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Tuesday night was, Warsaw coach Troy Akers said, the perfect night for ducks and chicken soup.
The chilly, rainy night, where often the loudest sound was the U.S. flag clanging against the flagpole, was not the perfect night for a track and field meet, but Warsaw held one anyway.
While the elements may not have been perfect, as far as Akers was concerned, the results were.
Warsaw's boys track and field team upped its record to 6-0 overall and 5-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference with a 95-64 win over Concord. Northridge also competed and finished with five points.
"This was the meet," Akers said.
It was "the meet" because Concord entered undefeated. The Minutemen, who have spent time in the top 20, fell to 4-1 overall and 3-1 in the NLC. At 5-0, the Tigers are guaranteed to be in at least a tie for first heading into the NLC Tournament. They have one conference meet left, at Plymouth.
With 65 athletes on the roster, Warsaw wears teams down. And the Tigers wore Concord down Tuesday.
"Depth was the key," Akers said. "Depth is huge in overcoming the elements and a good team like Concord."
Just how important was Warsaw's depth? Consider the Tigers won without Jon Hill, who is out with a pulled left hamstring. Hill has never lost in the 100-, 200- or 400-meter runs in an NLC meet. Akers hopes Hill can be back for the May 7 Max Truex Invitational.
Even without Hill, the Tigers took first place in 10 of 16 events. In their 31-point win over Concord, only one athlete - Justin Rice - won more than one individual event.
Rice took first in the 1,600 and 3,200 runs.
"From the 400 up, we won all the races," Akers said. "Guys like Justin Rice, I don't talk about him or the distance guys enough."
Akers often talks about the field events, and again, they were good for the Tigers.
Warsaw took three of the top four places in the high jump, long jump, discus and shot put.
Justan Bellamy won the high jump with a height of 6 feet. Steve Fussle won the long jump with a distance of 19-1. Wes Rodman won the shot put with a toss of 48-7, and Jerrod Leasure took first in the discus with a throw of 133-4.
"We came out of the field events in real good fashion," Akers said, "and on the track, when they were getting firsts, we were right there getting seconds and thirds to offset that."
Other first places for Warsaw included Rob Peters (800) and Greg Seiss (400). The Tigers also won the 3,200 and 1,600 relays.
Dan Martin led Concord with first-place finishes in the 110 high and 300 low hurdles.
After this meet, Akers had his eye on May 13. This is the day of the conference tournament. Concord gets another crack at the Tigers, who hope to be at full strength with Hill back.
"This was the big meet," Akers said. "This was the major hurdle. But I guarantee you, Concord will be back at the NLC meet."
WARSAW 95, CONCORD 64, NORTHRIDGE 5
110 high hurdles - 1. Dan Martin (C) :16.0, 2. Brian Peterson (C), 3. Louie Vogt (W), 4. Matt Horn (W)
800 - 1. Rob Peters (W) 2:06.8, 2. Jon Dock (W), 3. Tony Sands (C), 4. Jason Davis (C)
high jump -Ê1. Justan Bellamy (W) 6-0, 2. Peterson (C), 3. Horn (W), 4. Jake Fitzsimmons (W)
100 - 1. Don Jackson (C) :11.4, 2. Jose Esquivel (W), 3. Aaron Chabot (W), 4. Brian Emerson (C)
300 low hurdles - 1. Martin (C) :42.2, 2. Peterson (C), 3. Sean Wiseman (N), 4. Horn (W)
pole vault - 1. Casey Swinehart (C) 11-6, 2. Zach Scheetz (W), 3. Cory Gackenheimer (W), 4. Tony Bontrager (N)
1,600 - 1. Justin Rice (W) 4:39.5, 2. J.D. Myers (C), 3. Mike Pillow (C), 4. Juan Garcia (W)
200 -Ê1. Joe Corey (C) :23.6, 2. Esquivel (W), 3. Vogt (W), 4. Joe Penniger (N)
long jump - 1. Steve Fussle (W) 19-1, 2. Adam Bott (W), 3. Chabot (W), 4. Jake Holderman (C)
400 - 1. Greg Seiss (W) :52.2, 2. Justin Smith (C), 3. Nate Ridderman (W), 4. Brad Seiss (W)
3,200 -Ê1. Rice (W) 10:19.7, 2. Myers (C), 3. Jake Sweatland (W), 4. David Robertson (W)
shot put - 1. Wes Rodman (W) 48-7, 2. Marvin Farmer (W), 3. Matt Jordan (N), 4. Jaimie Elliott (W)
discus -Ê1. Jerrod Leasure (W) 133-4, 2. Don Jackson (C), 3. Steve Fribley (W), 4. Ryan Brennan (W)
3,200 relay - 1. Warsaw (Dock, Peters, Adam Conley, Seiss) 8:55.3, 2. Concord
400 relay - 1. Concord (Emerson, Martin, McKenzie, Jackson) :45.3, 2. Warsaw
1,600 relay - 1. Warsaw (Ridderman, Esquivel, G. Seiss, B. Seiss) 4:38.1, 2. Concord
