By SCOTT DAVIDSON
Sports Editor

WARSAW – Matt Thacker says his Warsaw boys track team has something you just can’t coach in a strong desire to win.

Win was just what the No. 6 Tigers did Tuesday night in running away from the field to lay claim to the Northern Lakes Conference championship.

The host Tigers, who went 7-0 in league dual meets, totaled 176 points to outdistance runner-up Elkhart Memorial (133) and third-place  Goshen (101).

“These kids just want it,” said Thacker, after seeing his team take the program’s first outright NLC title in 11 years. “They just want to compete and get better. It’s a group that does not like to lose.”

The Tigers, who also won the NLC Meet in 2011 over favorite Concord, was not about to lose on this night.

Warsaw used it depth across the board as the hosts won four individual events and two of the three relay races.

“We did score some points,” said Thacker as he heard the final team point totals boom from the PA following the meet. “I knew we were going to compete and the guys were going to give me effort.

“But, goofy things can happen in meets like this. At practice Monday, we brought up winning last year when Concord was the favorite and also our loss to Penn this year. Like I said, these guys do not like to lose.”

Senior Spencer Rheinhardt, who recently signed to run at the University of Notre Dame next season,  turned in an impressive night for the champions.  He won the 800 in 1:56.30 and also ran the anchor leg of the first-place 3,200 relay, teaming with Ismael Calderon, Michael Compton and Ellis Coon to on in 8:07.41. He also teamed with Gabe Furnivall, Ryan Goon and Chad Goon to win the 1,600 relay race in 3:21.80.

“We just had a lot of guys step up huge for us,” Thacker said. “Spencer had a great night. Taylor Cone did a phenomenal job. He was huge for us. Wyatt Jones got huge points for us and Tristan McClone performed great in the 100. Zach Rooney and Stephen Kolbe were 2-3 in the high jump and we got big points in the shot from Cameron Fritzel and Seth Fouts.”

Junior Taylor Cone won the 110 hurdles (15.23), sophomore Ellis Coon the 1,600 (4:23.66) and junior  Jacob Poyner the 3,200 (9:22.18) for Warsaw.

Wyatt Jones was second in the 100, 200 and 400 for the champion Tigers. Zach Rooney placed second in both the high jump and long jump in the field events for Warsaw. Cone was second in the 300 hurdles and the 400 relay team of Rooney,  Nathan Kolbe, Gabe Furnivall and McClone was second.

Wawasee finished in seventh place with 61 points. Junior Jake Schwartz placed second in the shot put and third in the discus for the Warriors. Brandon Morris was third in the 200 for coach Scott Lancaster’s squad.

 

TEAM SCORES
Warsaw 176, Elkhart Memorial 133, Goshen 101, Northridge 95, Concord 68, NorthWood 66, Wawasee 61, Plymouth 31.

3,200 RELAY
1. Warsaw (Ismael Calderon, Michael Compton, Ellis Coon, Spencer Rheinhardt) 8:07.41; 2. Goshen 8:09.92; 3. Concord 8:19.89; 4. Northridge 8:25.06; 5. Elkhart Memorial 8:37.80; 6. Plymouth 8:38.24.

110 HURDLES
1. Taylor Cone (War) 15.23; 2. Benjamin Morris (EM) 15.67; 3. Grant Bass (C) 15.71; 4. Reade Carboneau (G) 15.86; 5. Tim Yoder (C) 15.86; 6. Clayton Cook (Waw) 16.12.

100
1. Devontae Millsaps (EM) 10.898; 2. Wyatt Jones (War) 11.18; 3. Daniel Deboni (G) 11.22; 4. Tristan McClone (War) 11.33; 5. Abraham Medellin (G) 11.34; 6. Derek Fisher (EM) 11.51.

1,600
1. Ellis Coon (War) 4:23.66; 2. James Bradberry (NR) 4:28.84; 3. Robert Murphy (War) 4:29.68; 4. Collin Chupp (C) 4:33.01; 5. Blake O’Dell (NR) 4:33.12; 6. Jared Peek (EM) 4:37.94.

400 RELAY
1. Elkhart Memorial (Devontae Millsaps, Caleb Platz, Derek Fisher, Urston Smith) 42.95; 2. Warsaw 43.71; 3. Goshen 44.81; 4. Wawasee 44.95; 5. NorthWood 46.32; 6. Northridge 46.37.

400
1. Devontae Millsaps (EM) 49.82; 2. Wyatt Jones (War) 50.82; 3. Chad Good (War) 51.17; 4. McNeal Stewart (EM) 52.12; 5. Hunter Johnson (NR) 52.41; 6. Daniel Deboni (G) 52.59.

300 HURDLES
1.  Grant Bass (C) 40.13; 2. Taylor Cone (War) 40.94; 3. Hunter Goodwin (NR) 41.05; 4. Cristian Barron (G) 41.25; 5. Ryan Goon (War) 41.33; 6. Clayton Cook (Waw) 41.97.

800
1. Spencer Rheinhardt (Waw) 1:56.30; 2. Jared Peek (EM) 2:00.71; 3.  Louis Kissinger (G) 2:01.03; 4. Keenan Burnett (C) 2:02.05; 5. Corban Wyatt (NW) 2:03.04; 6. Mike Linn (NR) 2:03.17.

200
1. Urston Smith (EM) 22.53; 2. Wyatt Jones (War) 22.79; 3. Brandon Morris (Waw) 23.03; 4. Daniel Deboni (G) 23.22; 5. Tristan McClone (War) 23.27; 6. Derek Fisher (EM) 23.38.

3,200
1. Jacob Poyner (War) 9:22.18; 2. Blake O’Dell (NR) 9:41.27; 3. Robert Murphy (War) 9:44.93; 4.  James Bradberry (NR) 9:48.80; 5. Adam Doll (Waw) 10:06.55; 6. Luke Kauffman (G) 10:13.12.

1,600 RELAY
1. Warsaw (Gabe Furnivall, Spencer Rheinhardt, Ryan Goon, Chad Goon) 3:21.80; 2. Elkhart Memorial 3:23.04; 3. Concord 3:27.78; 4. Goshen 3:30.19; 5. Northridge 3:30.92; 6. Plymouth 3;33.46.

HIGH JUMP
1. Reade Carboneau (G) 6-4; 2. Zach Rooney (War) 6-3; 3. Stephen Kolbe (War) 6-3; 4. Urston Smith  (EM) 6-1; 5. Devon Hunsberger (NW) 6-0; 6. Will Stueve (NW) 6-0.

LONG JUMP
1. Miguel Bello (NR) 20-10 1/2; 2. Zach Rooney (War) 20-9 3/4; 3. Gerald Gophin (EM) 19-11 1/4; 4. D. McDaniel-Halliburton (EM) 19-5 1/4; 5. Reade Carboneau (G) 19-5; 6. JJ Gilmer (Waw) 19-4 3/4.

DISCUS
1. Alex Soptich (EM) 156-2; 2. Jason Spriggs (C) 142-11; 3. Jake Schwartz (Waw) 141-3; 4. Ethan Killian (NW) 141-0; 5. Adam Lacefield (P) 131-3; 6. Jett Gillis (NW) 131-0.

SHOT PUT
1. Alex Soptich (EM) 50-11; 2. Jake Schwartz (Waw) 50-9; 3. Brandon Daniels (G) 49-9 1/4; 4. Jett Gillis (NW) 49-1 /2; 5. Cameron Fritzel (War) 48-10; 6. Seth Fouts (War) 48-5 1/4.

POLE VAULT
1. Josh Rheinheimer (NR) 13-4; 2. Devin Puckett (NR) 13-0; 3. Garrett Hess (NW) 13-0; 4. Albert Gongwer (NW) 12-0; 5. Gerald Gophin (EM) 11-6; 6. Jeff Coulter (War) 11-6.