Sophomore Samantha Alexander, who set a school record in the long jump at the state indoor meet Saturday, is a key returnee for the Warsaw girls track team this spring.

WARSAW – The Warsaw girls track program had a phenomenal year in 2013.

Coach Scott Erba is hoping for even bigger and better things this season.

The Tigers, who have had a very strong indoor season, look to continue on a tradition of success.

“I like where we are,” said Erba. “The girls have done a great job. We’ve had some great performances indoors. I’m really happy with the way we performed indoors.”

Warsaw is scheduled, weather permitting, to open the outdoor season by hosting Kokomo and Bremen Penn on Friday. Their outdoor opener slated for Wednesday versus Penn, South Bend Washington and Huntington North was rescheduled for March 31.

The Tigers turned in a strong showing Saturday in the Hoosier State Relays State Finals at Indiana Wesleyan University. Warsaw had three school records broken in the indoor event.

Warsaw is coming off a season a year ago in which they went 7-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference. The Tigers, who have won at least a share of the NLC title for the last eight years, then dominated the Warsaw Sectional and edged Mishawaka 68-65 to win the Warsaw Regional championship.

“We had a phenomenal year last year,” Erba said. “There’s a sense of pride involved to keep some of those streaks going. We know where the program has been and where we want it to go.”

The Tigers did lose a quality senior class from last season, led by the likes of state qualifiers Sarah Ray (1,600, 3,200),  Jamie Lacheta (high jump) and Megan Dearlove (pole vault) and tremendous team leader Sam Jensen (discus).

Erba does welcome back plenty of talent and depth in his sprint corp, hurdlers, relay teams and distance people on the track. The field events include a pair of standout long jumpers and a talented pole vaulter.

“I think our sprint group is even deeper this year and gives us a lot of options,” said Erba. “Our hurdle group is strong and I have a lot of high hopes for our distance runners. We have our top two long jumpers back and a nice group of vaulters.”

“We have great senior leaders and I think we will have a lot of options with our depth. I like where we are at. We won’t need to rely on just a couple of girls. We will be able to keep our top people mentally fresh during the season.”

The Tigers are led on the track by sprinter senior Ann Harvuot, along with senior Jackie Ferguson and junior Tennie Worrell.

Harvuot, one of nine seniors on this year’s roster, won sectional titles in the 100 and 200 last season before an injury forced her to miss the regional. She teamed with sophomore Samantha Alexander, junior Mariah Harter and sophomore Audrey Rich Saturday to set a school record in the 4 X 200 relay.

“Ann has a great attitude and has been a fantastic leader for us,” said Erba. “She has a great focus and desire right now.”

Ferguson claimed a sectional title in the 100 hurdles a year ago, while Worrell won the sectional championship in the 400.

The Tigers also had a school record effort on Saturday from its 4 X 800 relay team of sophomores Hannah Dawson and Brooke Rhodes and freshmen Allison Miller and Anna Craig. Miller is coming off an outstanding cross country season in the fall in which she led the Tigers to a State Finals berth.

Alexander and senior Courtney Farling return in the long jump. Alexander smashed the school record Saturday indoors, while Farling tied the old school standard. Senior standout Claire Hickerson leads the way in the pole vault.

“The biggest thing for us is that we do have some areas, like discus, shot put and high jump, without varsity experience,” noted Erba. “Those are my immediate concerns. We just have to see who steps up and contributes for us.”

Erba does have one big goal in mind for his talented team. He would love to see some points scored at the final meet of the season. The Tigers did not score a point at the State Finals in 2013. The now graduated Ray competed in two events at State a year ago, while Ferguson competed in the 300 hurdles and Ferguson, Worrell, Nicole Eckert and Megan Kratzsch competed in the 4 X 400 relay.

“I hope we are able to take a high numbers of athletes to State and our goal is to score points there this year,” said Erba. “We’re hoping to perform our best at State.”

Sprint star Ann Harvuot leads a strong senior class for the Tigers.