perez (EC)
Distance - Placencia (G)
Field Events - Hicks (G)
Overall - Perez (EC)
