Warsaw’s boys and girls track teams certainly made themselves feel at home Tuesday night. Hosting the Northern Lakes Conference Meet, both the sixth-ranked Tigers and 14th-ranked Lady Tigers dominated the eight-team field and won championships in convincing fashion. It was the seventh-straight conference championship for the Lady Tigers and second-consecutive for the Warsaw boys. The Lady Tigers won seven of the 16 events, including a pair of record-breaking performances by junior Ashley Erba, and scored 180 points. Goshen’s girls team finished a distant second with 107 points, followed by Northridge (104), Elkhart Memorial (96.5), Concord (75.5), Plymouth (65), NorthWood (56) and Wawasee (47). “Winning seven years in a row is an NLC record,” said Warsaw girls coach Scott Erba. “We’ve done it with different girls. That really makes you appreciate the elementary and middle school programs and the coaches who have gotten the kids excited about track.” Under the guidance of coach Viv Eidemiller, the Lady Tigers won six-straight NLC titles from 1983-88. Eidemiller’s teams won eight conference crowns in a span of 10 years. On the boys side, Warsaw won six of the 16 events Tuesday and scored 176 points. Memorial finished second with 133 points, followed by Goshen (101), Northridge (95), Concord (68), NorthWood (66), Wawasee (61) and Plymouth (31). “The kids just wanted it,” said Warsaw boys coach Matt Thacker. “You can’t coach the desire to win. You can try, but you can’t coach the desire to win or compete. Our kids have it, and it’s a lot of fun to be around.” Winning for Thacker’s Tigers were Taylor Cone (110 hurdles), Ellis Coon (1600), Spencer Rheinhardt (800), Jacob Poyner (3200), the 3200 relay team of Ismael Calderon, Michael Compton, Coon and Rheinhardt, and the 1600 relay team of Ryan Goon, Chad Goon, Gabe Furnivall and Rheinhardt. Poyner’s time of 9:22.18 in the 3200 net a new school record. While he didn’t win an event, Wyatt Jones was certainly impressive for the Tigers. The speedy junior finished second in the 100, 200 and 400. Other second-place finishers for the Warsaw boys included Zach Rooney in the high jump and long jump, Cone in the 300 hurdles, and the quartet of Nathan Kolbe, Tristan McClone, Rooney and Furnivall in the 400 relay. “We had a lot of guys step up for us,” said Thacker. “Spencer Rheinhardt had a great night. He’s a great kid. Taylor Cone did a phenominal job in the 110 hurdles against (Concord’s) Grant Bass, one of the best hurdlers in the state “Wyatt Jones finishing second in the 100, 200 and 400 was huge for us,” continued Thacker. “Zach Rooney and Stephen Kolbe go 2-3 in the high jump, and Cameron Fritzel and Seth Fouts scored big points in the shot put.” On a night filled with impressive performances, maybe none were more spectacular than those of Ashley Erba. Erba, who set a state record with her state-championship time in cross country in October, set NLC marks in both the 1600 and 3200 Tuesday. Erba’s time of 5:01.89 in the 1600 beat the previous mark set in 2004 by Wawasee’s Rachel Stichter by five seconds. It was also a new school record. Her time of 10:47.18 in the 3200 beat Northridge graduate Megan Jackson’s 2005 effort of 10:59.78. “I was definitely going for the records tonight,” said Ashley Erba. “It felt good to knock those out. There has been some great girls come through the NLC.” Ann Harvout also won two individual events for the Lady Tigers, taking first in the 100 and 200. Harvout teamed up with Regina Anderson, Mariah Harter and Brittney Rhodes to win the 400 relay. The Lady Tigers were also winners in the 1600 relay with Nicole Eckert, Jackie Ferguson, Megan Kratzsch and Tennie Worrell. Second-place finishers for the Lady Tigers included Sarah Heagy (shot put), Worrell (400) and the 3200 relay team of Brooke Kline, Lilly Fleming, Anna Bearss and Kristin Quick. The Wawasee girls got a first-place finish from Jordan Edington in the shot put. Jake Schwartz turned in the best finish for the Wawasee boys, finishing second in the discus competition. (GIRLS) Team scores – Warsaw 180, Goshen 107, Northridge 104, Elkhart Memorial 96.5, Concord 75.5, Plymouth 65, NorthWood 56, Wawasee 47; 3,200 relay – 1. Plymouth (Meagan Fisher, Libby Read, Maggie Morrow, Allie Wright) 9:37.68, 2 Warsaw 9:43.15m, 3. Northridge 9:54.50, 4. Wawasee 10:10.84, 5. Memorial 10:17.30; 100 hurdles – 1. Liana Yoder (Gosh) 15.37, 2. Jessica O’Connell (Con) 15.89, 3. Jackie Ferguson (War) 15.97, Brittney Rhodes (War) 17.16, 5. Cianna Bonfiglio (Con) 17.22; 100 – 1. An Harvuot (War) 12.56, 2, Lauren Stutzman (Gosh) 13.09, 3. Angelica Ramon (Nwood) 13.16, 4. Regina Anderson (War) 13.25, 5. Melissa DuBois (Con) 13.28; 1,600 – 1. Ashley Erba (War) 5:01.89, 2. Corinne Cominator (Nridge) 5:11.26, Sierra Moore (EM) 5:17.28, 4. Jennifer Schrock (Nridge) 5:26.09, 5. Adrienne Henke (Gosh) 5:37.04; 400 relay – 1. Warsaw (Regina Anderson, Mariah Harter, Brittney Rhodes, Ann Harvuot) 50.85, 2. Concord 50.94, 3. Memorial 51.56, 4. NorthWood 52.92, 5. Northridge 54.35; 400 – 1. Allie Wright (Ply) 59.60, Tennie Worrell (War) 1:00.52, 3. Allison Hoefle (EM) 1:00.61, 4. Megan Kratzsch (War) 1:02.01, 5. Edith Gonzalez (Gosh) 1:04.28; 300 hurdles – 1. Liana Yoder (Gosh) 45.40, 2. Jessica O’Connell (Con) 45.55, 3. Jackie Ferguson (War) 47.78, 4. Kayla Bixler (War) 48.96, Bekah Ross (Nridge) 50.83; 800 – 1. Sierra Moore (EM) 2:18.02, 2. Corinne Cominator (Nridge) 2:18.34, 3. Brooke Kline (War) 2:20.78, 4, Meagan Fisher (Ply) 2:20.82, 5. Breanna Robinson (Waw) 2:22.26. 200 – 1. Ann Harvuot (War) 26.28, 2, Liana Yoder (Gosh) 26.29, 3. Angelica Ramon (Nwood) 26.90, 4. Lauren Stutzman (Gosh) 27.24, Christiana Juroff (Nridge) 27.32; 3,200 – 1. Ashley Erba (War) 10:47.18, Jennifer Schrock (Nridge) 11:43.79, 3. Madie Royce (Nridge) 11:57.52, 4. Courtney Linnemeier (Waw) 12:13.31, 5. Shelby Harrell (Ply) 12:14.80; 1,600 relay – 1. Warsaw (Nicole Eckert, Jackie Ferguson, Megan Kratzsch, Tennie Worrell) 4:03.89, 2. Plymouth 4:07.64, 3, Concord 4:07.82, 4. Northridge 4:10.21, 5. Memorial 4:16.27; Long jump – 1. Melissa DuBois (Con) 17-3, 2. Lauren Stutzman (Gosh) 17-1, 3. Liana Yoder (Gosh) 16¼ , 4. Stephanie Bettis (EM) 15-9½, 5. Courtney Farling (War) 15-1¾; High jump – 1. Lily Russo (Nridge) 5-2, 2. Michelle Detwiler (Con) 5-2, 3. Jamie Lacheta (War) 4-10, 4. Kaydon Fosler (Ply) 4-10, 5. Meagan Fisher (Ply) 4-10. Shot put – 1. Jordan Edington (Waw) 37-2½, 2. Sarah Heagy (War) 37-1¾, Karla Corral (G) 37-½, 4. Madison Stewart (Northridge) 36-5½, 5. Deanna Cornelius(EM) 34-9½. Discus: 1. Mallory Conrad (EM) 122-8, 2. Karla Corral (G) 119-10, 3. Samantha Jensen (Warsaw) 116-11, 4. Lauren Burish (Warsaw) 115-0, 5. Cara Albert (EM) 105-2; Pole vault – 1. Megan Dearlove (War) 10-3, 2. Melissa Berger (Nwood) 9-6, 3. Sarah Rozow (Waw) 9-0, 4. Jessica Tuttle (Nwood)8-6, 5. Chelsea Bettis (EM) 8-6.
(BOYS) Team Scores – Warsaw 176, Elkhart Memorial 133, Goshen 101, Northridge 95, Concord 68, NorthWood 66, Wawasee 61, Plymouth 31 3200 relay – 1. Warsaw (Ismael Calderon, Michael Compton, Ellis Coon, 4, Spencer Rheinhardt) 8:07.41, 2. Goshen 8:09.92, 3. Concord 8:19.89, 4. Northridge 8:25.06, 5. Elkhart Memorial 8:37.80; 110 hurdles – 1. Taylor Coon (War) 15.23, 2. Benjamin Morris (EM) 15.67, 3. Grant Bass (Con) 15.71, 4. Reade Carboneau (Gosh) 15.86, 5. Tim Yoder (Con) 15.86; 100 – 1. Devontae Millsaps (EM) 10.89, 2. Wyatt Jones ( War) 11.18, 3. Daniel Deboni (Gosh) 11.22. 4. Tristan McClone (War) 11.33, 5. Abraham Medellin (Gosh) 11.34; 1600 – 1. Ellis Coon (War) 4:23.66, 2. Jame Bradberry (Nridge) 4:28.84, 3. Robert Murphy (War) 4:29.68, 4. Collin Chupp (Con) 4:33.01, 5. Blake O’Dell (Nridge) 4:33.12 ; 400 relay – 1. Elkhart Memorial (Devontae Millsaps, Caleb Platz, Derek Fisher, Urston Smith) 42.95, 2. Warsaw 43.71, 3. Goshen 44.81, 4. Wawasee 44.95, 5. NorthWood 46.32; 400 – 1. Devontae Millsaps (EM) 49.82, Wyatt Jones (War) 50.82, Chad Goon (War) 51.17, 4. McNeal Stewart (EM) 52.12, 5. Hunter Johnson (Nridge) 52.41; 300 hurdles – 1. Grant Bass (Con) 40.13, 2, Taylor Cone (War) 40.94, 3. Hunter Goodwin (Nridge) 41.05, 4. Cristian Barron (Gosh) 41.25, 5. Ryan Goon (War) 41.33; 800 – 1. Spencer Rheinhardt (War) 1:56.30, 2. Jared Peek (EM) 2:00.71, 3. Louis Kissinger (Gosh) 2:01.03, 4. Keenan Burnett (Con) 2:02.05, 5. Corban Wyatt (Nwood) 2:03.04. 200 – 1. Urston Smith (EM) 22.53, 2. Wyatt Jones (War) 22.79, 3. Brandon Morris (Waw) 23.03, 4. Daniel Deboni (Gosh) 23.22, 5. Tristan McClone (War) 23.27. 3200 – 1. Jacob Poyner (War) 9:22.18, 2. Blake O’Dell (Nridge) 9:41.27, Robert Murphy (War) 9:44.93, 4. James Bradberry (Nridge) 9:48.80, 5. Adam Doll (Waw) 10:06.55; 1600 relay – 1. Warsaw (Gabe Furnivall, Spencer Rheinhardt, Ryan Goon, Chad Goon) 3:21.80, 2. Memorial 3:23.04, 3. Concord 3:27.78, 4, Goshen 3:30.19, 5. Northridge 3:30.92; Long jump – 1. Miguel Bello (Nridge) 20-10¼, 2. Zach Rooney (War) 20-9¾, 3. Gerald Gophin (EM) 19-11¼, 4. Do McDaniel-Halliburton (EM) 19-5¼, 5. Reade Carboneau (Gosh) 19-5; High jump – 1. Reade Carboneau (Gosh) 6-4, 2. Zach Rooney (War) 6-3, 3. Stephen Kolbe (War) 6-3, 4. Urston Smith (EM) 6-1, 5. Devon Hunsberger (Nwood) 6-0; Shot put –1. Alex Soptich (EM) 50-11, Jake Schwartz (Waw) 50-9, 3. Brandon Daniels (Gosh) 49-9¼, 4. Jett Gillis (NWood) 49-1½, 5. Cameron Fritzel (War) 48-10 Discus – 1. Alex Soptich (EM) 156-2, 2. Jason Spriggs (Con) 142-11, 3. Jake Schwartz (Waw) 141-3, 4. Ethan Killian (Nwood) 141-0, 5. Adam Lacefield (Ply) 131-3; Pole vault – 1. Josh Reinheimer (Nridge) 13-4, 2. Devin Puckett (Nridge) 13-0, 3. Garrett Hess (Nwood) 13-0, 4. Albert Gongwer (Nwood) 12-0, 5. Gerald Gophin (EM) 11-6.
