SYRACUSE — Led by freshman Clayton Cook, the Wawasee boys track and field team posted an 85-42 home win over Columbia City Monday. The Wawasee Lady Warriors fell 78-53 to Columbia City. Competing in the second dual meet of his prep career, as well as having participated in Saturday’s Charger Relays, Cook isn’t wasting any time making an impact. He won the 100 (11.12 seconds), 110 hurdles (15.1), 300 hurdles (43.96) and was a part of the winning 400 relay (46.03) with senior Zac Patrick, junior Josh Sumpter and sophomore Michael Pena Monday. “He’s talented,” Wawasee coach Scott Lancaster said about Cook. “There’s no doubt about it.” Monday’s coed meet afforded Cook the opportunity to run in some events he will not be able to later in the season. After winning the 110 hurdles, he was able to get a rest as the girls ran 100 hurdles, which allowed him to get prepared for the 100. “We could do that because we had girls with us,” Lancaster said about Cook running in back-to-back races. “With them readjusting the girls’ hurdles, it gave him extra time to rest. We won’t be able to pull that off in conference.” Along with Cook’s performance, Wawasee senior Brandon Morris also had a big night, winning the 200 (22.78) and 400 (55.98), as well as anchoring the first-place 1600 relay (3:48.1) team that also consisted of Pena and freshmen Zach Cockrill and Stori Bright. Other Wawasee victories came from Cockrill in the 1600 (4:42.73), sophomore Adam Doll in the 3200 (10:36.27), as well as junior Jake Schwartz in both throwing events, the discus (135-5) and shot put (48-1). Of the 39 Warriors on the roster, only six are seniors, and the mix seems to be working well. Winning nine of the 10 events on the track, Wawasee showed it has the talent to get some first-place points, it just may be the other points that concerns Lancaster. “We don’t have much depth, but we’re able to spread people out and have high-quality individual performances,” he said. “Like in the 200, the hurdles and the 100. Those are things we really need to work on. We actually have depth in the field events and not on the track. That’s kind of been the opposite for us, traditionally. It’s nice to see that balance come out, where we have some distance runners to go with some sprinters.” The difference in the girls meet was the fact that Columbia City had some standouts, such as sophomore Kalisha Goree, junior Megan Deutsch and sophomore Samantha Roush. Goree finished the day by winning the 100 hurdles (15.95), 300 hurdles (51.51) and long jump (15-4.5), while also placing second in high jump (4-10). Deutsch spent her evening winning the 100 (13.17), 200 (27.8) and 400 (1:01.93), while Roush was dominant in the 800 (2:26.03) and 1600 (5:31.25). With those three winning eight of the possible 13 individual events all by themselves, Wawasee was strong in the throwing events, where freshman Hannah Winters won discus (89-9) and junior Jordan Edington placed first in shot put (34-8.5). Also for the Lady Warriors, senior Sarah Rozow won pole vault (8-6), freshman Courtney Linnemeier took first in the 3200 (12:18.52) and the 3200 relay of junior Jen Slabaugh, Linnemeier, senior Kaely Bame and freshman Hannah Wilczynski won in 10:33.14. Regardless of wins or losses, Lancaster explained the main goal of the meet was to improve, as the squads are now off for spring break. The Lady Warriors return to action April 10 at Warsaw and the boys’ next meet is April 12 at home against Plymouth. “We really wanted to do some really specific things with some people like Courtney Linnemeier,” Lancaster said about the meet. “We wanted to get her (time) down, and she shaved about 20 seconds off her best time in the 3200. Zach Cockrill and Adam Doll each had PRs in the 1600. We were really targeting things like that.”
BOYS - WAWASEE 85, COLUMBIA CITY 42 High Jump - 1. Matt Rethlake (C) 5-10, 2. JJ Gilmer (W) 5-8, 3. Zach Rensberger (W) 5-8; Long Jump - 1. Rethlake (C) 19-11, 2. Cole Smith (C) 19-1.5, 3. Rensberger (W) 18-11; Discus - 1. Jake Schwartz (W) 135-5, 2. Justin Fick (W) 125-0, 3. Ben Fausey (C) 121-6; Shot Put - 1. Schwartz (W) 48-1, 2. Chad Eppley (W) 42-3, 3. Garrett Vandersaul (C) 40-7; Pole Vault - 1. Lucas Hahn (C) 11-6, 2. Kyle Clevenger (W) 11-0, 3. Zach Pequignot (C) 9-6; 100 - 1. Clayton Cook (W) 11.12, 2. Wayne Smith (C) 11.5, 3. Sam Silva (C) 11.9; 200 - 1. Brandon Morris (W) 22.78, 2. W. Smith (C) 23.39, 3. Michael Pena (W) 23.47; 400 - 1. Morris (W) 55.98, 2. Matt Miller (W) 58.79, 3. C. Smith (C) 59.53 800 - 1. Alex Fritz (C) 2:10.99, 2. Zach Cockrill (W) 2:12.21, 3. Stori Bright (W) 2:15.81; 1600 - 1. Cockrill (W) 4:42.73, 2. Adam Doll (W) 4:44.00, 3. Evan Harney (C) 4:52.57; 3200 - 1. Doll (W) 10:36.27, 2. Adam Bernhard (C) 10:42.15, 3. Joey Bornman (W) 11:16.35; 110 Hurdles - 1. Cook (W) 15.1, 2. Hahn (C) 15.9, 3. Zac Patrick (W) 16.5; 300 Hurdles - 1. Cook (W) 43.96, 2. Hahn (C) 44.58, 3. Sam Dailey (C) 45.24; 400 Relay - 1. Wawasee (Patrick, Josh Sumpter, Pena, Cook) 46.03, 2. Columbia City (W. Smith, Dailey, Pequignot, Rethlake) 46.85; 1600 Relay - 1. Wawasee (Cockrill, Bright, Pena, Morris) 3:48.1, 2. Columbia City (Seth Kissinger, David Fulk, C. Smith, Fritz) 3:49.1.
