Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
On a warm, sunny Thursday afternoon, fifth-year Warsaw boys track and field coach Troy Akers sits in his white pickup truck and answers questions about tonight's Fort Wayne Wayne Regional.
Akers can't help but be excited. He has 15 reasons to be excited.
Fifteen Tigers will compete in tonight's regional at 5 p.m. This marks the biggest representation for Akers' Tigers ever.
"It's pretty impressive to know that in the jumps and the discus we have two kids in each," Akers said. "We have seven slots filled in the field events, that's awesome. Every single one of those kids has a shot to go to state."
Seniors Jarod Leasure and Ryan Brennan will compete in the discus, while classmate Brent Satterly will compete in the shot put. Junior Adam Bott and senior Arnell Frantz are slated to compete in the long jump, while junior Brad Seiss and Frantz are listed as competitors in the high jump.
The top three individuals or teams in each event, as well as those that meet the state qualifying standard, advance to next week's state meet.
With just one question, Akers went from excited about tonight's regional to a state of disappointment.
What about Jon Dock and Ryan Hill, Akers is asked.
"It's disappointing," Akers said. "We lose a lot with Jon not being there. He was on both the 1600 and 3200 relay teams and was the sectional champion in the 800. It's a big loss. Losing Ryan will have its effects. His little brother [Chris] will replace him because we scratched him at the sectional, but Jon won't be replaced."
Dock won the sectional in the 800 with a time of 1:58.74. He was seeded fourth in tonight's regional and went to state as a freshman, sophomore and junior. Akers expected him to go this year.
Dock broke his leg playing football over the weekend. Needless to say, he won't compete.
Hill, a junior, pulled his hamstring during in a relay race at the Goshen Sectional. Hill was on crutches Thursday. He won't compete either.
"Jon started working for this track season right after Thanksgiving," Akers said. "He started working in November, not February. He was the heart and soul of this team. It's a pretty unfortunate situation, but it's how we respond that's important."
Yes, Akers is disappointed, but don't take him wrong. He's excited about his chances of his runners, jumpers and throwers qualifying for next week's state meet.
A boys track and field meet is made up of 16 events. Warsaw will be represented in 10 tonight.
Junior Adam Sisson will run the 100, 400 and a leg of the 1600 relay with Chris Clay, Grady Randall and Seiss.
Randall, also a junior, will run the 300 hurdles and the third leg of the 400 relay with Joel Popenfoose, Chris Hill and Seiss.
Also competing at the Fort Wayne Wayne Regional will be Wawasee and NorthWood.
Wawasee will be represented in five events, while NorthWood competes in three.
Warrior senior Rob Chalfant, who will run at Purdue University next year, will compete in the 1600, 3200 and 3200 relay. Sophomore Paul Perales will compete in the 3200 and 3200 relay.
At the Kokomo Regional, where action will start at 6 p.m., Triton will be represented in 11 events, led by Matt Anders and Nate Gephart.
Anders is slated to compete in the high jump, 100, 200 and 400, while Gephart will compete in the 1600 and 3200. The Trojans will also be represented in the 110 hurdles (Seth Bowers and Brent Hammond), discus (Aaron Trieschman), pole vault (Matt Yankovich), 300 hurdles (Hammond) and the 3200 relay (Aric Hooley, Joshua Moore, Gephart, Kauffman).
Tippecanoe Valley will compete at Kokomo and will be represented in four events, while Manchester will be represented in three and Whitko two.
Valley's 400 relay team will be made up of Uriah Diemer, Casey Wise, Greg Prater and Kevin Paxton, with Jason Stone being the alternate. Brandon McCombs, Greg Prater, Ross Stutzman and Wise comprise the 1600 relay team.
Stutzman will also compete in the long jump, while Derek Smith is slated to compete in the shot put.
For Manchester, Klay Bechtold will compete in the long jump, Nate Kerr the 400 and David Bazzoni in the pole vault. For Whitko, Adam Hall and Brandon Waterson will compete in the 100, while the team of Burl Haywood, Brent Goble, Hall and Waterson will compete in the 400 relay.
Listed are local individuals competing in tonight's boys track and field regionals.
FORT WAYNE WAYNE REGIONAL (5 P.M.)
WARSAW
Discus - Ryan Brennan, Jarod Leasure
Shot put - Brent Satterly
High jump - Arnell Frantz, Brad Seiss
Long jump - Adam Bott, Frantz
100 - Adam Sisson
400 - Sisson
300 hurdles - Grady Randall
400 relay - Chris Hill, Joel Popenfoose, Seiss, Randall
1600 relay - Chris Clay, Randall, Sisson, Seiss
3200 relay - Rob Peters, Matt Krallman, Melvin Freels, Jake Sweatland
WAWASEE
Shot put - Jimmy Meyer
110 hurdles - Anthony Argentino
3200 - Rob Chalfant, Paul Perales
1600 - Chalfant
3200 relay - Eric Gingerich, Luke Stoffel, Chalfant, Perales
400 relay - Peter Chang, Travis Klenke, Kyle Johnson, Rhett Mikel
NORTHWOOD
100 - Scott Hill
400 - Andrew Yoder
400 relay - Ben Lehman, Casey Yerger, Joseph Sheetz, Hill
KOKOMO REGIONAL (6 P.M.)
TRITON
High jump - Jim Read, Matt Anders
100 - Anders
110 hurdles - Seth Bowers, Brent Hammond
Discus - Aaron Trieschman
1600 - Nate Gephart
400 - Anders
Pole vault - Matt Yankovich
200 - Anders
300 hurdles - Hammond
3200 - Gephart, Christopher Kauffman
3200 relay - Aric Hooley, Joshua Moore, Kauffman, Gephart
TIPPECANOE VALLEY
Long jump - Ross Stutzman
Shot put - Derek Smith
1600 relay - Greg Prater, Brandon McCombs, Casey Wise, Stutzman
400 relay - Uriah Deemer, Kevin Paxton, Wise, Prater (Jason Stone, Alternate)
WHITKO
100 - Adam Hall, Brandon Waterson
400 relay - Burl Haywood, Brent Goble, Hall, Waterson
MANCHESTER
Long jump - Klay Bechtold
400 - Nate Kerr
Pole vault - David Bazzoni
1600 relay - Matt Straka, Sam McFadden, Farron Gaerte, Kerr
