Warsaw’s varsity boys track and field team finished fifth at its 35th annual Max Truex Invitational at the Tiger Athletic Complex Friday night. The Tigers’ 74 points were just five points from third. Carroll handily won the meet with 125 points, Valparaiso was second with 97, while LaPorte and Homestead tied for third at 74 points. Unlike regular track and field meets, the Max Truex Invitational focuses on team depth. Two individuals or teams from each school are entered into each event. Their times, heights or distances are combined. Warsaw’s Brock Riley and Luke Wilson combined to finish in a first-place tie with Penn in the high jump, the victory for the Tigers on the night. Riley’s leap of 6-3 was second-best overall, and Wilson tied for the fourth-best effort at 6-0. Landan Perry and Tristan Larsh combined to finish second in the 400 dash in 1:44.91; Perry had the second-fastest time (51.82) and Larsh’s time of 53.09 was the fifth-best. Brandon Reinholt’s 200 time of 23.16 was also the second-fastest; he combined with Alijah Wade to place second in the relay. In the discus event, Dylan Childers (137-0) and Jaceb Burish (133-10) finished fourth and fifth individually, and their combined efforts were good for third place with a combined distance of 270-10. In his post-meet evaluation, Warsaw head coach Matt Thacker briefly lamented the points his team didn’t score due to scratches. “In the field events, we competed well. We scratched out in the shot put, which is uncharacteristic for us. But if it’s going to happen, it’s better that it happens now rather than in the conference meet.” Thacker said. “We also scratched out in the long jump as well. It’s gonna happen; we have to learn from it, and get better. And we will. “The thing about invitationals is you want quality teams here. In the end it’s about getting better for the conference, the sectional and the regional.” The meet serves as solid preparation for the rest of the season, with one last Northern Lakes Conference three-way meet with Elkhart Memorial at Goshen on Wednesday. Goshen, like Warsaw, is undefeated in the conference, according to Thacker. “Goshen’s a program on the rise; they’ve done a good job there,” Thacker said. “They’re gonna give us everything we want and more. And going into the conference meet (May 10 at Warsaw) it’s going to be the same thing. We’re going to have to do a lot of good things in our field events and our sprints, and our distance events to beat Goshen.”
