Tiger Girls Track Team Second In Three-Way Meet

Posted Thursday, July 28, 2016 4:25 pm

Dale Hubler, Times-Union Sports Write-

An afternoon that was simply dark and dreary, there were bright spots for Paul Boyd and his Warsaw girls track team Monday.

Hosting a three-way meet with Huntington North and Fort Wayne North Side, the Tigers finished second with 51 points, edging North Side by one. Huntington North won the meet with 55 points.

The win over North Side, which came on a cold afternoon of wind and rain, was the first of the year for the Tigers, who are now 1-5 on the season.

"As ugly as it (the weather) was, there were some bright spots," Boyd said. "One thing we lack is maturity, we're a young team. We don't know how to compete yet. We're loaded with freshman and sophomores. Once we learn how to compete this is gonna be a fun team."

A team with only four seniors and five juniors out of 40 participants, it was talented freshman Julie Seiss that led the way for Warsaw, picking up two of the Tigers' four first-place finishes.

Seiss won the high jump with a height of 5-0, and then won the 800 in a time of 2:28.7, four seconds ahead of the second-place finisher from Huntington North. Seiss, who high jumped 5-5 in her first varsity competition earlier this spring in South Bend, could have gone higher than 5-0 but chose to stop.

"What a nice athlete," Boyd said of Seiss. "I told her parents she may be the best athlete in her family. She's a very good middle distance runner. She ran the second fastest 800 time in the state the other night, and she's in the top five in the state this year in high jump. And then she comes back tonight and runs a great leg in the 1600 relay. Not bad for a freshman."

Senior Claire Beckett won the 400 in a time of 106.0, a full second ahead of the second-place finisher from North Side.

"She's really starting to get in shape now," Boyd said of Beckett. "She was second in the 200 and also ran a great leg in the 3200 relay. She's really come on strong. She was sick over Spring Break."

Warsaw's fourth first-place finish came in the long jump, where sophomore Cheyenne Runnells won with a leap of 14-11 1/2. Teammate Mariel Land was second.

Other Warsaw second-place finishes came in the 400 relay, 1600 relay and 3200 relay events.

The Tigers are in action again Thursday at Northern Lakes Conference opponent Elkhart Memorial.

HUNTINGTON NORTH 55, WARSAW 51, NORTH SIDE 50

100 hurdles - 1. Brown (NS) :16.3, 2. Young (HN), 3. Francis (W)

100 - 1. Whitlow (NS) :13.2, 2. Hanson (HN), 3. Krizmanich (W)

High jump - 1. Seiss (W) 5-0, 2. McFadden (HN), 3. Roberts (W)

1600 - 1. Chenoweth (HN) 5:54.4, 2. Achenbach (NS), 3. Komanec (NS)

300 hurdles - 1. Brown (NS) :50.7, 2. Ruth (HN), 3. Moore (HN)

800 - 1. Seiss (W) 2:28.7, 2. Davenport (HN), 3. Rondeau (W)

200 - 1. Whitlow (NS) :28.0, 2. Beckett (W), 3. Hanson (HN)

Discus - 1. Miller (HN) 107-5, 2. Lewis (NS), 3. Butler (NS)

3200 - 1. Zimmerman (NS) 13:25.8, 2. Brown (HN), 3. Carroll (HN)

Shot put - 1. Miller (HN) 34-8 1/2, 2. Lewis (NS), 3. Sparks (W)

400 - 1. Beckett (W) 1:06.0, 2. Hacker (NS), 3. Rondeau (W)

Long jump - 1. Runnells (W) 14-11 1/2, 2. Land (W), 3. Stoffel (HN)

3200 relay - 1. Huntington North (Brown, Chenoweth, Hillgers, Davenport) 10:36.40, 2. Warsaw

400 relay - 1. North Side (Whitlow, Davsi, Shears, Brown) :54.3, 2. Warsaw

1600 relay - 1. Huntington North 4:26.1, 2. Warsaw