GOSHEN - Asked if he preferred the discus or shot put, Warsaw Community High School senior Leonard Wells' simple response was, "both."
The Tiger track and field standout continued his dominance of both events Thursday evening, winning a pair of individual Goshen Sectional championships.Wells, who has won both events in every meet this season, will vie for regional championships and a berth in the state finals when he and a number of other area athletes participate in Thursday's Kokomo Regionals.
The state finals are scheduled for May 31 at Indiana University in Bloomington.
"My goal was for him to get 161 (feet), which is the state cut," Warsaw coach David Bailey said after Wells won the discus competition with an effort of 176-0. "Leonard has explosive power. We all have different muscle strengths, and Leonard's is explosiveness."
Fairfield's Isaac Burtsfield was a distant second in the discus with an effort of 141-5, followed by Fairfield's Ryan Lewis (137-6) and Wawasee's Jesse McBride (134-5).
The top four individuals or relay teams in each event qualify for Thursday's Kokomo Regional.
Wells' winning effort in the discus wasn't far off the sectional record of 178-4 set by Elkhart Memorial's Paul Fearnow in 2003.
"Every time I step in there, my goal is to beat the (Warsaw) school record," said Wells, whose personal best in the discus this season is 178-6.
The WCHS discus record is 183 feet.
In the shot put, Wells won with a distance of 58-10 1/2, more than six feet better than runner-up Nate Romine of Northridge (52-6). Fairfield's Travis Herman-Shepler (50-5) was third in the shot put, while Warsaw's Kyle Allison advanced to the regional with a fourth-place distance of 49-6.
While some of the throwers he competes against are mammoth in size, Wells is tall and lean.
The Warsaw senior said he is as good as he is because of "technique and good coaching."
Warsaw's David Spangle also advanced to the regional, finishing second in the high jump with a leap of 6-4, while Tiger Victor Sapara-Grant was third in the long jump with a leap of 21-4 1/4.
First-place finishers for Wawasee included Eric Brown in the 400 (48.90) and the foursome of Tyson Kaase, Anthony Reyes, Ryan McDonald and Brown in the 1600 relay (3:21.71).
Reyes will compete at the regional in the 300 hurdles after finishing fourth in the sectional with a time of 39.99 seconds.
Wawasee's 400 relay team of Logan Davidson, Kaase, Travis Patterson and Reyes finished fourth with a time 45.34 seconds.
In the team standings, Elkhart Memorial won its seventh-straight sectional championship, finishing with 122 points. Fairfield finished second with 97 1/2 points, followed by Northridge (87), Concord (61), Warsaw (58), Elkhart Central (54), NorthWood (50), Wawasee 49 1/2, Goshen (41) and Jimtown (3).
GOSHEN SECTIONAL
Note - top four advance to Thursday's Kokomo Regional
