By MIKE DEAK
Sports Editor
[email protected]

GOSHEN — At times, the pressure of being the favorite can expose weakness. Not so Thursday night at the Goshen Boys Track Sectional for the repeat champion Warsaw Tigers.

Warsaw rang up six sectional champions, including a record-setting 4×400 relay team that closed the night with a blistering 3:20.93 to ice back-to-back team titles, the 23rd title in school history. Warsaw racked up 130 points, keeping a very speedy Elkhart Memorial at distance with 95 points and Fairfield, which held the team lead six events in, third at 89 points. Wawasee were tied for eighth with Jimtown at 31 points.

The Tigers, ranked sixth in the last state poll, opened the night with a win at 8:05.19 in the 4×800 relay, then kept the distance theme going. A one-two in the 800 from Spencer Rheinhardt (1:55.91) and Jacob Poyner (1:56.24), then Poyner (4:18.83) and Ellis Coon (4:22.32) taking first and third in the one-mile began the assertion. A win by Robert Murphy in the two-mile (9:35.68) was followed by the record 4×400 relay. Toss in a one-two from Stephen Kolbe and Zach Rooney in the high jump at 6’4″ and 6’2″, and truth was served this Tiger team is ready for a run to state.

“I think that four-by-four sums up the type of character and type of attitude we have on this team,” said Warsaw head coach Matt Thacker. “Nothing against Memorial, they had a couple of injuries in the four-by-four, but our kids went out and attacked it. They set the sectional record, and we really weren’t challenged. It’s huge. That’s the type of kids we have.”

Rheinhardt, a Notre Dame recruit, was part of three championships while Wyatt Jones qualified in the 4×400 relay, 100 (11.14) and 400 dashes (50.90). Overall, Warsaw qualified all three of its relays and had 13 individual positions taken on the evening. One of the highlights was the high jump, where Kolbe became a repeat champion as just a sophomore.

“It felt great today, it felt very natural and very comfortable,” Kolbe said. “I think I can hit 6’6” and I know that there is at least one 6’8” jumper that could be in the regional, so I’m aiming for that.”

Rooney, who missed out on advancing in the long jump, redeemed himself in the high jump, then took the momentum into the first leg of the 4×100 relay.

“We push each other all the time, and when Koble got to 6’4”, that just motivated me. The whole team is just great,” Rooney said. “Getting the 6’2” was crazy, the adrenaline was crazy. It just led into everything else.”

Wawasee didn’t have the night head coach Scott Lancaster had hoped when season building began in March. Freshman Clayton Cook didn’t run up to his usual dominant self in the 110 hurdles, but still managed a second-place finish at 15.23. His efforts in the 300 hurdles came well short, failing to qualify in the top eight.

Thrower Jake Schwartz did make the cut in the shot put, taking fourth (48’05.5”) by just four inches, but landed in fifth in the discus (145’05”), 15 inches back of Dalton Hinen of Fairfield. Wawasee’s only other near-miss came in the two-mile, where Adam Doll fell off the pace of the front four and settled for fifth, a full 16 seconds back.

“This really was a disappointing night, but I’m glad we did have a couple kids get out,” Lancaster said. “Jake cut it close, finished off by a few inches (in discus) but made up for it in shot put and grabbed his place to advance. Clayton didn’t have a particularly strong run in the hurdles but still was second place. It’s nice to be that talented sometimes.”

All of the top-four athletes from the Goshen Sectional qualify for the Kokomo Regional next Thursday. Top-three finishers in Kokomo earn a ticket to the IHSAA State Finals on June 2 in Bloomington on the campus of Indiana University.

GOSHEN SECTIONAL TEAM STANDINGS
Warsaw 130
Elkhart Memorial 95.5
Fairfield 89
Goshen 75
Concord 59
Northridge 45
Elkhart Central 45
Jimtown 31
Wawasee 31
NorthWood 12.5
Elkhart Christian 10

4×800 Relay
1. Warsaw (Ismael Calderon, Michael Compton, Ellis Coon, Spencer Rheinhardt) 8:05.19; 2. Goshen 8:06.06; 3. Concord 8:12.93; 4. Elkhart Memorial 8:17.87

110 Hurdles
1. Grant Bass, Concord 14.89; 2. Clayton Cook, Wawasee 15.23; 3. Taylor Cone, Warsaw 15.24; 4. Cameron Kitson, Fairfield 15.43

100 Dash
1. Davontea Millsaps, Elkhart Memorial 10.72; 2. Brett Baumgartner, Fairfield 11.05; 3. Devan Emerson, Jimtown 11.10; 4. Wyatt Jones, Warsaw 11.14

1600 Run
1. Jacob Poyner, Warsaw 4:18.83; 2. Dillon Hinen, Fairfield 4:22.29; 3. Ellis Coon, Warsaw 4:22.32; 4. Joel Hartman, Elkhart Christian 4:29.26

4×100 Relay
1. Memorial (Davontea Millsaps, Caleb Platz, Derek Fisher, Urston Smith) 42.41; 2. Fairfield 43.23; 3. Warsaw 43.55; 4. Elkhart Central 43.62

400 Dash
1. Davontea Millsaps, Elkhart Memorial 50.07; 2. Wyatt Jones, Warsaw 50.90; 3. Hunter Johnson, Northridge 51.56; 4. Genoris Crawford, Elkhart Central 51.84

300 Hurdles
1. Grant Bass, Concord 39.19; 2. Taylor Cone, Warsaw 40.19; 3. Cristian Barron, Goshen 40.69; 4. Ryan Goon, Warsaw 40.89

800 Run
1. Spencer Rheinhardt, Warsaw 1:55.91; 2. Jacob Poyner, Warsaw 1:56.24; 3. Dillon Hinen, Fairfield 1:56.26; 4. Jared Peek, Elkhart Memorial 1:59.09

200 Dash
1. Brett Baumgartner, Fairfield 21.96; 2. Urston Smith, Elkhart Memorial 22.23; 3. Devan Emerson, Jimtown 22.55; 4. Daniel DeBoni, Goshen 22.73

3200 Run
1. Robert Murphy, Warsaw 9:35.68; 2. Blake O’Dell, Northridge 9:37.07; 3. Luke Kaufman, Goshen 9:51.87; 4. Jacob Frost, Northridge 9:52.12

4×400 Relay
1. Warsaw (Gabriel Furnivall, Spencer Rheinhardt, Ryan Goon, Wyatt Jones) 3:20.93* – new record, old mark 3:21.20 by Central Noble, 1977; 2. Elkhart Memorial 3:25.73; 3. Fairfield 3:26.33; 4. Concord 3:26.55

High Jump
1. Stephen Kolbe, Warsaw 6’04”; 2. Zach Rooney, Warsaw 6’02”; 3. Reade Carboneau, Goshen 6’02”; 4. Urston Smith, Elkhart Memorial 6’01”

Long Jump
1. Devan Emerson, Jimtown 22’02.25″; 2. Dominique Holt, Concord 20’11.25″; 3. Dillon Lockwood, Fairfield 20’11”; 4. Marquis Schieber, Jimtown 20’08.75″

Discus
1. Jason Spriggs, Concord 166’00”; 2. Alex Soptich, Elkhart Memorial 160’08”; 3. Kyle Ostrander, Fairfield 153’11”; 4. Dalton Hinen, Fairfield 146’08”

Shot Put
1. Brandon Daniels, Goshen 52’00”; 2. Alex Soptich, Elkhart Memorial 49’04.50″; 3. Michael Snider, Elkhart Central 49’04”; 4. Jake Schwartz, Wawasee 48’05.5″

Pole Vault
1. Josh Rheinheimer, Northridge 13’08”; Cameron Kitson, Fairfield 13’04”; 3. Ryan Steele, Goshen 13’00”; 4. Devin Puckett, Northridge 13’00”