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DUNLAP - After inclement weather Thursday forced the Goshen boys track sectional to finish Friday, any hope Warsaw had of winning the team championship slipped through its hands, literally.
With the Tigers running neck and neck in the scoring column with Elkhart Central, Warsaw sophomore Brad Seiss was racing to the front in the second leg of the 1600 relay when he and a competitor got too close and the baton was knocked out of his hand. The Tigers would have finished sixth but were disqualified after senior anchor Nate Ridderman threw the baton at the conclusion of the race.
Warsaw finished the meet in second place with 111 team points. Elkhart Central won the team title with 117.
"That 1600 relay team I thought could've scored at the state meet," Warsaw fourth-year coach Troy Akers said. "After running the first leg, and the way Brad was running, I thought we could have run a state time. We can't make excuses. It's unfortunate. It wasn't flagrant. It was just an elbow that caught the baton. It's unfortunate tonight that it happened to us, but it doesn't take away anything. The kids ran strong and had a great season."
Warsaw has gone through past three regular seasons undefeated. Akers has coached his teams - Wawasee girls for four years and Warsaw boys - to undefeated regular seasons in six of the last seven years.
Elkhart Memorial finished third with 98 points, followed by Goshen (86), NorthWood (67), Concord (57), Jimtown (34), Fairfield (25), Wawasee (20), Northridge (2) and Howe Military (1).
Central won the sectional last year as well, with Warsaw finishing third. The Tigers won the Max Truex Invitational two weeks ago, topping Central, which finished third, by 25 points.
"I knew that it would be close," Akers said. "We might not have scored as much in the field events as we could have. We had higher seeds in the long jump and discus, it just didn't work out."
The top four teams or individuals in each event advance to Thursday's regional at Fort Wayne Wayne.
The Tigers will be represented at the regional in 11 of the 16 events.
Warsaw took first-place finishes in the 3200 relay (Greg Seiss, Jason Sibray, Rob Peters, Jon Dock) with a time of 8:08.82, in the 800 with senior Greg Seiss' time of 1:58.55 and in the pole vault with senior Zach Scheetz's leap of 14 feet six inches. Seiss, who attempted but failed to break the school record with a jump of 14-11, topped the field by two feet.
Junior Jarod Leasure advanced to Thursday's competition in the shot put with a fourth-place distance of 44-6 1/2 and in the discus with a second-place toss of 138-4.
Also representing the Tigers Thursday will be Jared Scrafton (4th 110 hurdles), Aaron Chabot (4th 100), Grady Randall (2nd 300 hurdles), Rob Peters (2nd 800), Jacob Fitzsimmons (2nd high jump) and Brad Seiss (4th high jump).
NorthWood, which finished second in last year's sectional and fifth this year, will be represented at the regional in six events.
Aaron Hoover moves on in the 1600 with his fourth-place time of 4:38.11 and in the 3200 with his winning time of 9:32.44. Ian Reed took second in the long jump (21-0 1/4) and third in the high jump (6-0). Nicholas Juday advanced in the 110 hurdles with a third-place time of 15.79 seconds. Scott Hill moves on in the 200 with a fourth-place time of 23.46 seconds.
Wawasee will be represented at the regional by two athletes - Jerid Stoffel who finished third in the 800 with a time of 2:01.65 and Rob Chalfant who was second in the 3200 with a time of 9:37.64.
Field events begin Thursday at 5 p.m. at Fort Wayne Wayne High School.
