Depth Defines Warsaw Track Title
WARSAW – Warsaw boys track coach Matt Thacker has talked about his team wanting to do “something special” this season.
The Tigers may have taken their first big step towards that on Friday night.
No. 8 Warsaw went the distance, literally, to outscore rival Penn to claim the championship of its own Max Truex Invitational played out under fine weather conditions at the Tigers Athletic Complex.
The hosts, led by its outstanding distance duo of Robert Murphy and Jake Poyner, showcased their depth to clip the Kingsmen 122-105 to repeat as champions.
Warsaw, which had lost 84-83 to Penn in the Class A Division of the Goshen Relays last Saturday, defended its home track in a record-setting way in the 31st annual event.
The meet was scored using the combined performances of two teammates in each event.
Thacker, normally a man of few words, was effusive in his praise of his talented team Friday night.
“It feels great to see us compete the way we did tonight,” said Thacker. “Guys were giving us everything they had and it was awesome to see.
“Our depth showed through tonight and we had young guys stepping up all over the place for us. It’s nice to see us start putting it all together. It’s great to see the effort of all of our guys and coaches come through like this.”
“Tyler Houvener was phenomenal for us tonight. Our guys in the shot and discus stepped up big and got us points. Our long jumpers were big and Brock Riley in the high jump.”
Murphy and Poyner, a pair of senior stars, were simply sensational.
Murphy won the 3,200 in a meet record time of 9:28.96 and was just nipped by Poyner by .14 of a second at the finish in an incredible 1,600 race. Murphy, who paired with Owen Glogovsky (who ran a 10:10.11) to give the Tigers first in the 3,200 relay, earned the Most Outstanding Distance Performer for the meet.
Poyner, who will run at Wake Forest, set a meet record with his win in the 1,600 in a time of 4:12.91. He also ran a great anchor leg on one of the 1,600 relay teams for Warsaw, which combined for a first-place finish. Poyner teamed with Ismael Calderon to give the Tigers first in the 800 relay too. Poyner clocked in at 1:58.41 and Calderon was at 2:02.58.
“Phenomenal,” said Thacker to describe the performances of Poyner and Murphy. “Jake was unbelievable in that 4 X 400. That was a blast to watch. It was great to see Robert’s competitive spirit in that 1,600. The bottom line is that he wants to win and I have no problem with that.”
Murphy’s record time of 9:28.96 in the 3,200 topped the old invite standard of 9:30.0 set by Dan Boston of Carmel in 1982.
Poyner’s record effort in the 1,600 of 4:12.91 eclipsed the previous invite mark of 4:16.16 set by Chris Cozort of Elkhart Central in 1994.
The combined times of Murphy, who will run at Vincennes University, and Poyner in the 1,600 of 8:25.96 shattered the old meet standard of 8:45.35 set by Cozort and Mark Ermis of Central in 1994.
Poyner said a meet record was not even on his radar Friday night.
“I wasn’t even thinking about a record,” said Poyner, who out kicked Murphy. “That stuff doesn’t matter. I wanted to get back near my personal best time tonight in the 1,600. I feel like I’ve been out of it so far.
“It was good tonight to run my second fastest time ever. The time was good. We did what we needed to do and it was a good race to have Robert neck-and-neck with me. It’s good, friendly competition among us. I still have some things to work on, but I feel like I’m getting back. The best is yet to come.”
Warsaw was second in the 300 hurdles relay with Ryan Goon (41.08) and Taylor Cone (42.92) and in the 200 relay with Nathan Kolbe (23.11) and Tristan McClone (23.78).
The Tigers took third in the 110 hurdles relay with Cone (16.44) and Dylan Campbell (17.04) and the 100 relay with Wyatt Jones (11.50) and McClone (11.82). The duo of Gabe Furnivall (51.76) and Chad Goon (52.03) teamed for third place in the 400 relay for Warsaw.
Warsaw got strong efforts in the field events too. The duo of Stephen Kolbe (6-6) and Brock Riley (5-8) combined to place second in the high jump relay. The tandem of Jeff Coulter (12-0) and Jake Fayed (11-6) were second in the pole vault relay. Nathan Kolbe (19-2.25) and Caleb Ray (18-2.75) were third in the long jump relay. Andrew Schiedt (121-06) and Tim Perkey (108-05) took fourth place in the discus throw relay and the duo of Ben Plummer (42-8.50) and Josh Hueber (42-3.50) were fourth in the shot put relay.
Penn was led by sprinter Tommy Grant, who earned the Most Outstanding Sprinter Award for the invite. He paced the Kingsmen to relay wins in both the 100 relay with his time of 11.09 and the 200 relay with a top mark of 22.08.
Warsaw, which has now won the Max Truex nine times overall, totaled 122 points. Penn, which was also runner-up to the Tigers a year ago, finished with 105 points. Hobart was third with 89 points, followed by Fort Wayne Wayne (88), Fort Wayne North Side (85), LaPorte (68), Mishawaka Marian (26) and South Bend Career Academy (6).
The Tigers, who are 5-0 in dual meets this season, compete at Elkhart Memorial Wednesday versus the host Chargers and Goshen. Warsaw will be looking to finish a perfect 7-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference.