Warsaw’s Brandon Reinholt sprints down the final stretch as Ross Armey looks on as the Tiger 4×100 relay cruised to a win Thursday night. (Photos by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – On a night where glitz and glamour took a backseat to ground and pound, Warsaw had enough in the tank to hold off Concord, 78-54, and Wawasee, 111-21, in the boys track Northern Lakes Conference opener. Concord would double up Wawasee, 88-44, to complete the triangle.

Wawasee’s Michael Katzer, green top, looks to make a move in the 200 dash.

Normally strong enough to dominate the track, Warsaw won just four of the 11 track events, three of those wins coming with an Armey attached to the list. Ross Armey claimed both hurdles events, the 110 at 16.18 and the 300 at 40.83, plus giving Warsaw a quality third leg of the 4×100 relay, where closer Brandon Reinholt didn’t have a pursuer within earshot at 43.52. Rane Kilburn and Will McGarvey started off the first half of the relay.

Warsaw closed out the night with a win the 4×400 relay, going 3:33.89 on the speed of Letyan Perry, Devin Street, Kilburn and Landan Perry.

Warsaw made a lot of waves in the field, with Lucas Cone taking the pole vault at 11-6, Jaceb Burish winning discus at 134-08 and Dylan Childers closing up the night with a shot put win at 48-07.5.

“Just because we’ve had success in the past doesn’t mean that this team is automatically going to be successful,” said Warsaw head coach Matt Thacker. “This team has to come compete every night. Concord, for example, came here and competed. If you let your guard down, they will take it away from you. Just because we’ve won in the past, it doesn’t mean we are guaranteed future success.

“To maintain that mentality has to be the driving force for these kids.”

Normally strong in distance events, Warsaw was shut out by Concord, and even defaulted the 4×800 relay. With the Franklin Central ‘Miracle Mile’ distance showcase just 24 hours clear of Thursday’s meet, stars like Owen Glogovsky were given the night off. But in other races like the 800, Nate Corder beat Xavi Ramirez to the line, and Salvador Escamilla beat Zeb Hernandez in the mile and Lucas Howett in the two-mile head’s up.

Wawasee’s David Yankosky takes flight in the 300 hurdles.

Cedric Mitchell was also a beast for Concord, taking both the 100 (11.46) and 200 (23.26) dashes as well as the long jump (20-08.75) and high jump (6-1).

“I thought our seniors tonight were outstanding,” Thacker noted in relation to ‘Senior Night’. “After spring break and I’m a senior, I’m probably checked out. But not our guys. Someone like Landan Perry, the kid gives us everything. Lucas Cone, he found a way to help us out and had a nice pole vault tonight. So many kids like that.”

Wawasee didn’t have much to show on the final sheets, winning just the 4×800 relay at 8:49.49 on the legs of Sam Griner, Spencer Hare, Ben Hoffert and Luke Griner.

Coach Scott Lancaster noted there were some bright spots such as Dylan Elpusan’s 127-07 discus throw, a pair of 10-6 clearances by Ramiro Medina and Brady Robinson in pole vault, and Luke Griner’s 43.97 effort in the 300 hurdles.

The Warriors, still trying to rebuild after a huge and successful graduating class left crater-sized holes to fill from last spring, are a work in progress.

“We’re training for May, not April, but this was an eye-opener for a lot of our kids,” Lancaster said. “Our talent pool comes in cycles, and we lost a lot from last year. Comparing us to Warsaw is like comparing apples to oranges. Or maybe apples to celery.”

Warsaw will send its distance runners to Franklin for Friday’s invite, then return to NLC play Thursday at Northridge. Wawasee will work at the North Side Relays in Fort Wayne this Saturday and then host Elkhart Memorial and NorthWood next Thursday.

Warsaw’s Tommy Hickerson bolts from the blocks in the 200 dash.