Warsaw Girls Win NLC Title

DUNLAP - For the first time since 2000, members of the Warsaw girls track and field team can call themselves Northern Lakes Conference champions.

On the strenght of two NLC-record breaking performances, the Tigers finished first in the NLC Championships Tuesday night at Concord High School with a score of 132 to Elkhart Memorial's 108. Wawasee finished fifth with a score of 84.

The Warriors entered Tuesday's championships as two-time defending champs of the NLC meet.

The boys race, as expected, was dominated by Elkhart Memorial, which finished first with a score of 154. Wawasee finished second with a score of 121 and Warsaw ended third with 87 points.

Warsaw's girls set an NLC and school record in the 400 relay with Tiffany Shepherd, Rachel Voorhorst, Mercedes Plummer and Karrie Burch running a winning time of :49.58. Their time topped a 29-year old record previously held by Wawasee's 1977 squad.

Burch was a three-time winner on the night, as she also won the 100 and 200 with respective times of :12.95 and :26.65.

"Our goals were to break the record for the (400 relay) in the NLC and the school record," said Burch. "We just worked really hard this season and were able to do that."

Burch was one of eight Tigers to recieve all-conference honors. Julie Seiss, Lauren Pridgen, Katie Furnivall, Kim Clay, Shepherd, Plummer and Voorhorst were also named all-conference.

Only Seiss and Clay are seniors.

Seiss, Clay, Pridgen and Furnivall set the NLC record, one which stood since 1995, for the 1600 relay with a time of 4:02.62.

"Lauren (Pridgen) ran a great leadoff leg," said Warsaw girls coach Scott Erba of his 1600 relay squad. "She had a good handoff to Kim Clay, a senior who showed a lot of leadership out there, then Katie Furnivall, a junior who's put in a lot of work, ran a great leg. Then Julie Seiss ran the anchor and she had something to prove after not winning the 800. It was an exciting race and a tremendous time."

Pridgen, a freshman, didn't run track in middle school and now is a part of Warsaw track and field history.

While Seiss finished third in the 800, she did win the 400 with a time of :58.67 and the high jump with a jump of 5-4 to add to her illustrious high school career.

The field for the high jump was so competitive that 11 girls cleared 5-0 Tuesday night.

Wawasee failed to garner a first-place finish but did have a couple of second-place finishes.

Shawn Knafel ran a solid 100 hurdles and was nipped at the finish line by Elkhart Memorial's Andrea Jackson in the 300 hurdles.

Jackson ran a :47.91 to Knafel's :47.93.

Jessie Wolf finished second to Seiss in the high jump.

"She had a good night," said Wawasee co-head coach Jon Reutebuch of Wolf. "Our high jump had an exciting night."

On the boys side, Warsaw garnered just one-first place finish with John-Wesley Maierle in the long jump with an attempt of 21-9.

Warsaw boys coach David Hoffert was pleased with Maierle's effort along with those like Matt Campbell.

"Matt Campbell ran an incredible race in the 1600," said Hoffert of Campbell. "We haven't had anyone in the 4:20s in years."

Campbell ran with Baxter Burnworth, Alf Eherenman and Steve Robinson in the 3200 to a fifth-place finish.

Hoffert was impressed with his distance runners on the night.

Ben Shroyer and Leonard Wells had personal bests in the discus while freshman David Spangle finished second in the high jump.

Campbell finished third in the 1600 with a time of 4:29.50 behind Elkhart Memorial's Jaurice Dye and Wawasee's Ryan Smythe.

Dye and Smythe ran arguably the most exciting race of the night in the 3200. The two runners, who have been going at each other in both cross country and track for two years, finished one-hundredth of a second apart.

After nearly two miles of racing, the two runners went into a dead sprint for the final 100 meters and ended in a photo finish.

Unoffically the timers gave the win to Dye as Smythe was left dispondent. When the official results came over the loudspeaker at Concord, Smythe changed his tune.

"He won?," exclaimed Wawase coach Scott Lancaster. "Smythe won!"

"I tried to stay behind him most of the race," said Smythe. "I just got him by an inch of my nose."

"I give (Jaurice Dye) thanks for kicking my butt tonight. This is just really exciting. I've never been an NLC champ."

When asked if he thought Dye and himself could repeat Tuesday night's performance Smythe was confident.

"Oh yeah. We're going to state with this," said Smythe.

Smythe also won in the 3200 relay along with Jared Wurtzel, Ryan McDonald and Eric Brown.

Rob McKibben won the discus for Wawasee with a throw of 159-10.

Tom Brown won the 110 hurdles with a time of :15.14.

Lancaster took note of personal bests by Wurtzel and Dough Slabaugh in the 800.

The Warsaw and Wawase boys are back in action next Thursday at Goshen for sectional action while the girls compete Tuesday in sectional action at the Tigers Athletic Complex at Warsaw.

NLC TRACK MEET

GIRLS

Team scores - Warsaw (War) 132, Elkhart Memorial (EM) 108, Northridge (NR) 105.50, Plymouth (P) 86, Wawasee (Waw) 84, Concord (C) 44.50, Goshen (G) 39.50, NorthWood (NW) 23.50

Pole vault -Ê1. Alicia Fritschi (NR) 10-6, 2. Steph Steiner (NW) 10-0, 3. Jane Witmer (NW) 8-0, 3. Kelsey Campbell (GG) 8-0, 5. Ashley Gingerich (NR) 8-0, 6. Cheri Flickinger (EM) 8-0

Discus -Ê1. Kaitlin Nielsen (P) 107-6, 2. Elaine Hessel (P) 100-5, 3. Tiffany Fick (Waw) 100-1, 4. Sonya Fearnow (EM) 98-4, 5. Megan Davis (War) 89-3

Shot put -Ê1. Hessel (P) 38-08, 2. JaLessa Peoples (EM) 38-04.25, 3. JaRhea Jackson (C) 36-06.50, 4. Fick (Waw) 35-07.50, 5. Alicia Derr (NR) 33-02.25, 6. Kenna Neher (War) 33-02

Long jump -Ê1. Andrea Jackson (EM) 17-2, 2. Jennifer Krumwiede (EM) 16-06.50, 3. Rachel Voorhorst (War) 16-3.50, 4. Kalia Calhoun (C) 16-1, 5. Erica Emanuel (G) 15-11, 6. Breanna Capre (NW) 15-10

High jump -Ê1. Julie Seiss (War) 5-04, 2. Wolf (Waw) 5-4, 3. Krumwiede (EM) 5-2, 4. Heather Bronge (G) 5-2, 5. Krista Spearman (Waw) 5-2, 6. Brittney Lafferty (P) 5-1

3200 relay -Ê1. Jessie LaFree, Vanessa Lauster, Megan Miller, Illanna Mercer (NR) 9:59.94, 2. Plymouth 10:06.31, 3. Warsaw 10:10.51, 4. Concord 10:16.49, 5. Elkhart Memorial 10:22.13

100 hurdles -Ê1. Jackson (EM) :15.76, 2. Shawn Knafel (Waw) :16.29, 3. Mindy Helm (C) :16.30, 4. Holly Nifong (P) :16.88, 5. Caitlin Campbell (NR) :17.04, 6. Krumwiede (EM) :17.17

100 -Ê1. Karrie Burch (War) :12.95, 2. Jessie Spearman (Waw) :12.96, 3. Mercedes Plummer (War) :13.20, 4. Leslie Swihart (P) :13.49, 5. Havilah Rensberger (Waw) :13.51, 6. Kala Stevens (G) :13.57

1600 -Ê1. Aimee Gingerich (NR) 5:13.75, 2. Erica Ridderman (War) 5:19.18, 3. Stephanie Swendsen (NR) 5:26.35, 4. Ana Paez (EM) 5:34.19, 5. Jessica Scott (C) 5:37.20, 6. Morgan Hite (P) 5:38.67

400 relay - 1. Tiffany Shepherd, Voorhorst, Burch, Plummer (War) :49.58, 2. Wawasee :50.72, 3. Elkhart Memorial :51.01, 4. Plymouth :52.63, 5. Northridge :52.78, 6. Concord :53.62

400 -Ê1. Seiss (War) :58.67, 2. Brittany Lewis (EM) :59.50, 3. Lauren Pridgen (War) 1:00.59, 4. Calhoun (C) 1:00.68, 5. Kalia Stevens (G) 1:00.91

300 hurdles -Ê1. Andrea Jackson (EM) :47.91, 2. Knafel (Waw) :47.93, 3. Nifong (P) :48.41, 4. Kim Clay (War) :48.88, 5. Tia Dumas (EM) :49.15, 6. Campbell (NR) :49.23

800 -Ê1. Megan Jackson (NR) 2:16.12, 2. Megan Miller (NR) 2:19.32, 3. Seiss (War) 2:25.60, 4. Tracy Swain (C) 2:27.59, 5. Lindsay Houevener (War) 2:28.89, 6. Julie Rodriguez (P) 2:29.12

200 -Ê1. Burch (War) :26.35, 2. Plummer (War) :26.36, 3. J. Spearman (Waw) :26.45, 4. Brittany Lewis (EM) :26.94, 5. Havilah Rensberger (Waw) :27.68

3200 -Ê1. Hannah Miller (NR) 11:34.95, 2. Swendsen (NR) 11:48.90, 3. Morgan Hite (P) 11:55.58, 4. Erica Ridderman (War) 12:14.76, 5. Rachel Hollinger-Janz (G) 12:22.21

1600 relay -Ê1. Lauren Pridgen, Clay, Katie Furnivall, Seiss (War) 4:02.62, 2. Northridge 4:06.24, 3. Wawasee 4:13.56, 4. Plymouth 4:13.84, 5. Elkhart Memorial 4:14.89, 6. Goshen 4:17.93

BOYS

Team scores - Elkhart Memorial (EM) 154, Wawasee (Waw) 121, Warsaw (War) 87, Northridge (NR) 85, Plymouth (P) 74, NorthWood (NW) 52, Concord (C) 42, Goshen (G) 9

Pole vault - 1. Kyle Morningstar (EM) 13-06, 2. Chris Tope (NR) 13-0, 3. Ryan Dunithan (Waw) 13-0, 4. Ricardo Urdaneta (C) 12-06, 5. Chad Cooper (EM) 12-06, 6. Kyle Witmer (NW) 11-06

Discus - 1. Rob McKibben (Waw) 159-10, 2. Brock Williamson (EM) 151-9, 3. Travis Loving (P) 149-8, 4. Ben Shroyer (War) 148-6, 5. Leonard Wells (War) 145-0, 6. Lance Zimmerman (Waw) 139-3

Shot put - 1. Cody Miller (NR), 2. Ryan Thornburgh (Waw) 51-11.50, 3. Wells (War) 51-10.50, 4. Creighton Kaiser (Waw) 48-11.50, 5. Jamarial Miller (EM) 48-5, 6. Ben Freeze (NR) 47-9.75

Long jump -Ê1. J.W. Maierle (War) 21-9, 2. David Burroughs (P) 20-10, 3. Kelly Adams (NW) 20-9.50, 4. Kenric Mills (P) 20-1.50, 5. Greg Duvall (EM) 20-1.25, 6. Mike Lakner (C) 19-8.50

High jump - 1. Ben Bemiller (NW) 6-4, 2. David Spangle (War) 6-1, 3. Tope (NR) 6-1, 4. Duvall (EM) 6-0, 5. Jordan Cunningham (Waw) 6-0, 5. Michael Brady (P) 6-0

3200 relay -Ê1. Jared Wurtzel, Ryan Smythe, Ryan McDonald, Eric Brown (Waw) 8:04.23, 2. Elkhart Memorial 8:05.94, 3. Plymouth 8:21.46, 4. Northridge 8:24.97, 5. Warsaw 8:34.28, 6. Concord 8:37.02

110 hurdles -Ê1. Tom Brown (Waw) :15.14, 2. Devington Halliburton (EM) :15.16, 3. Nick Yoder (C) :15.78, 4. Brady (P) :15.96, 5. Pete Osorio (War) :16.21, 6. McDonald (Waw) :16.23

100 -Ê1. Kent Biller (NW) :11.39, 2. Chas Simpson (War) :11.45, 3. Tyler Smith (NR) :11.52, 4. Joe Gibson (NR) :11.54, 5. Chris Kemp (EM) :11.57, 6. James House (C) :11.58

1600 - 1. Jaurice Dye (EM) 4:25.44,. 2. Ryan Smythe (Waw) 4:27.21, 3. Matt Campbell (War) 4:29.50, 4. Andy Willliams (NR) 4:32.07, 5. Dan Nedlinger (P) 4:32.74, 6. Matt Zieske (EM) 4:36.97

400 relay - 1. Julius Henderson, Antwan Branch, Kemp, Aaron Rowley (EM) :43.38, 2. Concord :43.51, 3. Warsaw :43.72, 4. Northridge :43.89, 5. NorthWood :44.30, 6. Plymouth :44.51

400 -Ê1. Martin Stoutenour (EM) :49.94, 2. E. Brown (Waw) :50.19, 3. Andrew Mock (Waw) :50.52, 4. Phillip McCray (EM) :50.95, 5. Korey Bucher (P) :51.29, 6. Cesar Escovar (C) :51.35

300 hurdles - 1. Ben Battjes (EM) :38.15, 2. T. Brown (Waw) :39.0, 3. McDonald (Waw) :40.07, 4. Osorio (War) :40.53, 5. Burroughs (P) :40.74, 6. Halliburton (EM) :41.31

800 -Ê1. Jacob Palmer (P) 1:58.63, 2. Ladd Mercer (NR) 1:58.69, 3. Derrick Bettis (EM) 1:58.92, 4. Derrick Thomas (EM) 2:01.56, 5. Wurtzel (Waw) 2:02.96, 6. Andrew Albert (NR) 2:03.34

200 -Ê1. Biller (NW) :22.68, 2. Henderson (EM) :22.94, 3. Kemp (EM) :23.08, 4. Simpson (War) :23.33, 5. Gibson (NR) :23.77, 6. James Cira (C) :24.0

3200 -Ê1. Smythe (Waw) 9:40.83, 2. Jaurice Dye 9:40.84, 3. Dan Nedlinger (P) 9:50.86, 4. Loren Spirito (NR) 9:56.41, 5. Miguel Rodriguez (EM) 10:06.80, 6. Baxter Burnworth (10:17.25

1600 relay - 1. Stoutenour, Battjes, Dye, Bettis (EM) 3:21.29, 2. Wawasee 3:32.64, 3. Warsaw 3:28.65, 4. Plymouth 3:30.15, 5. Concord 3:32.25, 6. Northridge 3:33.30