Lady Tigers hope to continue conference, postseason success
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Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
That old saying about there being strength in numbers appears to be true of this year’s Warsaw girls track team. The Lady Tigers, who are scheduled to open the outdoor season today against Kokomo and Bremen, feature a roster of 63 athletes, a number of whom helped Warsaw win regional titles the past two years. “We’ve got a nice mix of youth and some girls that have been in the program four years,” said coach Scott Erba. We’ve got 63 girls on the team, 26 of whom are freshmen and 20 more who are in their first year competing with us. Two-thirds of the girls are first-year girls, but we’ve also got a lot of experience. Depth will be one of our strengths.” Headlining Warsaw’s list of returners is a list of senior standouts that includes Ann Harvuot (sprints), Jackie Ferguson (hurdles), Claire Hickerson (pole vault) and Courtney Farling (long jump). The Lady Tigers’ roster also features young standouts in juniors Tennie Worrell (400) and Mariah Harter (sprints), sophomores Samantha Alexander (long jump), Hannah Dawson (distance), Brooke Rhodes (distance) and Audrey Rich (sprints), and freshmen Allison Miller (distance) and Anna Craig (distance). Erba said the sprint events will be one of his team’s strengths. “One of our strengths will be the sprints,” said Erba, whose team went 7-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference last year and has won at least a share of the league championship in each of the past eight seasons. “Our sprint group is better and deeper than it’s been,” added Erba. “The girls we have coming back are stronger, and they’re excited about the season.” Harvuot won sectional championships last year in both the 100 and 200, but couldn’t compete at the regional because of an injury. Ferguson (100 hurdles) and Worrell (400) also won setional titles last season, as did the 400 relay team of Alexander, Rhodes, Harter and Harvuot. Warsaw is already off to a strong start, having broken some school records at the recent Hoosier State Relays State Finals, which were held at Indiana Wesleyan University in Marion. In that meet, Harvuot teammed up with Alexander, Harter and Rich to set a new school record in the 4x200 relay. The 4x800 relay team of Dawson, Rhodes, Miller and Craig also set a school record, as did Alexander in the long jump. Farling tied the previous school record in the long jump. “We’ve got a lot of balance,” said Erba. “Every year is a different year, but we always go into the season with goals of winning the NLC and winning the sectional. I think we can do that again. We’d like to be fortunate enough to win the regional again. I think that’s a distant possibility again. We’d like to continue those streaks.” Graduated from last year’s team are state qualifiers Sarah Ray (1600, 3200), Jamie Lacheta (long jump) and Megan Dearlove (pole vault), as well as shot put sectional champion Samantha Jensen.
