Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
In the first 16 years of the Max Truex Invitational, Warsaw's varsity boys track team won the team title one time - in 1983, the second year of the meet's existance.
After a strong team performance Friday in the meet where two times, heights or distances are combined per team in each event, the Tigers have won the Max Truex Invitational team title two times in the past three years.
Warsaw won the meet with 143 points, outdistancing second-place Penn, which scored 124. Elkhart Central finished in third with 118, followed by Fort Wayne Concordia (90), DeKalb (84), Fort Wayne North 77, Fort Wayne Snider (63) and Kokomo 33.
To prove how much Warsaw, a team that finished the regular season 8-0 and has now gone undefeated in the regular season the past three seasons, dominated - The Tigers topped fifth-place Concordia by 43 points. Concordia, last year's state champion, went through the enitre regular season with the state's No. 1 ranking.
"To be able to compete with teams like Concordia and Central shows our depth," fourth-year Warsaw coach Troy Akers said. "Penn we'd seen earlier in the season and it came down to the wire. Penn was very strong in the field events and is very deserving of the runners-up trophy. I thought our field events were super strong. I thought we'd get off the right foot with our field events and we did."
In the five field events, the Tigers took two first-place finishes, two seconds and a fifth.
Zach Scheetz and Cory Gackenheimer combined to finish first in the pole vault with a total height of 27'0". Individually Scheetz was second (14 feet) and Gackenheimer was third (13 feet). DeKalb finished second in the pole vault with a combined leap of 26-0.
Warsaw's other first-place finish came in the high jump, where senior Jake Fitzsimmons and sophomore Brad Seiss combined to jump 11-9. Concordia, North Side and Penn tied for second with combined leaps of 11-6.
Juniors Jarod Leasure and Ryan Brennan combined to throw 299-5 in the discus, for a Warsaw second-place. Penn's duo of Brent Geiger and Gabe Kovatch won the discus by setting a new meet record of 304-6. The old record of 303-3 was set in 1995 by a duo from North Side.
After finishing first individually in the shot put and second in the discus, Geiger was named the meet's outstanding performer in the field events.
Warsaw was second in the long jump, where senior Aaron Chabot and sophomore Adam Bott combined for a total leap of 39-4 1/2. Chabot was second individually with a leap of 20-3 3/4.
"I'm real proud of the kids' team effort," Akers said. "We'll trade in all the individual trophies in for this one (team title). This is the one that counts the most."
Elkhart Central has won the most Max Truex Invitational titles with six, all coming in the 1990s.
What makes Warsaw's dominance so impressive is the fact that it only won one individual championship in the entire meet - with Fitzsimmons' leap of 6-1 in the high jump. Seiss tied for fifth individually in the high jump with a leap of 5-8.
The Tigers took four first-place finishes in the running events.
Warsaw won the 3200 relay with a two-team time of 8:04.55.
Sophomores Ryan Hill and Grady Randal won the 300 hurdles with a combined time of 1:23.04. Hill was second individuall with a time of 40.95 seconds.
The Tigers won the 1600 relay with a two-team time of 6:59.43, less than half a second of the record Elkhart Central set a year ago.
The Tigers won the 800 where senior Greg Seiss and junior Rob Peters combined for a time of 4:00.86. Seiss was second individually in the event with a time of 1:58.81. DeKalb's Jordan Shown took first with a time of 1:58.19.
"Greg had a super night," Akers said, "anchoring the (3200 relay) and being nipped at the line in the 800."
Warsaw will be in action again Thursday at Concord High School in the Northern Lakes Conference meet.
2000 MAX TRUEX INVITATIONAL
Team scores - 1. Warsaw 143, 2. Penn 124, 3. Elkhart Central 118, 4. Ft. Wayne Concordia 90, 5. DeKalb 84, 6. Ft. Wayne North 77, 7. Ft. Wayne Snider 63, 8. Kokomo 33
Note - Events are scored by combining two times or distances per team in each event.
3200 relay - 1. Warsaw 8:04.55, 2. Concordia, 3. Penn, 4. North Side, 5. Kokomo, 6. Warsaw B
110 hurdles - 1. Warsaw :31.65, 2. North Side, 3. Central, 4. Penn, 5. Snider, 6. DeKalb
100 - 1. Central :22.52, 2. Concordia, 3. Penn, 4. Warsaw, 5. North Side, 6. Snider
1600 - 1. Penn 9:01.78, 2. DeKalb, 3. North Side, 4. Snider, 5. Central, 6. Warsaw
400 relay - 1. Central :89.16, 2. Concordia, 3. Warsaw, 4. Penn, 5. Snider, 6. North Side
400 - 1. Central 1:42.06, 2. Concordia, 3. Warsaw, 4. North Side, 5. Penn, 6. DeKalb
300 hurdles - 1. Warsaw 1:23.04, 2. Central, 3. Snider, 4. Penn, 5. North Side, 6. DeKalb
800 - 1. Warsaw 4:00.86, 2. Penn, 3. DeKalb, 4. Kokomo, 5. Snider, 6. Central
200 - 1. Central :45.68, 2. Concordia, 3. Penn, 4. Warsaw, 5. North Side, 6. Snider
3200 - DeKalb 19:32.63, 2. Penn, 3. Concordia, 4. Snider, 5. Warsaw, 6. North Side
1600 relay - 1. Warsaw 6:59.43, 2. Central, 3. Penn, 4. Concordia, 5. Snider, 6. North Side
Discus - 1. Penn 304'6", 2. Warsaw, 3. (tie) DeKalb, Snider, 5. Concordia, 6. Snider
Pole vault - 1. Warsaw 27'0", 2. DeKalb, 3. (tie) Penn, Kokomo, 5. Concordia, 6. North Side
High jump - 1. Warsaw 11'9", 2. (tie) Concordia, North Side, Penn, 5. Central, 6. DeKalb
Long jump - 1. Central 39'7" 3/4, 2. Warsaw, 3. North Side, 4. (tie) Concordia, DeKalb, 6. Kokomo
Shot put - 1. Central 90'3" 1/2, 2. Penn, 3. Snider, 4. DeKalb, 5. Warsaw, 6. Concordia
Outstanding Sprinter - Brandon Wilson (Elkhart Central)
Outstanding Distance Runner - Ryan Johnson (DeKalb)
Outstanding Field Events Performer - Brent Geiger (Penn)
Overall Outstanding Performer -ÊBrandon Wilson (Elkhart Central)
