Gabe Furnivall is one of the star seniors for a loaded Warsaw boys track team this spring.

WARSAW – What to do for an encore?

That’s the question for the loaded Warsaw boys track team after a history-making season in 2013.

The Tigers, fresh off a program best fifth-place finish at the State Finals last June, appear ready to make a run at even bigger things this time around.

Warsaw dominated the Goshen Sectional field a year ago after stretching its Northern Lakes Conference winning streak to 20 straight meets in the regular season. The Tigers then edged powerful Penn 76-73 to win the Kokomo Regional title, its’ second in the last three years, before scoring 29 points at the State Finals in Bloomington.

“I guess an encore would be to win it all this year,” said always humble Warsaw coach Matt Thacker. “Is it possible?  Yes. We definitely have the pieces to make it possible.

“But, that (the State Finals) feels so far away right now. Our guys know the expectations and are chompin at the bit to get going. Our seniors want to leave their legacy with our program.”

The Tigers did lose some serious standouts from a year ago, including star distance runners Jake Poyner and Robert Murphy. Poyner, who is now at Wake Forest, and Murphy, now running for Vincennes, teamed to score 21 points at the State Finals.

Warsaw is still loaded as the Tigers feature a stellar senior class. The group features standouts like Seth Fouts (shot put), Stephen Kolbe (high jump) and Gabe Furnivall, Chad Goon, Ryan Goon and Tristan McClone in the sprints and relays.

Fouts placed sixth in the shot put at the State Finals in 2013, while Furnivall and Ryan Goon were part of the 4 X 400 relay team that earned a sixth place finish.

The Tigers also welcome the return of star Ellis Coon. The senior distance standout missed the outdoor season last year due to a foot injury. Coon returned in the fall to have an outstanding cross country season, which culminated with a third-place finish at the State Finals in October. Coon will run at Tulsa next year.

“We’re just blessed to have a lot of good, quality kids who care about the program and who have bought into it,” Thacker said. “We’re here to compete and to make ourselves better people and better athletes.

“The kids know the history and the tradition of the boys track program here. I’m blessed to have a fantastic coaching staff and we’re blessed to have parents who are so supportive of the program too.

“Our seniors just love to compete. They have an opportunity to leave their mark on the program and that’s a cool thing with this group. They provide great leadership for our younger guys.”

Thacker says that there has been a somewhat different approach this preseason.

“We’ve tried to mix up our workouts indoors with the weather to break up the monotony,” said Thacker. “We’ve also pulled the reigns back this year. We have not trained as hard as in the past to make sure our guys are healed up and fresh.”

Warsaw concluded the indoor season on Saturday at the Hoosier State Relays State Meet in Marion. Fouts was fourth in the shot put, while both the 4 X 200 and 4 X 400 relay teams placed ninth.

Coon, who Thacker says is healthy, was held out of the indoor season as a precautionary measure.

“Ellis gives us that killer instinct and the sky’s the limit for him this season,” said Thacker. “He definitely has that passion to win when he steps on the track to compete. He’s an amazing young man.”

Warsaw had its outdoor season opener at home scheduled for today cancelled due to the weather. The Tigers are scheduled to open the season at Fort Wayne Snider on Thursday and then face Penn in their home opener on April 1.

“Our goals are to always to win the NLC, sectional and regional,” Thacker state. “You never get tired of winning championships. You love to do that and we will continue to go after it this season.

“The goals and the expectations have changed in that we expect now to do well at State this year. But, it’s really premature at this point to talk about State.”

Although that final meet may well prove to be one big encore by the Tigers come June.

Chad Goon will be a key man for the Tigers this spring.