Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - The Wawasee boys track team overcame illness and injury to procure a 77-46 win over West Noble Thursday night.
Tom Brown was impressive for the Warriors with wins in the 110 and 300 hurdles and as a part of the 400 relay with Jordan Swain, Rob McKibben and Eric Brown.
"We're a little banged up right now but it was good to get a meet under our belt," said Wawasee head coach Scott Lancaster.
The Warriors didn't look worse for the wear as they outlasted an upstart West Noble squad.
After nine events, the two teams were tied, but Wawasee used its depth to build and maintain a large lead.
Ryan Smythe, a cross-country runner in the fall, used his endurance to outstretch West Noble's Paul Frazee in the 800 run. Smythe finished with a time of 2:09.2 despite being under the weather.
While Wawasee pulled off the win, it was most definitely the Warriors' first outdoor meet of the season.
Less than sharp handoffs in relays and leg cramps were par for the course Thursday night, but that didn't stop some from reaching personal bests or showing flashes of track brilliance.
Jordan Cunningham won the high jump for the first time in his high school career with an attempt of 5-8.
Brown, who is taking over for state champion and current Indiana University freshman Anthony Argentino in the hurdles, impressed Lancaster.
"Tom Brown ran a 40.7 (in the 300 hurdles). Last year he was busting his butt to break 40, so to run that well tonight in the opening meet is a good feeling," said Lancaster.
Brown's brother, Eric, was also impressive as he ran the anchor of the 400 relay with his brother. The brothers Brown helped the Warriors smoke West Noble by nearly two seconds and finish with a time of 45.3 in the event.
Overall, the times aren't what Lancaster is expecting as the season drags on, but Thursday's meet was a nice start to build on.
"We had a lot of personal bests tonight. We need to get better conditioned and once we do that, times will improve, but I think we did a good job tonight," said Lancaster.
Wawasee also dominated the field events with wins in the shot put and discus. Creighton Kaiser won the shot with a throw of 49-1, while Nathan Lundy won the discus with a throw of 141-7.
The boys are next in action with the girls Thursday at Lakeland. Field events start at 4:30 p.m.
WAWASEE 77, W. NOBLE 46
3200 relay - 1. West Noble (Chuck Wysong, Jose Lopez, Bobby Jacobs, Daric Weimer) 8:47.1
110 hurdles - 1. Tom Brown (Waw) 15.9, 2. Jordan Swain (Waw) 16.0, 3. Mike Brown (WN) 16.3
100 - 1. Thomas Collette (WN) 12.0, 2. Rob McKibben (Waw) 12.1, 3. Ryan McDonald (Waw) 12.4
1600 - 1. C. Wysong (WN) 4:49.9, 2. Jeff Wysong (WN) 4:50.5, 3. Doug Slabaugh (Waw) 4:56.3
High jump - 1. Jordan Cunningham (Waw) 5-8, 2. Paul Frazee (WN) 5-6, 3. McDonald (Waw) 5-6
400 relay - 1. Wawasee (T. Brown, Jordan Swain, Rob McKibben, Eric Brown) 45.3
400 - 1. Frazee (WN) 52.8, 2. E. Brown (Waw) 52.9, 3. Thomas Collette (WN) 55.0
300 hurdles - 1. T. Brown (Waw) 40.7, 2. McDonald (Waw) 43.3, 3. M. Brown (WN) 43.4
Shot put - 1. Creighton Kaiser (Waw) 49-1, 2. Nathan Lundy (Waw) 46-2, 3. Travis Radford (Waw) 40-1.5
800 run - 1. Ryan Smythe (Waw) 2:09.2, 2. Frazee (WN) 2:09.9, 3. Daniel Stoffel (Waw) 2:13.3
Long jump - 1. Collette (WN) 20-2, 2. JD Lashbrook (Waw) 18-7, 3. Wayne Henderson (Waw) 18-2
Discus - 1. Lundy (Waw) 141-7, 2. McKibben (Waw) 127-10.5, 3. RJ Mackensworth (WN) 122-7
200 - 1. E. Brown (Waw) 24.2, 2. Henderson (Waw) 24.9, 3. Blake Thompson (Waw) 25.1
3200 - 1. Lopez (WN) 10:39.0, 2. Jacobs (WN) 10:39.2, 3. Scott Gingerich (Waw) 10:41.4
1600 relay - 1. Wawasee (Seth Blakeslee, Ryan Olson, T. Brown, Jon Miller) 3:43
