The ninth-ranked Warsaw boys track and field team brought the Max Truex Tiger Invitational championship trophy back home Friday night at the Tigers Athletic Complex. Tallying 124 points, Warsaw defeated the likes of No. 15 Penn (115.5), Hobart (99) and No. 14 Fort Wayne North Side (83), winning its eighth Truex title and first since 2006. “It’s just a credit to our kids and our coaches for the hard work they put in,” Warsaw head coach Matt Thacker said. “They just won it. They are young and it’s just a lot of fun. I can’t be more proud of them. There’s not a negative thing I can think of or say. It’s been one heck of a ride with them.” The win comes six days after the Tigers won their first Goshen Relays championship in 60 years, tying with Carroll Saturday afternoon. Also, the Tigers sit at 5-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference and are cruising along, making some dream of what may come in the postseason. “We’ve been trying to crunch numbers, we’ve been trying to predict it as coaches,” Thacker said. “Honestly, I don’t think the guys realize how talented they are and how far we can really go. With the continued effort they keep putting in, the sky’s the limit.” One group that does know its talent level is the 3200 relay of sophomore Ismael Calderon, junior Jacob Poyner, sophomore Ellis Coon and senior Spencer Rheinhardt. Already ranked as the top 3200 relay in the state, the group won Friday night’s event in 7:52.73, breaking the meet and school record in the process. “That was our goal today — to get the 3200 relay record for the school,” Rheinhardt said. “It was a really good feeling to cross the finish line knowing we had gotten it.” The time broke the previous meet record of 7:56.00 set by Fort Wayne Snider in 2003, as well as the 1998 school record of 7:53.43, set by Justin Rice, Jon Dock, David Hoffert and Greg Seiss. At the meet, each team has two competitors, or relay teams, in each event. Once each heat is completed, the times, distances or heights are combined to determine the final score for that event. With that kind of format, the Tigers also broke the previous meet team record, which was set by Warsaw in 2000. Along with the ‘A’ team’s time, the Tigers ‘B’ 3200 relay of sophomore Ryan Goon, freshman Daniel Messenger, freshman Michael Compton and freshman Nick Adams won its heat in 8:27.76, giving the Tigers a combined time of 16:20.49, eclipsing the 2000 time of 16:24.38. “The (3200 relay) was great,” Poyner said. “This was pretty much our last chance to go for that (record). We all really came out ready to compete for that. That’s probably the best part about tonight.” The Tigers also closed the night by setting another record, as the team’s two 1600 relays finished first overall with a combined time of 6:53.87, one-hundredth-of-a-second faster than Fort Wayne Northrop’s 2009 time. Individually, Coon won the 3200 in 9:46.34, with sophomore teammate Robert Murphy finishing second in 9:50.01. Poyner also had a pretty good night, earning Most Outstanding Distance Runner after being a part of the winning 3200 and 1600 relays, as well as winning the 1600 in 4:22.78. The 1600 was one of the most highly-anticipated events as the night, matching Poyner up with LaPorte senior Mitch Hubner. Hubner finished 18th at last year’s state meet and got the best of Poyner at the Goshen Relays. However, this time around, Poyner won by almost seven seconds in a time of 4:22.78. Despite the big win, Poyner was humble. “Sometimes you feel good, sometimes you don’t have it,” Poyner said. “He wasn’t feeling the best, even in the (3200 relay). He came back and ran a good 800 and (1600 relay).” Hubner did win the 800 in 1:58.88, but at the end of the night, it was the Tigers celebrating the team victory, and they aren’t done yet. Warsaw travels to Plymouth for a Northern Lakes Conference meet Wednesday with the Pilgrims and Concord, then preps for the NLC meet on May 8 at Warsaw. From there, it’s sectional time, getting under way May 17 at Goshen. “We have one more conference dual meet, then we’re there,” Poyner said. “It’s coming up, but I think we’re all ready.”
MAX TRUEX INVITATIONAL Team Scores — Warsaw 124, Penn 115.5, Hobart 99, FW North Side 99, LaPorte 82, Mishawaka Marian 30, Tippecanoe Valley 9.5 (Winners, Local Results) 3200 Relay — 1. Warsaw (1. Ryan Goon, Daniel Messenger, Michael Compton, Nick Adams 8:27.76, 5. Ismael Calderon, Jacob Poyner, Ellis Coon, Spencer Rheinhardt 7:52.53**) 16:20.49*, Tippecanoe Valley (12. 10:15.53, NS); 110 Hurdles — 1. Penn (3. Tim Deal 15.94, 1. Colin Huff 15.48) 31.42, 2. Warsaw (10. Dylan Campbell 18.91, 2. Taylor Cone 15.60) 34.51, Tippecanoe Valley (5. James Gregory 16.47, NS); 100 — 1. North Side (5. Tyvon Kelley 11.31, 2. Ed Benson 11.22) 22.53, 3. Warsaw (7. Tristan McClone 11.46, 4. Wyatt Jones 11.28) 22.74, Tippecanoe Valley (11. Michael Thacker 12.01, NS); 1600 — 1. Warsaw ( 1. Jacob Poyner 4:22.78, 4. Robert Murphy 4:36.98) 8:49.76, 7. Tippecanoe Valley (12. Brandon Maull 5:02.86, 14. Brody Cook 5:26.10) 10:28.96; 400 Relay — 1. Penn (45.88, 43.37) 1:29.25, Warsaw (45.86, DQ); 400 — 1. North Side (5. Kersten Barnfield 51.45, 1. Ed Benson 49.21) 1:40.66, 2. Warsaw (4. Chad Goon 51.14, 3. Wyatt Jones 50.18) 1:41.32, Tippecanoe Valley (6. Nolan Sponseller 51.78, NS); 300 Hurdles — 1. Warsaw (5. Taylor Cone 41.83, 2. Ryan Goon 40.71) 1:22.54, Tippecanoe Valley (NT, 3. James Gregory 41.30); 800 — 1. LaPorte (1. Mitch Hubner 1:58.88, 7. Dakota Dubbs 2:06.08) 4:04.96, 2. Warsaw (2. Spencer Rheinhardt 2:00.33, 5. Ismael Calderon 2:05.07) 4:05.40; 200 — 1. North Side (1. Tyvon Kelly 22.15, 3. Ed Benson 22.52) 44.67, 4. Warsaw (10. Nathan Kolbe 23.84, 7. Tristan McClone 23.17) 47.01, 6. Tippecanoe Valley (13. David Green 25.53, 9. Nolan Sponseller 23.83) 49.36; 3200 — 1. Warsaw (2. Robert Murphy 9:50.01, 1. Ellis Coon 9:46.34); 1600 Relay — 1. Warsaw (4. Gabe Furnivall, Nathan Kolbe, Michael Compton, Jacob Poyner 3:30.76, 2. Wyatt Jones, Chad Goon, Ryan Goon, Spencer Rheinhardt 3:23.11*) High Jump — 1. Warsaw (3. Zach Rooney 6-0, 1. Stephen Kolbe 6-2) 12-2, 4. Tippecanoe Valley (11. Willy Inglehearn 5-4, 5. Derrick Cunningham 5-8) 11-0; Pole Vault — 1. Penn (4. Peter Loughran 12-0, 1. Kyle Johnston 15-6) 27-6, 3. Warsaw (6. Jeff Coulter 11-0, 5. Jake Fayed 11-6) 22-6; Long Jump — 1. Hobart (4. Matt Stewart 19-3.25, 1. Lane Posey 20-3.5) 39-6.75, 2. Warsaw (8. Taylor Anderson 17-6.5, 2. Zach Rooney 20-1.75) 37-8.25, Tippecanoe Valley (ND. James Gregory, 6. Derrick Cunningham 18-2.5); Discus — 1. Hobart (4. Ernie Ray 125-6, 1. Gerald Valenzuela 134-6) 260-0, 4. Warsaw (6. Cameron Fritzel 120-10, 10. Seth Fouts 114-0) 234-10; Shot Put — 1. Warsaw (3. Cameron Fritzel 47-4.5, 2. Seth Fouts 49-5.5) 96-10 ** — Meet, School Record * — Meet Record
