Late Switch Fits Whitko Nicely [VIDEO]
ROCHESTER – Heading into the late stages of the girls track season, Whitko had prepared itself for what annually has been a very tough assignment. A change in plans opened a brand new door for the Wildcats, who embraced a new surrounding with happy feet.
Whitko, which had been assigned to the Fort Wayne area sectionals and regionals in the state track tournament in recent years, was given a gift by the state in reassignment. Being moved from the ultra-competitive New Haven Sectional to the Barnhart Field and the Rochester Sectional, not only did Whitko escape some of the state’s finer competition, but was able to join a lot of familiar faces and competition more to the level of the Class 2-A school.
Whitko took advantage, winning three events and qualifying five events for the regional level at Tuesday’s Rochester Girls Track Sectional. Among the success was a monster day from sophomore Kaitlyn Reed and a championship from Elaine Warner.
Warner returned to the regional level in the long jump after taking the title at 17-4.75, a full 7.5 inches better than North Miami’s Faith White.
Reed may have had the best meet of any runner. The sophomore speed demon raced to a 27.39 for the win in the 200 and was second in the 100 at 13.19, just .01 behind Mickella Hardy of Culver Community. Reed also led the Whitko 4×100 relay team to a 52.39 title and threw in a third-place jump of 5-4 in the high jump.
Joining Reed in the relay were Reghan Craig, Abby Overmeyer and Lauren Riemersma. Reed, however, decided to scratch from the 200 at the regional next Tuesday at Warsaw.
“I just focused on my technique a lot and practice on staying in form,” Reed said. “I just really want to try my best (at the regional). I really have no other option than to try my best. I know there will be a lot of good athletes there, especially the sprinters. It will be a nice challenge.”
Whitko as a team finished with 80 points, only trailing champion Plymouth’s 115.5 points and Culver Academy’s 87.5 points. Not too shabby for a team that just a couple months ago thought it would have to scratch and claw for any regional representation.
“I know the morale was completely different coming here rather than going to New Haven,” said Whitko head coach Gary Sims. “Competing in Fort Wayne, you know you earn everything you get. But this was refreshing. We could just relax, come out, and race how we are capable of racing. I thought we had a fantastic meet.”
Hardy might have had the best night of anyone, bar none. Her title in the 100 was a trade-off in the 200, where Reed beat Hardy by .23. The rare power and speed combo Hardy possesses, though, had the Culver senior send the shot put 38-8, almost four feet further than runner-up Makayla Ruiz’s best throw for Tippecanoe Valley.
Valley has three events eligible for the regional after Ruiz qualified in the shot put, the 4×100 relay team of Breelyn Conley, Melinda Kruger, Jalyssa House and Madi Miller finished second at 53.76 and Lexi O’Connell defended her title in the 100 hurdles with a time of 16.20.
Triton had Jaela Meister continue to race well in the 300 hurdles, taking second at 49.27. The Trojans had a surprise regional qualifier in the pole vault, and it wasn’t the incumbent Meister. Diminutive Katie Hepler, who probably stands 5-4 in spikes, was able to overcome a pair of misses and land a vault of 8-0, taking third overall. Meister, who cleared 8-6 a year ago at the sectional, could only stay clean at 7-6 before bowing out Tuesday.
Baylee McIntire was a late pick-up for the regional in the 800 after a scratch from the top three allowed McIntire’s fourth-place time of 2:36.44 to slide in.
Plymouth had five event champions, including Cassi Quissell taking the pole vault at 9-0. The 4×800 relay won at 10:07.21, the 4×400 relay won at 4:14.78, Libby Read claimed the 400 at 1:01.49 and Allie Wright powered to a win in the 800 at 2:23.30. The team title is the 18th in the illustrious history of Plymouth track and field.
The Warsaw Girls Track Regional will take place Tuesday at Warsaw Community High School. Field events will begin at 6 p.m. Feeding into the regional are sectional qualifiers from Bremen, Warsaw, Rochester and Northwestern.