Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
MENTONE - Eric Prater may have been exhausted and out of breath, but he had just enough energy to let his coach, Terry Screeton, know that the baton in his hand would be marked as a piece of history at Tippecanoe Valley High School.
Prater ran the anchor for Valley's 1,600 relay team that gave the Vikings their first Three Rivers Conference boys track and field title in 20 years. The team of Kevin Hileman, Noah Silveus, Adam Smith and Prater ran a winning time of 3:32.8.
After 15 of the 16 events were in the books, Manchester held a slim 110-107 advantage over the Vikings. Translation: Valley had to win the 1,600 relay and hope Manchester didn't finish any higher than third. With Whitko placing second in the evening's final event, the Vikings edged Manchester 117-116 to capture the title.
"We knew with the exchanges we could cut some time and that we had to run our best time ever," said Prater. "We were tired from other events, but all we heard was that we could win the TRC for the first time in 20 years."
"It feels good," said Silveus. "This was the best run we've put together ever. Twenty years is a long time."
Northfield finished third as a team and was the only other team to break the 100-point barrier. Whitko placed seventh out of the eight teams with a score of 56.5.
"We ran with heart all night," said Screeton. "When you run against Manchester and Northfield, who year in and year out put quality teams on the track, it's hard. Two years ago we had a good team, but Northfield was just that much better. We got beat last week, and that may have even pushed us tonight."
Overall, Valley and Manchester each won four events.
After finishing third in the 100, Manchester's Rex Reimer won the 200 and anchored the Squires' 400 relay team that won with a time of 44.96 seconds. After his team won the 400 relay, Reimer was asked if his 100-meter leg made up for his disappointment in the 100.
"It's been like that all year," said Reimer. "This is only the fourth meet I've been able to run in because I was still playing basketball. That may have affected the way I ran."
Southwood's Levi Perigo won the 100 with a time of 11.54 seconds. Valley's Mike McNeal placed second with a time of 11.58 seconds after he won his heat with a time of 11.3.
"It's very disappointing," said McNeal. "I could've run better. I had a slow start, that's all, just a slow start."
On the girls' side of things, Southwood ran away from the rest of the field with a score of 139. Valley finished second with its team score of 92. Manchester was third with 88 points, and Whitko was eighth with 37.33 points.
The story for Manchester's girls team was Adaku Onyeji, who put together first-place finishes in the 100 and 200.
Valley's Sara Kindig had a first-place finish in the 400 in which she had to come from behind to win with her personal-best time of 1:03.92.
"I just knew I had to run fast," said Kindig. "I was seeded fifth and I just wanted to take the first 100 fast and go from there. This was my best time ever."
Valley's only other first place came in the 1,600 relay team, where junior Erica Pontious had to fight to finish her anchor leg in front of Onyeji.
The only other first-place finish for the Manchester girls came from Ann Harms' 17.06-second effort in the 100 hurdles.
Valley will host Tuesday's girls track and field sectional.
1999 THREE RIVERS CONFERENCE
TRACK RESULTS
Abbreviations - Tippecanoe Valley (TV), Manchester (M), Northfield (NF), Southwood (S), Rochester (R), Oak Hill (OH), Whitko (W), North Miami (NM)
Boys team results - 1. Tippecanoe Valley 117, 2. Manchester 116, 3. Northfield, 4. Southwood, 5. Rochester 67, 6. Oak Hill 58, 7. Whitko 56.5, 8. North Miami
1,600 relay - 1. Valley 3:32.8, 2. Whitko, 3. Manchester, 4. Southwood, 5. Rochester, 6. Northfield
100 - 1. Perigo (S) :11.54, 2. McNeal (TV), 3. Clark (R), 4. Reimer (M), 5. Hendrix (M), 6. Brainard (NF)
200 - 1. Reimer (M) :23.26, 2. Perigo (S), 3. Jimenez (R), 4. Gonzalez (W), 5. Snyder (S), 6. Carlin (TV)
400 - 1. Jimenez (R) :52.71, 2. Mohr (W), 3. Prater (TV), 4. Silveus (TV), 5. Flora (S), 6. Deeds (NM)
800 - 1. Hileman (TV) 2:01.4, 2. McKeighan (W), 3. Enyeart (S), 4. Haupert (NF), 5. Walker (NF), 6. Kerr (M)
1,600 - 1. Andrews (NF) 4:33.4, 2. McWhirt (OH), 3. Cooper (S), 4. Cordes (NF), 5. Garrison (S), 6. Haywood (TV)
3,200 - 1. Andrews (NF) 9:58.7, 2. Parks (NF), 3. Riccius (M), 4. Dubois (R), 5. Arrendale (OH), 6. Nicodemus (W)
110 hurdles - 1. Smith (TV) :15.68, 2. Carlin (TV), 3. Peterson (OH), 4. Gaerte (M), 5. Zimmerman (NF), 6. Dawson (S)
300 hurdles - 1. Carlin (TV) :41.32, 2. Smith (TV), 3. Gaerte (M), 4. Peterson (OH), 5. Zimmerman (NF), 6. Slater (W)
400 relay - 1. Manchester :44.96, 2. Valley, 3. Southwood, 4. Rochester, 5. Northfield, 6. Whitko
3,200 relay - 1. Northfield 8:19.4, 2. Southwood, 3. Whitko, 4. Rochester, 5. Oak Hill, 6. Manchester
High jump - 1. Peterson (OH) 6-4, 2. Silveus (TV), 3. Bazzoni (M), 4. Brainard (NF), 5. Clark (S), 6. Saylor (NM)
Pole vault - 1. Bazzoni (M) 13-0, 2. Peterson (OH), 3. Wagoner (R), 4. Keel (W), 5. Zimmerman (NF), 6. Mirante (NF)
Long jump - 1. Brainard (NF) 20-2.5, 2. Bechtold (M), 3. Reimer (M), 4. Clark (S), 5. Tilden (TV), 6. Hagan (NM)
Shot put - 1. Groombridge (M) 48-5, 2. Fox (TV), 3. Pickering (OH), 4. Burkett (R), 5. Kuhn (TV), 6. Martin (NF)
Discus - 1. Burkett (R) 143-0, 2. Groombridge (M), 3. Cooper (S), 4. Zellers (S), 5. Pickering (OH), 6. Biehl (NF)
Girls team results - 1. Southwood 139, 2. Tippecanoe Valley 92, 3. Manchester 88, 4. Rochester 66.5, 5. Oak Hill 55.33, 6. North Miami 53.83, 7. Northfield 50, 8. Whitko 37.33
200 - 1. Onyeji (M) :27.37, 2. Tysen (S), 3. Withers (NM), 4. Wilcox (TV), 5. French (M), 6. Kindig (TV)
100 - 1. Onyeji (M) :13.36, 2. Tysen (S), 3. Rudd (TV), 4. Wilson (OH), 5. Stutzman (TV), 6. French (M)
400 - 1. Kindig (TV) 1:03.92, 2. Baumbaugh (OH), 3. Garner (S), 4. Speicher (M), 5. Allen (TV), 6. Adang (W)
800 - 1. Hartzler (R) 2:30.1, 2. Guenin (NF), 3. Sweet (S), 4. Spencer (R), 5. Martin (S), 6. Pontious (TV)
1,600 - 1. Hartzler (R) 5:28.2, 2. Guenin (NF), 3. Boggs (S), 4. Puckett (W), 5. Flora (M), 6. Leland (NF)
3,200 - 1. Boggs (S) 11:59.8, 2. Hannah (NM), 3. Guenin (NF), 4. Puckett (W), 5. Leland (NF), 6. Boggs (S)
100 hurdles - 1. Harms (M) :17.06, 2. Herendeen (S), 3. Sparks (W), 4. Rudd (TV), 5. Zile (M), 6. McFarren (TV)
300 hurdles - 1. Herendeen (S) :49.48, 2. Hannah (NM), 3. Harms (M), 4. Ewing (R), 5. Eiler (R), 6. Sparks (W)
400 relay - 1. Southwood :52.84, 2. Manchester, 3. Tippecanoe Valley, 4. Oak Hill, 5. North Miami, 6. Northfield
1,600 relay - 1. Tippecanoe Valley 4:22.8, 2. Manchester, 3. Southwood, 4. Oak Hill
High jump - 1. Ewing (R) 5-2.5, 2. Halderman (S), 3. Pratt (TV), 4. Penner (NF), 5. Drudge (TV), 6. McPherson (S)
Long jump - 1. Proffitt (S) 15-7.5, 2. Harms (M), 3. Wilcox (TV), 4. Kindig (TV), 5. Withers (NM), 6. Brauchler (OH)
Shot put - 1. Jenkins (NM) 36-1.5, 2. Monroe (OH), 3. Kinder (S), 4. Tinkel (W), 5. McGaughey (R), 5. (tie) Fites (NM)
Discus - 1. Kinder (S) 107-0, 2. Monroe (OH), 3. McKee (S), 4. Tinkel (W), 5. Jenkins (NM), 6. Rose (TV)
