Lady Tigers cruise to eighth-straight championship
Posted
Dale Hubler-dhubler@timesuniononline.com
Like California Chrome in the Kentucky Derby and Preakness, Warsaw’s girls track and field team was the safe bet to win Tuesday’s sectional. Hosting the 11-team event, coach Scott Erba’s group of thoroughbreds didn’t disappoint, as the Lady Tigers scored 156 points and cruised to their eighth-straight title. Elkhart Memorial finished a distant second in the overall team standings with 82 points, followed in the top five by Elkhart Central (68.5), Concord (66.5) and Goshen (54). Farfield finished sixth as a team with 49.5 points, followed by Northridge (43), Wawasee (33), Jimtown (27), Elkhart Christian Academy (23) and NorthWood (18.5). “Overall, I’m really happy,” said Erba, whose team won the program’s 15th overall sectional title and now focuses on claiming its third-consecutive regional crown. “I told the girls we have a three-week season. The NLC Meet was Week 1, this is Week 2, and the regional is Week 3. Our goal every year is to advance girls to the state meet. With what we did tonight, we’ll have a lot of opportunitites to do that. It should be a very competitive regional.” The top four individuals or teams in each event qualify for Tuesday’s regional, which will also be held at the Tigers Athletic Complex. Warsaw took first place in six of the 16 sectional events and will be represented in 13 total events at the regional. Wawasee, the only other local team in the Warsaw Sectional, will be represented in the regional by sophomore Katlyn Kennedy, who finished third in the shot put with a distance of 35 feet, 1/4 inches. To say the evening belonged to the Lady Tigers would be an understatement. Warsaw’s performance was so dominant that if one were to combine the points from runner-up Memorial and third-place finisher Central, the Lady Tigers would still win the championship. Senior Ann Harvout was among the headlining performers for Warsaw, as she won her fourth-straight sectional title in the 100-meter dash with a time of 12.86 seconds. “We’ve been working on some things mechanically with Ann,” said Erba. “She was as efficient as she should be. She’s making progress with that.” Junior Mariah Harter finished third in the 100 for the Lady Tigers in 13.15 seconds. Harvout and Harter teamed up with sophomores Samantha Alexander and Audrey Rich to win the 4x100 relay in 49.38 seconds, while Rich won the 200 in 26.16 seconds. Junior Tennie Worrell won her third-straight sectional title in the 400, crossing the line in 1:00.71, more than two seconds ahead of runner-up finisher Hanna Durbin of Northridge. Worrell anchored the second-place 4x400 team (4:04.81) that also featured junior Nicole Eckert and sophomores Brooke Rhodes and Hannah Dawson. In the 800, Warsaw’s Anna Craig (2:21.32) and Dawson (2:24.91) finished second and third, respectively. “We advanced two girls in the 100, Tennie ran a season-best time in the 400, and we had a great 800 with Anna and Hannah,” said Erba. “Claire (Hickerson) had her best pole vault in over a year, and both Samantha (Alexander) and Courtney (Farling) came through in the long jump.” Hickerson won the pole vault with a height of 10-6, while freshman Allison Miller won the 3200 in 11:32.52, nine seconds ahead of runner-up Kayla Casaletto of Elkhart Christian. Alexander finished second in the long jump with a distance of 16-6 1/4, while Farling was fourth at 15-0 3/4. Other regional qualifiers for Warsaw included senior Brooklyn Harrison (shot put, 2nd), Rhodes (1600, 3rd) and junior Emma Hayward (3200, 3rd). The Lady Tigers’ quartet of seniors Madeline Hooks and Alethia Burritt and Dawson and Miller finished second in the 4x800 with a time of 9:52.67.
WARSAW SECTIONAL Note - top four individuals or teams in each event advance to Tuesday's Warsaw Regional Team Scores – Warsaw 156, Elkhart Memorial 82, Elkhart Central 68.5, Concord 66.5, Goshen 54, Fairfield 49.5, Northridge 43, Wawasee 33, Jimtown 27, Elkhart Christian Academy 23, NorthWood 18.5 4x800 – 1. Elk. Memorial (Haley Lehman, Sierra Moore, Allison Hoefle, Hailey Moore) 9:43.94, 2. Warsaw (Madeline Hooks, Alethia Burritt, Hannah Dawson, Allison Miller) 9:52.67, 3. Northridge 9:58.09, 4. Goshen 10:03.59, 5. Concord 10:36.85, 6. Elk. Central 11:55.01; 100 – 1. Ann Harvout (War) 12.86, 2. Riley Miller (FF) 12.99, 3. Mariah Harter (War) 13.15, 4. Mariah DeFreese (Con) 13.33, 5. Shawntel James (Jim) 13.48, 6. Catherine Yankosky (Wawa) 13.51; 100 hurdles – 1. Jessica O’Connell (Con) 15.61, 2. Ciana Bonfiglio (Con) 16.52, 3. Jessica Miller (FF) 16.66, 4. Aleyiah Williams (EC) 16.74, 5. Abby Swartz (Wawa) 17.61, 6. Morgan Markel (EC) 17.70 1600 – 1. Moore (EM) 5:12.59, 2. Kayla Casaletto (ECA) 5:18.94, 3. Brooke Rhodes (War) 5:29.54, 4. Ashton Ellis (Gosh) 5:31.67, 5. Amanda Dibley (EC) 5:33.73, 6. Morgan Blyly (NR) 5:38.45; 4x100 – 1. Warsaw (Harter, Samantha Alexander, Audrey Rich, Harvout) 49.38, 2. Fairfield 50.35, 3. Elk. Memorial 50.91, 4. Elk. Central 51.62, 5. Wawasee (Leigh-Ann Shrack, Skylar Janda, Sarah Lancaster, Yankosky) 51.81, 6. Goshen 52.51; 400 – 1. Tennie Worrell (War) 1:00.71, 2. Hanna Durbin (NR) 1:02.80, 3. Taitlyn Trenshaw (NW) 1:03.13, 4. Abigail Adams (NW) 1:03.30, 5. Musu Scott (ECA) 1:04.48, 6. Haley Peterson (War) 1:04.69; 300 hurdles – 1. Jessica O'Connell (Con) 45.06, 2. Nicole Eckert (War) 46.58, 3. Jessica Miller (FF) 47.96, 4. Morgan Markel (EC) 48.86, 5. Jackie Ferguson (WAr) 49.42, 6. Alayna Bailey (EM) 49.55; 800 – 1. Moore (EM) 2:18.80, 2. Anna Craig (War) 2:21.32, 3. Hannah Dawson (War) 2:24.91, 4. Nora Rangel (Gosh) 2:28.06, 5. Mariah King (NR) 2:28.81, 6. Maddie Morehead (ECA) 2:29.25; 200 – 1. Rich (War) 26.16, 2. DeFreese (Con) 26.48, 3. Miller (FF) 26.54, 4. Alexander (War) 26.67, 5. Bailey (EM) 27.26, 6. Yankosky (Wawa) 27.51; 3200 – 1. Miller (War) 11:32.52, 2. Casaletto (ECA) 11:41.88, 3. Emma Hayward (War) 12:03.08, 4. Blyly (NR) 12:10.18, 5. Dibley (EC) 12:27.31, 6. Ellis (Gosh) 12:40.96; 4x400 – 1. Concord (O'Connell, Ciana Bonfiglio, Vanessa Steiner, DeFreese) 4:04.33, 2. Warsaw (Eckert, Brooke Rhodes, Dawson, Worrell) 4:04.81, 3. Elk. Central 4:06.33, 4. Northridge 4:17.16, 5. Elk. Memorial 4:18.91, 6. Goshen 4:19.95; High jump – 1. Maria Corbett (Gosh) 5-3, 2. Michelle Detwiler (Con) 5-2, 3. Nicole Duryea (Jim) 5-1, 4. Raelle Hurtekant (Jim) 5-0, 5. Makaya Young (EC) 5-0, 6. Kaitlin Rock (NW) 4-10; Long jump – 1. James (Jim) 16-8.75, 2. Alexander (War) 16-6.25, 3. Miller (FF) 15-5, 4. Courtney Farling (War) 15-0.75, 5. Tailor Schultheis (EM) 14-9, 6. Ruby Minnick (Wawa) 14-8.25; Discus – 1. Jenai White (EC) 112-7, 2. Kristen Hanson (Gosh) 108-11, 3. Deanna Cornelius (EM) 108-8, 4. Andrea Hagar (FF) 105-11, 5. Kim Swank (NR) 105-9, 6. Hannah Winters (Wawa) 104-3; Shot put – 1. Cornelius (EM) 40-5.25, 2. Brooklyn Harrison (War) 36-0.25, 3. Katlyn Kennedy (Wawa) 35-0.25, 4. Kayona Malone (EM) 34-3, 5. Swank (NR) 34-1.5, 6. White (EC) 34-1.25; Pole vault – 1. Claire Hickerson (War) 10-6, 2. Libbey Yeakey (EC) 9-0, 3. (tie) Tricia Place (Gosh) 8-6, Alex Downs (EC) 8-6, 5. Shannon Winslow (War) 8-6, 6. Taylor Busse (Wawa) 8-6
