AKRON — Because pole vault couldn’t take place until today, the only definitive outcome from Thursday’s Three Rivers Conference Championships at Tippecanoe Valley was the girls’ champion. Racking up 127 points, the Whitko Lady Wildcats put enough room between themselves and second-place Southwood (98) to be deemed the 2014 TRC champs. Rain postponed the pole vault event from Wednesday until today at Northfield. However, with only six girls competing in the event, none of which are from Southwood and the top two seeds are Whitko’s junior Reghan Craig and senior Sydney Sims, the Lady Wildcats have already been deemed champs, an honor it also won in 2012. “This feels good,” Whitko girls head coach Gary Sims said. The Manchester Lady Squires are locked in at fifth place and Tippecanoe Valley will finish in seventh, as neither has a pole vaulter, nor does any team that finished between fifth and eighth place Thursday. The boys champion is yet to be decided, although Rochester is looking pretty good with 109 points and the top pole vaulter in the TRC in Sawyer Cripe. Manchester is currently in second place with 101 points, but has no pole vaulter and Whitko is in third with 93.5, but its pole vaulters are two of the bottom three seeds in the eight-man field. “Obviously, things are not promising,” Whitko coach Ron Cherry said of trying to defend the team’s back-to-back conference titles. However, the Whitko girls were able to celebrate, thanks in large part to a couple of freshmen – Kaitlyn Reed and Abby Overmeyer. The duo finished 1-2 in the 100, with Reed taking first in 13.99 and Overmeyer in 14.02, while Reed then placed second in the 200 (28.10) and Overmeyer was fifth (29.49). Overmeyer was also a part of Whitko’s first-place 4x100 relay, while Reed went on to finish second in the high jump (5-0) and fourth at shot put (30-8.75). “Our freshmen sprinters really turned up tonight,” Sims said. “They’re maturing. They’re still a little bit young, but they’re maturing and it’s going to be fun.” Reed was beat out in the high jump by senior teammate Miranda Terrill (5-0) and junior Elaine Warner took home the team’s other championship, winning at long jump (15-10.75). Along with his champions, Sims felt his distance runners supplied the points needed to push the team over the top, as sophomore Brigit Nemitz was fifth in the 1600 and 3200, while junior Michelle Kelsey placed seventh in the 1600 and sixth in the 3200. “They’re seeding was low, but they stepped up and got us some extra points that we weren’t counting on,” he said. A scary moment for the Lady Wildcats occurred in the final event of the night, as Terrill fell to the ground after running the third leg of the 4x400 relay. Struggling to catch her breath, Terrill was surrounded by medical personnel, but was eventually able to sit up and walk off gingerly. “She ran her best split, she was already winded and it just knocked the wind out of her even more when she hit (the ground),” Sims said. Also from the area, Manchester freshman Rae Bedke continued her successful season, winning the 800 (2:25.26), then breaking the school record in the 1600 (5:18.41), finishing second to Northfield’s Jenna Halderman (5:17.54). Bedke’s teammate junior Hanna Olk also picked up a conference title, winning at discus with a throw of 99-00. In the boys meet, Whitko freshman Alex Morales shined, winning the 110 hurdles (16.63) and 300 hurdles (42.80), despite being pretty inexperienced. “He kind of rises to the competition,” Cherry said of Morales, who also anchored the team’s second-place 4x100 relay. “He hasn’t run the events a lot. He didn’t run the (110) high hurdles until April 24. He’s continued to get better.” From Tippecanoe Valley, senior Nolan Sponseller stood out, holding off Rochester’s Brandon Kamp to win the 400 (52.51), while also placing second in the 200 (24.03) and leading off Valley’s first-place 4x100 relay (45.40), comprised of sophomore Neil Clampitt, junior Brandon Murphy and junior Michael Thacker. “Nolan ran great races, just setting him up to run even better at the sectional,” Valley head coach Alysha Wachtmann said. “We really want to work on his finish. But he ran two great races.” Manchester was able to get three TRC champions on the night, as sophomore Colin McNeeley was the 200 champion (23.79), junior Matthew Fahs-Brown in the 3200 (10:22.65) and senior Brodi Carter at high jump (5-11). Up next for the local teams are sectionals, and Sims is keeping things in perspective, as his girls must now prepare for a tough field at New Haven on Tuesday. “We’re having fun right now,” he said about just celebrating the moment. Also Tuesday, Manchester and Valley will be at the Rochester Sectional. The boys will begin postseason action Thursday, with Whitko heading to Fort Wayne Wayne and Manchester and Valley going to Plymouth. And while some things will be worked on between now and the sectionals, Manchester head coach Julie Cassel doesn’t see much changing in a week. “If you haven’t fixed it by now, you’re not going to fix it by sectional,” she said.
THREE RIVERS CONFERENCE CHAMPIONSHIPS Boys Team Scores (Incomplete, Pole Vault Not Scored) – 1. Rochester 109, 2. Manchester 101, 3. Whitko 93.5, 4. Wabash 73, 5. Northfield 70, 6. Tippecanoe Valley 55.5, 7. North Miami 42, 8. Southwood 35 (Top 3, Local Scorers) 100 – 1. Juwan Carter (Wab) 11.76, 2. Colin McNeeley (Man) 11.86, 3. Michael Thacker (TV) 12.00, 5. (tie) Will Bumbaugh (Wh), Michael Thacker (TV) 12.20, 8. Garrett Elder (Wh) 12.33; 200 – 1. McNeeley (Man) 23.79, 2. Nolan Sponseller (TV) 24.03, 3. Brady Herendeen (Wh) 24.29, 5. Bumbaugh (Wh) 24.99; 400 – 1. Sponseller (TV) 52.51, 2. Brandon Kamp (R) 52.58, 3. Marcus Kroh (N) 53.96, 8. Elder (Wh) 56.10; 800 – 1. Wesley Meyer (R) 2:05.69, 2. Sam Hall (Wab) 2:07.13, 3. Austin Andrews (N) 2:13.40, 5. Daniel Kirkham (Wh) 2:15.67, 7. Tristan Fields (Man) 2:17.64, 8. Noah Clampitt (TV) 2:17.68; 1600 – 1. Meyer (R) 4:43.54, 2. Devin Tracy (N) 4:48.35, 3. Matthew Fahs-Brown (Man) 4:50.08, 7. Derek Miller (Wh) 5:06.87; 3200 – 1. Fahs-Brown (Man) 10:22.66, 2. Tracy (N) 10:28.63, 3. Eli Pugh (R) 10:29.72, 6. Josh Wright (Wh) 10:50.15, 7. Derek Miller (Wh) 11:12.64; 110 Hurdles – 1. Alex Morales (Wh) 16.63, 2. Brodi Carter (Man) 17.36, 3. Gunner Ream (Man) 18.00, 8. Deontee Smith (TV) 19.23; 300 Hurdles – 1. Morales (Wh) 42.80, 2. Heath Miller (N) 43.50, 3. Carter (Man) 44.32, 5. Ream (Man) 45.57. 4x100 Relay – 1. Tippy Valley (Sponseller, Neil Clampitt, Brandon Murphy, Thacker) 45.40, 2. Whitko (Bumbaugh, Herendeen, Dillon Patrick, Morales) 46.13, 3. North Miami (Jacob White, Edu Espinilla, Todd Pocock, Devin Crossland) 46.63, 4. Manchester (Trey Addair, Ream, Braxtin Wilson, Jacob Casper) 46.69; 4x400 Relay – 1. Rochester (Connor McLochlin, Jacob Howdeshell, Sawyer Cripe, Kamp) 3:38.32, 2. Wabash (Adam Driscoll, Skyler Hall, Travis Minns, Carter) 3:38.89, 3. Whitko (Elder, Morales, Patrick, Herendeen) 3:40.72, 4. Tippy Valley (Neil Clampitt, Sponseller, Noah Clampitt, Murphy) 3:42.75, 6. Manchester (Burke, Ross Messer, Wilson, Carter) 3:49.00; 4x800 Relay – 1. Rochester (Kamp, Nick Shidler, Seth Moon, Meyer) 8:34.40, 2. Northfield (Austin Andrews, Noah Shear, Kroh, Tracy) 8:36.14, 3. Whitko (Miller, Kirkham, Lane Wolf, Patrick) 9:08.97, 5. Manchester (Fields, Burke, Jon Rich, Fahs-Brown) 9:10.31, 7. Tippy Valley (Brandon Maull, Shay Merely, Tom Solano, Noah Clampitt) 9:28.74; High Jump – 1. Carter (Man) 5-11, 2. Caleb Hunter (R) 5-10, 3. Alex Harmon (S) 5-10, 5. Dalton Day (Man) 5-6; Long Jump – 1. Jacob White (NM) 20-4.75, 2. Travis Minns (Wab) 18-10.5, 3. Herendeen (Wh) 18-8, 4. Neil Clampitt (TV) 18-6.25, 5. Elder (Wh) 18-4.5, 6. Austin Oaks (Man) 18-2.5, 7. Ream (Man) 17-9.25; Shot Put – 1. Kevin Huffman (NM) 47-3, 2. Gary Blevins (Man) 47-2, 3. Walker Hobbs (Wh) 46-9.25, 6. Nick Gamble (TV) 42-0, 7. Gavin Howard (Wh) 41-0; Discus – 1. Austin Calvert (R) 134-7, 2. (tie) Brett Wyatt (S), Zach Hewitt (Wh) 134-6, 6. Blevins (Man) 127-0, 7. Howard (Wh) 123-1, 8. Aaron Hoffman (TV) 119-7.5.
