Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
BREMEN -ÊIt's a rare occasion when teams from both Warsaw and Manchester are cheering for Tippecanoe Valley.
But that's exactly what happened Tuesday night at the Bremen Girls Track Regional during a rare tiebreaking runoff.
The Tippecanoe Valley 400 relay team won the slow heat of the regional, while Elkhart Memorial placed third in the fast heat. Upon further review of times, judges found that the Vikings and Crimson Chargers had actually tied, according to times.
"The timing system is done with a VCR," said Valley coach Terry Screeton. "The time prints on the VCR, but when there are multiple heats, there is no way to tell the winner when the times are that close. It just becomes a judgement call."
Since there was no definitive way to tell the winner, the teams had a runoff after the meet was finished.
As the Valley and Memorial teams warmed up to run their final race, teams from Warsaw and Manchester lined up near the fence and cheered for their rivals from Akron.
Maybe that cheering helped as the Vikings won the tiebreaker and advanced to the state meet. The Chargers took the lead on the first leg of the race, but Valley stayed close until the final leg of the race. That's when Valley's Heather Rathbun took the baton with a burst of energy and bolted past Elkhart Memorial's Renaye Davis to give the Vikings the win with a time of 51.46 seconds.
"Our goal was to get first in our heat," said Rathbun. "We were really running against the clock, so we were really surprised that we tied for third. In the second race, we really wanted it, and we just had to go for it."
"We were really excited to be in the runoff," said Viking relay team member Kara Kramer.
"It was really cool that all the people stayed to watch us run," said Viking runner Amanda Wiley. "It was exciting to be in the runoff."
"We wanted this so bad," said Lindsay Wiley. "We knew we were the underdog."
While the Valley team was the underdog, there was one athlete who was a favorite. Warsaw's freshman standout Julie Seiss, who has not lost a high jump competition all season, was the favorite in the regional.
Seiss did not disappoint, winning the high jump competition with a leap of 5-foot-4. She also placed second in the 800 meter run and was a member of Warsaw's second place state-qualifying 1600 relay team along with Rachel Rondeau, Jaclyn Leininger and Claire Beckett.
"I am really happy with our team," said Warsaw coach Paul Boyd. "I am especially happy for Rachel and Claire, what a way to finish their senior season. I'm also excited for Julie, she is quite an athlete. This is also Jaclyn Leininger's first year in track and she is getting the chance to go to state."
Wawasee's Rachel Stichter qualified for the state meet in both the 1,600 and the 3,200 races. Her time of 11:22.24 in the 3,200 race put her in second place, while her time of 5:18.79 was good enough for third in the 1,600.
"We had a good performance tonight," said Wawasee coach Kevin Gilbert. "Rachel qualified in both the 3,200 and 1,600, but she will only run one next week. She will probably run the 3,200 at the state meet."
The qualifiers will compete in the state finals June 7 in Indianapolis.
BREMEN GIRLS TRACK REGIONAL
(Top three individuals, top three relay teams and any athletes meeting the state standard advance to the state finals on Saturday, June 7, in Indianapolis)
TEAM SCORES
Northridge 70, Kokomo 61, South Bend Adams 56, Elkhart Memorial 34, Penn 33, Plymouth 32, Warsaw 32, Logansport 30, Wawasee 24, Maconaquah 23, Mishawaka Marian 20, Mishawaka 18, LaVille 16, Goshen 12, Concord 12, South Bend Clay 12, Elkhart Central 11, Tippecanoe Valley 9, Bremen 9, Eastern (Greentown) 9, Peru 8, Culver Community 8, South Bend St. Joseph's 6, Jimtown 5, Triton 5, Manchester 5, Northwestern 4, NorthWood 4, Glenn 3, Madison-Grant 3, Oregon-Davis 2, Fairfield 2, Western 2, Culver Academy 1, North Miami 1, Whitko 1, Pioneer 1.
3,200 relay -Ê1. Northridge (Megan Jackson, Kayla Yoder, Lynn Pezzanite, Tiffany Brenneman) 9:34.44 (RECORD; old 9:36.67 set by Adams in 2000). 2. Plymouth (Jessica Foust, Kourtney Beckham, Vera Zadorozhnaya, Morgan Uceny) 9:40.38. 3. Clay (Elizabeth Turner, Sarah Ritchie, Rachel Kroll, Katherine White) 9:47.19. 4. Marian (Kelly Fransted, Lindsey Gilman, Melissa Delahanty, Megan Flynn) 9:53.36. 5. Goshen (Jenna Rozelle, Rachel Yoder, Kendra Ellington, Zorina Keyser) 10:01.90. 6. Penn (Nina Chaudhary, Megan Malone, Karlie Singleton, Hannah Bergeman) 10:02.57. 7. Elkhart Central (Kimberly Miller, Jennifer Stanley, Brittany Booth, Dominique Carmer) 10:10.73. 8. Adams (Whitney Dempsey, Sara Hite, Kate Englert, Caitlin Hiler) 10:20.12.
100 hurdles -Ê1. Brandi Huddleston (Logansport) 15.18. 2. Kelly Hale (Concord) 15.35. 3. Maggie Scheiman (Kokomo) 15.58. 4. Ann Bedwell (Eastern) 15.91. 5. Brittney Bolden (Adams) 16.01. 6. Terrin Meister (Triton) 16.38. 7. Kate Grant (Penn) 16.41. 8. Lindsay Francis (Warsaw) 16.48.
100 -Ê1. Lashonda Davis (Kokomo) 12.37. 2. Ali Burroughs (Plymouth) 12.57. 3. LaTonya Booker (Adams) 12.64. 4. Krystol Hines (Maconaquah) 12.88. 5. Alicia Highsmith (St. Joseph's) 13.01. 6. Beth Brown (Goshen) 13.04. 7. Hillary Griffith (Adams) 13.08. 8. Angel Williams (Culver Academy) 13.21.
1600 -Ê1. Tiffany Brenneman (Northridge) 5:02.07. 2. Megan Flynn (Marian) 5:06.41. 3. Rachel Stichter (Wawasee) 5:18.79. 4. Kayle Yoder (Northridge) 5:24.99. 5. Laura Boltz (Eastern) 5:26.09. 6. Carrie McGuire (Maconaquah) 5:27.73. 7. Catherine Bowen (Concord) 5:28.80. 8. Rachel Kroll (Clay) 5:34.18.
Discus -Ê1. Mandy Bodnar (LaVille) 134-1. 2. Hayley Boling (Elkhart Memorial) 124-4. 3. Andrea Horban (Mishawaka) 123-10. 4. Jocelyn Cook (Maconaquah) 119-10. 5. Natalie Combs (Northwestern) 119-7. 6. Holly Austin (Madison-Grant) 117-0. 7. Stacey Graber (Fairfield) 115-6. 8. Sara Chalk (Kokomo) 113-9.
400 relay -Ê1. Kokomo (Sade' Cox, Maggie Scheiman, Samantha Bledsoe, Lashonda Davis) 49.95. 2. Adams (Timeka Bailey, LaTonya Booker, Nikitia Shelton, Hillary Griffith) 50.35. 3. Tippecanoe Valley (Kara Kramer, Lindsay Wiley, Amanda Wiley, Heather Rathbun) 51.46. 4. Elkhart Memorial (Natasha Kinsey, Brandi McAllister, Christian Sutton, Renaye Davis) 51.46. 5. Logansport (Erin Granger, Kerri Goodrich, Brandi Huddleston, Tana Steinberger) 51.66. 6. Elkhart Central (Erika Young, Sabrina Leader, Molly Robinson, Alicia Carr) 51.79. 7. Wawasee (Jodi Burht, Claire List, Gloria Boesenburg, Jessie Spearman) 51.83. 8. Bremen (Kayla Adams, Paola Montes, Tricia Graverson, Allison Gurbick) 52.86.
400 -Ê1. Caitlin Lauer (Adams) 58.12. 2. Cassie Bjurstrom (Northridge) 59.15. 3. Colleen Daly (Penn) 1:00.15. 4. Paige Coulter-Kern (Manchester) 1:00.68. 5. Rachael Phillips (Bremen) 1:01.18. 6. Katherine Petersen (Elkhart Memorial) 1:01.71. 7. Erika Young (Elkhart Central) 1:02.11. 8. Nichole Mady (Elkhart Central) 1:02.42.
Long jump -Ê1. Lashonda Davis (Kokomo) 17-11. 2. Brittney Bolden (Adams) 16-10 1/2. 3. Madison Monk (Penn) 16-8 1/2. 4. Natasha Kinsey (Elkhart Memorial) 16-5 3/4. 5. Allison Gurbick (Bremen) 16-4 3/4. 6. Cassie Bjurstrom (Northridge) 16-4. 7. Tiffany Reida (Western) 15-9 1/2. 8. Felecia Brown (North Miami) 15-4 1/4.
300 hurdles -Ê1. Brandi Huddleston (Logansport) 45.06. 2. Jennifer Storch (Peru) 46.29. 3. Kerri Goodrich (Logansport) 46.92. 4. Brittney Bolden (Adams) 47.09. 5. Maggie Scheiman (Kokomo) 47.19. 6. Aimee Sheaks (Glenn) 47.79. 7. Terrin Meister (Triton) 48.06. 8. Elizabeth Zaseck (Penn) 49.76.
800 -Ê1. Maggie Noonan (Maconaquah) 2:17.49. 2. Julie Seiss (Warsaw) 2:18.88. 3. Morgan Uceny (Plymouth) 2:19.66. 4. Rachel Rondeau (Warsaw) 2:21.46. 5. Megan Jackson (Northridge) 2:21.99. 6. Megan Flynn (Marian) 2:25.53. 7. Shelby Morrow (Mishawaka) 2:27.56. 8. Angie Juricak (Whitko) 2:28.13.
200 -Ê1. Lashonda Davis (Kokomo) 26.03. 2. Cassie Bjurstrom (Northridge) 26.70. 3. Hillary Griffith (Adams) 26.77. 4. Cassie Bumpus (Jimtown) 26.80. 5. Beth Brown (Goshen) 26.83. 6. Jessie Spearman (Wawasee) 27.23. 7. Alicia Highsmith (St. Joseph's) 27.40. No eighth place awarded, Ali Burroughs (Plymouth) scratched due to injury.
High jump -Ê1. Julie Seiss (Warsaw) 5-4. 2. Dale Heiser (Culver Community) 5-4. 3. Lisa Barrett (Kokomo) 5-4. 4. Nickie Rash (Plymouth) 5-3. 5. Tara Clouse (Wawasee) 5-3. 6. Betsy Freeman (Penn) 5-3. 7. Amy Pflugshaupt (Oregon-Davis) 5-2. 8. Kylie Swisher (Pioneer) 5-2.
3,200 -Ê1. Tiffany Brenneman (Northridge) 11:16.76. 2. Rachel Stichter (Wawasee) 11:22.24. 3. Karlie Singleton (Penn) 11:38.25. 4. Stacy Matteson (Elkhart Memorial) 11:52.63. 5. Stefanie Schmetzke (Kokomo) 11:53.17. 6. Laura Lash (Tippecanoe Valley) 12:02.04. 7. Aubree Draper (Northridge) 12:05.11. 8. Nina Chaudhary (Penn) 12:21.40.
Shot put -Ê1. Andrea Horban (Mishawaka) 41-4 1/2. 2. Natasha Mills (Elkhart Memorial) 40-0. 3. Mandy Bodnar (LaVille) 39-3 1/2. 4. Monica Macellari (Clay) 38-5 1/2. 5. Audrey Duncan (NorthWood) 37-9. 6. Marie Doan (Penn) 37-3. 7. Dynisha (Concord) 36-5. 8. Jessica Leach (Wawasee) 36-4.
1,600 relay -Ê1. Northridge (Kim Mohr, Nicole Blue, Tiffany Brenneman, Cassie Bjurstrom) 4:05.22. 2. Warsaw (Rachel Rondeau, Jaclyn Leininger, Claire Beckett, Julie Seiss) 4:06.96. 3. Adams (Whitney Dempsey, Brittney Bolden, Nikitia Shelton, Caity Lauer) 4:07.92. 4. Plymouth (Megan Holzwart, Vera Zadorozhnaya, Kourtney Beckham, Morgan Uceny) 4:08.75. 5. Marian (Annita Quiett, Melissa Conte, Ashley Ceniceros, Megan Flynn) 4:08.86. 6. Elkhart Central (Kimberly Miller, Erika Young, Alicia Carr, Nichole Mady) 4:09.12. 7. Penn (Rachel Behrens, Ashley DeMyer, Disa Beck, Colleen Daly) 4:10.96. 8. Goshen (Kami Green, Jenna Rozelle, Zorina Keyser, Beth Brown) 4:11.53.
NON-SCORING EVENT
Pole vault -Ê1. Lindsey Johnston (Penn) 9-0 (RECORD, new event). 2. Virginia O'Bryan (Elkhart Memorial) 8-0. 3. Lauren Livingston (Culver Academy) 7-6. 4. Alasha Lott (Eastern) 7-3. No other competitors cleared required height.
