Tigers Overcome Odds To Take Title
WARSAW – Warsaw girls track coach Scott Erba may have a second calling as a magician.
He didn’t pull a rabbit out of his hat Tuesday night, but his deep and talented team sure did pull a championship out under very trying circumstances.
A plethora of performers scored pivotal points up and down the lineup as a short-handed Warsaw squad claimed its second straight regional championship in thrilling fashion.
Depth definitely made the difference for the hosts as they edged Mishawaka 69-66 to repeat as regional winners and lay claim to the fourth crown in program history at the Tigers Athletic Complex.
The final outcome came down to the final event of the night, the 4 X 400 relay.
The Tigers trailed Mishawaka 61-59 entering the race, but the Warsaw quartet of sophomores Megan Kratzsch, Nicole Eckert and Tennie Worrell and junior Jackie Ferguson roared to victory for the final deciding 10 points. Mishawaka placed fourth in the final event for five points.
The victory by the 4 X 400 team, which came with Worrell running away from everyone as the anchor, came in a time of 4:03.17 and was the only event the Tigers won all night.
Warsaw was the heavy favorite going in the regional.
That scenario changed dramatically over the weekend though.
The Tigers lost star sprinter Ann Harvuot, who was seeded No. 1 in the 100 and No. 2 in the 200 and was the anchor leg of the 4 X 100 relay team. Harvuot, a junior, was thrown from a horse Sunday and was unable to compete Tuesday night due to an injured hip. Harvuot, who was at the meet, was second in the 100 at the regional in 2012.
That was not the only bad news for the Tigers. Senior Brittney Rhodes, also a member of the 4 X 100 relay team which was tied for the second fastest seed time, could not compete Tuesday night after suffering a broken toe at the prom Saturday night when her foot was stepped on.
Despite the adversity, the hosts rose to the occasion.
“How did that happen?” said coach Erba following a spirited pep talk to his team following the improbable regional title. “Maybe I do have a second career as a magician.
“This (the team championship) is a great thing to achieve with everything that’s happened in the last 48 hours. It’s a credit to the girls and the depth we have. It all just worked out.
“It was just little things here and there and girls stepping up in events and picking up a point here and a point there for us. We talked Monday about it being a bummer and disappointing, but we knew we could still be right there with Mishawaka and that we had a chance.”
“Megan ran a fantastic first 200 of that last relay. Tennie looked great and just ran away from everyone at the end. That was great to see.”
Erba joked that his initial reaction to the injuries to Harvuot and Rhodes were not fit to print.
“I was like you gotta be kidding me,” said Erba. “We told them to take care over the weekend and come back healthy. We went from being in a really good position to ‘Wow’. But, it’s a lesson learned.”
The Tigers qualified three individuals for the State Finals slated for June 1 at Indiana University in Bloomington.
Seniors Sarah Ray and Jamie Lacheta and junior Jackie Ferguson all placed third to earn state finals berths.
Ray, in her first season running track, put on a tremendous final kick at the end to nip two runners for third in the 3,200 in a time of 11:01.50. Mishawaka star sophomore Anna Rohrer, the state cross country champion last fall, won the race in a time of 10:45.36. The top five finishers in the race all qualified for state by making the standard time of 11:10.23.
Ray also earned a state qualifying spot in the 1,600. Her time of 5:02.69, which placed her fifth, met the state qualifying standard of 5:04.44 for the race.
Lacheta, the sectional champion in the high jump, garnered a third place finish. She cleared 5-3 to finish behind South Bend Clay senior Michelle Adeniyi (5-5) and Elkhart Central junior Azariah Stahl (5-4.25).
Ferguson showed her composure in the hurdles. After being disqualified for a false start in the finals of the 100 hurdles, where she was the top seed entering the meet, Ferguson took third in the 300 hurdles in a time of 47.30.
The Tigers also had a few, heartbreaking near misses for state berths.
Senior Sam Jensen was fourth in the discus with a throw of 118-11. Jensen also placed fourth in the event at the regional in 2012.
Worrell was fourth in the 400 and freshman Sam Alexander was fourth in the long jump. Senior Megan Dearlove was fourth in the pole vault.
Warsaw got key points from sophomore Megan Kratzsch (eighth in the 400), sophomore Nicole Eckert (sixth in the 300 hurdles), freshman Hannah Dawson (fifth in the 800), junior
Courtney Farling (sixth in the long jump) and junior Claire Hickerson (fourth and eighth respectively in the pole vault).
The 4 X 800 relay team also scored two points with its seventh-place finish and the 4 X 100 relay team earned three points by placing sixth.
“It was just a lot of different kids stepping up for us,” Erba concluded. “With a point here and a couple of points there. We had some nice surprises in the field events. Dearlove has a pr in the pole vault and both our long jumpers go crazy with Farling having a pr.
“It was things like Eckert in the 300 hurdles, Kratzsch in the 400, Tennie with a pr for fourth in the 400.
“With all that was thrown at us in the last 48 hours, this was a great thing for these girls to achieve.”
Something almost magical one could say.
WARSAW GIRLS TRACK REGIONAL
Team Scores: Warsaw 69, Mishawaka 66, SB Clay 48, Concord 42, Penn 35, Angola 32, Elkhart Central 29, Plymouth 29, DeKalb 28, Elkhart Memorial 28, Northridge 24, Fremont 23, Culver Academies 22, SB Riley 21, SB St. Joseph 19, SB Adams 19, Mishawaka Marian 14, Rochester 11, West Noble 9, Culver Community 8, Fairfield 8, Manchester 7.5, Bremen 7, East Noble 7, Tippecanoe Valley 6, Jimtown 3.5, Triton 3, Lakeland Christian Academy 2, Elkhart Christian Academy 2, Goshen 1
4 x 800 relay: 1, Northridge (Morgan Blyly, Mandy Campbell, Mackenzie Gray, Jennifer Schrock) 9:38.84. 2, Plymouth (Abby Patrick, Libbie Read, Meagan Fisher, Allie Wright) 9:43.06. 3, Marian (Margaret Hartnagel, Shannon Hendricks, Megan Duvall, Jennifer Waltman) 9:46.25. 4, Elkhart Memorial 9:50.44. 5, Penn 10:07.26. 6, St. Joseph 10:11.24. 7, Warsaw 10:13.70. 8, Goshen 10:20.02.
100 hurdles: 1, Jessica O’Connell (Concord) 15.76. 2, Dezha Moore (Adams) 15.83. 3, Alexys Harper (Mishawaka) 16.20. 4, Chelsea Sherburne (Fremont) 16.32. 5, Aleyiah Williams (Elkhart Central) 16.72. 6, Bekah Brunn (Manchester) 16.83. 7, Hailey Nieveen (Lakeland Christian) 17.30. FS – Jackie Ferguson (Warsaw).
100: 1, Michelle Adeniyi (Clay) 12.54. 2, Denisha Brown (Culver Community) 12.78. 3, Chelsey Wakes (Mishawaka) 12.88. 4, Caylie Teel (Tippecanoe Valley) 12.89. 5, Kendall Kelley (DeKalb) 12.96. 6, Jasmine Schafer (Bremen) 12.99. 7, Rachel Staud (Bremen) 13.14. 8, Deasaray Greer (Jimtown) 13.28.
1600: 1, Amanda Farrough (Clay) 4:58.43. 2, Abigail Hostetler (Fremont) 4:59.30. 3, Sierra Moore (Elkhart Memorial) 5:01.60. 4, Anna Rohrer (Mishawaka) 5:02.06. 5, Sarah Ray (Warsaw) 5:02.69. 6, Olivia Golden (Northridge) 5:17.03. 7, Kayla Casaletto (Elkhart Christian) 5:18.42. 8, Michaela Lewis (Adams) 5:31.24.
4 x 100 relay: 1, Mishawaka (Alexys Harper, Chelsey Wakes, Hannah Roth, Ashley Spence) 48.90. 2, St. Joseph (Rachel Staud, Sam Kambol, Michelle Weaver, Kaleigh Feldkamp) 49.83. 3, Concord (Mariah DeFreese, Ciana Bonfiglio, Michelle Detwiler, Jessica O’Connell) 49.99. 4, Adams 50.03. 5, Elkhart Central 50.13. 6, Warsaw 50.73. 7, Elkhart Memorial 50.83. 8, Tippecanoe Valley 51.20.
400: 1, Ayinna Gaines (Riley) 56.68 (REGIONAL RECORD. Previous record, 57.05 by Elese Daniel, Clay, 2009). 2, Allie Wright (Plymouth) 58.24. 3, Kendall Kelley (DeKalb) 58.40. 4, Tennie Worrell (Warsaw) 58.90. 5, Gabi Yoder (Elkhart Central) 59.06. 6, Breanna Lemler (Triton) 1:00.44. 7, Amani Hardrict (Penn) 1:01.09. 8, Megan Kratzsch (Warsaw) 1:01.72.
300 hurdles: 1, Jessica O’Connell (Concord) 45.32. 2, Ashley Spence (Mishawaka) 45.99. 3, Jackie Ferguson (Warsaw) 47.30. 4, Lauren Honer (Angola) 48.16. 5, Kelcie Bailey (Penn) 48.30. 6, Nicole Eckert (Warsaw) 48.34. 7, Kathryn Capkovitz (Angola) 48.39. 8, Amber Cowell (Culver Academies) 48.70.
800: 1, Brittany Beard (Angola) 2:14.17. 2, Meagan Fisher (Plymouth) 2:15.98. 3, Sierra Moore (Elkhart Memorial) 2:17.03. 4, Abigail Hostetler (Fremont) 2:19.44. 5, Hannah Dawson (Warsaw) 2:19.88. 6, Mandy Campbell (Northridge) 2:26.23. 7, Kelsi Custer (Manchester) 2:27.71. 8, Allyssa Marlow (Penn) 2:30.35.
200: 1, Michelle Adeniyi (Clay) 26.06. 2, Mariah DeFreese (Concord) 26.31. 3, Sam Kambol (St. Joseph) 26.36. 4, Ayianna Gaines (Riley) 26.45. 5, Jasmine Schafer (Bremen) 26.77. 6, Jametria Culbreath (Elkhart Central) 27.50. 7, Kendall Kelley (DeKalb) 27.77. 8, Laura Ma (Culver Academies) 27.80.
3200: 1, Anna Rohrer (Mishawaka) 10:45.36. 2, Amanda Farrough (Clay) 10:58.35. 3, Sarah Ray (Warsaw) 11:01.50. 4, Anna Aldrich (Fremont) 11:01.66. 5, Madison Woods (Penn) 11:02.42. 6, Lauren Pottschmidt (Penn) 11:22.68. 7, Morgan Blyly (Northridge) 11:23.20. 8, Anna Meyer (Rochester) 11:36.32.
4 x 400 relay: 1, Warsaw (Megan Kratzsch, Nicole Eckert, Tennie Worrell, Jackie Ferguson) 4:03.17. 2, Concord (Ciana Bonfiglio, Casey Buchanan, Mariah DeFreese, Jessica O’Connell) 4:04.79. 3, Riley (Breaunna Jackson, Kacie O’Neal, Ayinna Gaines, Sequia Hudson) 4:08.06. 4, Mishawaka 4:10.33. 5, Adams 4:10.69. 6, Penn 4:10.81. 7, Elkhart Central 4:10.88. 8, Angola 4:12.26.
High jump: 1, Michelle Adeniyi (Clay) 5-5. 2, Azariah Stahl (Elkhart Central) 5-4 ¼. 3, Jamie Lacheta (Warsaw) 5-3. 4, Kaydon Fosler (Angola) 5-2. 5, Kaitlyn Brandt (Angola) 5-2. 6, Tie between Nicole Duryea (Jimtown) and Lindsey Dierks (Manchester) 5-1. 8, Hayley Gibson (DeKalb) 5-1.
Long jump: 1, Katlyn Sawyer (Rochester) 17-3 3/4. 2, Alexys Harper (Mishawaka) 17-0 ½. 3, Mikaylah Woods (Penn) 16-11 ½. 4, Samantha Alexander (Warsaw) 16-6. 5, Stephanie Bettis (Elkhart Memorial) 16-6. 6, Courtney Farling (Warsaw) 16-4 ¾. 7, Brittany Duszynski (Marian) 16-4 ½. 8, Haley Richardson (West Noble) 16-2 ¼.
Shot put: 1, Leah Heckaman (Culver Academies) 40-10 ¾. 2, Kara Eck (DeKalb) 39-5 ¼. 3, Madison Stewart (Northridge) 39-1 ½. 4, Deanna Cornelius (Elkhart Memorial) 37-9 ¾. 5, Melanie Nellis (Penn) 37-6 ¼. 6, Paige DeCamp (East Noble) 35-9 ¼. 7, Jenai White (Elkhart Central) 35-8 ½. 8, Taloni Reese (Adams) 35-7.
Discus: 1, Leah Heckaman (Culver Academies) 128-3. 2, Hannah Bright (West Noble) 120-11. 3, Margaret Reisdorf (Mishawaka) 120-1. 4, Samantha Jensen (Warsaw) 118-11. 5, Jacey Cauhorn (East Noble) 115-10. 6, Kara Eck (DeKalb) 113-5. 7, Tia Garnett (Elkhart Central) 111-4. 8, Tangi Moala (Penn) 107-7.
Pole vault: 1, Kennedy Trine (Angola) 12-0. 2, Sophie Brown (Fairfield) 11-9. 3, Elizabeth Eversole (Marian) 11-3. 4, Megan Dearlove (Warsaw) 10-9. 5, Kristin Russell (DeKalb) 10-3. 6, Kelley McNarney (Penn) 10-3. 7, Frankie Spalding (Mishawaka) 10-0. 8, Claire Hickerson (Warsaw) 9-6.