Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
On a night senior Rachel Stichter put her name in the record books, the Wawasee girls track team knocked Northern Lakes Conference foe Northridge off the mountain and put its name on the sectional championship trophy.
Behind two record-breaking performances from Stichter, who will run next season for the Ohio State Buckeyes on a full scholarship, the Warriors won Tuesday evening's Warsaw Sectional at Fisher Field.
The Warriors finished the evening with 106.5 points, winning the sectional championship for the first time since 1997 and stopping Northridge's sectional championship streak at four consecutive years.
The Raiders finished second as a team Tuesday evening with 94 points, followed by Warsaw (87), Elkhart Central (84.5), NorthWood (80.5), Elkhart Memorial (68), Goshen (37), Concord (26), Jimtown (21.5), Fairfield (19).
The top four teams or individuals in each event advance to Tuesday's Bremen Regional. From the regional, the top three teams or individuals, as well as those who meet the state standard, will advance to the state finals June 4 at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Wawasee and Warsaw combined to win six of the 16 events in the 12-team sectional.
Stichter led the way for the Warriors with first-place finishes in both the 1600 and 3200.
Stichter broke the sectional record in the 1600 with a time of 5:00.37, beating her own record of 5:06.87 from last year.
In the 3200, she ran a sectional championship time of 10:53.69. Her time beat Melissa Griffey's previous sectional-sectional best time of 11:05.19 set in 1995.
Other Warriors to win individual sectional championships included juniors Tara Clouse and Jessie Spearman.
Clouse won the high jump competition with an effort of 5-3, while Spearman took first in the 100 with a time of 12.92 seconds, beating the second-place time of 12.98 seconds of teammate Havilah Rensberger. Warsaw's Karrie Burch finished third in the event with a time of 13.05 seconds.
Spearman also finished second in the 200 with a time of 26.5 seconds.
Wawasee's 400 relay team of Claire List, Gloria Boesenberg, Rensberger and Spearman finished second in a time of 50.77 seconds.
For the host Tigers, junior Julie Seiss and senior Mariel Land came away with individual sectional championships.
Seiss won the 800 with a time of 2:19.18, while Land won the long jump with a leap of 16-4.
Runner-up finishes for the Tigers came in the 3200 relay from Valerie Leek, Lindsay Houvener, Katy Cutshall and Seiss with a time of 9:56.53 and in the 1600 relay with Katie Furnivall, Kim Clay, Karrie Burch and Seiss in a time of 4:07.41.
Furnivall, whose dad Troy Furnivall set the WCHS school record in the 400 in 1982 and still holds it, finished third in the 400 with a time of 48.06 seconds.
Tuesday's Bremen Regional will consist of competitors that advanced from sectionals at Bremen, Madison-Grant, Rochester and Warsaw.
WARSAW SECTIONAL
Team scores - Wawasee 106.5, Northridge 94, Warsaw 87, Elkhart Central 84.5, NorthWood 80.5, Elkhart Memorial 68, Goshen 37, Concord 26, Jimtown 21.5, Fairfield 19
3200 relay - 1. Northridge (Gingerich, Miller, Lantzer, Pezzanite) 9:29.90, 2. Warsaw 9:56.53, 3. Concord 10:05.37, 4. Elkhart Central 10:06.21, 5. Goshen 10:16.14, 6. NorthWood 10:36.80
100 hurdles - 1. Jaymi Kizinski (EC) :15.60, 2. Renaye Davis (EM) :16.03, 3. Andrea Jackson (EM) :16.04, 4. Shawn Knafel (Wawa) :16.31, 5. Mindy Helm (Con) :16.32, 6. Caitlin Campbell :16.84
100 - 1. Jessie Spearman (Wawa) :12.92, 2. Havilah Rensberger (Wawa) :12.98, 3. Karrie Burch (War) :13.05, 4. Cassie Bumpus (J) :13.21, 5. Mercedes Plummer (War) :13.36, 6. Danika Pettis (EC) :13.49
1600 - 1. Rachel Stichter (Wawa) 5:00.37, 2. Megan Jackson (NR) 5:03.12, 3. Aimee Gingerich (NR) 5:12.87, 4. Erin Zimmerman (G) 5:30.00, 5. Hanna Paez (EM)5:36.12, 6. Keisha Gay (EC) 5:38.66
400 relay - 1. Elkhart Central (Carr, Pettis, Leader, Aikin) :50.45, 2. Wawasee :50.77, 3. NorthWood :51.2, 4. Warsaw :51.72, 5. Elkhart Memorial :51.95, 6. Northridge :53.24
400 - 1. Brittany Lewis (EM) 1:00.74, 2. Melissa Kauffman (NR) 1:00.79, 3. Kaila Stevens (G) 1:01.61, 4. Alishia Carr (EC) 1:01.75, 5. Krista Spearman (Wawa) 1:02.41, 6. Brooke Mark (Wawa) 1:02.90
300 hurdles - 1. Tiffany Aikin (EC) :47.0, 2. Emily Kolbus (G) :47.74, 3. Katie Furnivall (War) :48.06, 4. Campbell (NR) :48.57, 5. Gloria Boesenberg (Wawa) :48.6, 6. Kim Clay (War) :48.84
800 - 1. Julie Seiss (War) 2:19.18, 2. Lynna Pezzanite (NR) 2:19.73, 3. Megan Miller (NR) 2:22.11, 4. Zimmerman (G) 2:26.19, 5. Alyssa Werst (C) 2:28.69, 6. Valerie Leek (War) 2:29.79
200 - 1. Bumpus (J) :26.45, 2. J. Spearman (Wawa) :26.50, 3. Beenne Capri (NW) :26.60, 4. Plummer (War) :27.05, 5. Rensberger (Wawa) :27.27, 6. Pettis (EC) :27.42
3200 - 1. Stichter (Wawa) 10:53.69, 2. Jackson (NR) 10:55.71, 3. Jessie Lafree (NR) 11:35.78, 4. Lindsey Huang (EC) 12:16.64, 5. Dori Walterhouse (EM) 12:23.8, 6. Giltner (Wawa) 12:31.09
1600 relay - 1. Northridge (Kauffman, Miller, Pezzanite, Gingerich) 4:06, 2. Warsaw 4:07.41, 3. Elkhart Central 4:09.91, 4. Wawasee 4:16.53, 5. Goshen 4:18.52, 6. NorthWood 4:24.55
Long jump - 1. Mariel Land (War) 16-4, 2. Capri (NW) 16-1.25, 3. Aikin (EC) 15-11.75, 4. Rosabeth Koehn (G) 15-7.75, 5. Jackson (EM) 15-7, 6. Heather Willoughby (C) 15-6
High jump - 1. Tara Clouse (Wawa) 5-3, 2. Kelsey Herschberger (FF) 5-3, 3. Davis (EM) 5-0, 4. (tie) Amanda Bechtel (NW), Ericka Kurosky (War) 4-10, 6. (tie) Annie Silasa (EC), Katie Kusserow (War) 4-10
Shot put - 1. Audrey Duncan (NW) 37-0.5, 2. Deana Kronk (NW) 34-11, 3. Tiffany Fick (Wawa) 34-7, 4. Montana Wood (War) 33-6.5, 5. Jaleesa People (EM) 33-4.5, 6. JaRhea Jackson (C) 32-10
Discus - 1. Kronk (NW) 116-10, 2. Duncan (NW) 11-7, 3. Sonya Fearnow (EM) 98-2, 4. Tara Snider (FF) 95-2, 5. Sam Klapp (EC) 94-5, 6. Lisa Neufeldt (J) 93-3
Pole vault - 1. Ali Fritsche (NR) 9-6, 2. Nicole Anderson (EC) 9-6, 3. Stephanie Steiner (NW) 9-0, 4. Nicole Hinton (NW) 9-0, 5. Kelsey Pinion (FF) 8-0, 6. Jeni Dunithan (Wawa) 8-0
Note - the top four teams or individuals in each event advance to Tuesday's Bremen Regional.
