Bremen Unified Track Sectional: Warriors’ Regional Berth Recalled
BREMEN — When Wawasee was announced as the runner-up at Saturday’s Bremen Unified Track and Field Sectional, earning a berth at the regional round of the tournament the following week, the Warriors celebrated gleefully at the edge of the infield.
The first scoring error, when it came to light, bumped East Noble from third to fourth place in the final team standings. No problem for Wawasee, which was still among the top three teams that move on to the Kokomo Regional. The second scoring correction pushed the Warriors from second all the way to fourth place behind champion Elkhart Memorial, as well as both DeKalb and East Noble, which finished in a tie for second place.
It may have been a disappointing turn of events for Wawasee, but that fourth-place finish and the team’s 105 points were still a huge turnaround from last year’s sectional, when the Warriors finished dead last in its second year of the Unified track tournament. Part of that turnaround was simply due to participation, explained coaches Tracy Swain and Cheyenne Miller.
“People knew what it was this year,” said Swain. “Word-of-mouth got around. Kids didn’t really know what it was last year, and this year they do and they’re all excited. And we’ve already got kids talking about coming out next year to do it.”
“We were able to host our home meet this year for the first time so that created some community involvement and awareness,” added Miller.
The Warriors benefitted from a number of top finishes Saturday, including number ones in three different shot put flights. Derek Smith threw 42’03.5” to win his flight of the shot, Shawn Pinkerton was listed at 22’02.5”, and Lesley Tayagua threw 22’03.5” as the trio each topped their particular flight in the event.
Camren Mangun and Jared Gentry finished one-two in their section of the mixed 100-meter dash, with respective times of 16.82 and 17.02, while Abigail Hackleman recorded a 19.73 stop for fourth place in that heat. Kyndall Fisher placed second in her section of the 400 meters with a 1:23.56 stop, and she, Rhian Galloway, Cheyanne Myers and Ashley Rose combined for second place and a 1:02.39 time in Section 3 of the mixed 4×100. Wawasee’s boys collected third in their 400-meter relay, meanwhile, as Alex Mathew, Joshua Metcalf, Smith and Noah Wilson clocked 1:01.41. Mathew’s 12’08.5” measurement in the long jump was good enough for third place in his flight there, and Fisher’s 9’00.5” earned her another third place in her flight of the event.
But Saturday’s event was about more than just the top finishes for Wawasee. The Unified tournament, a joint project by the IHSAA and Special Olympics Indiana, gives young athletes with disabilities a chance to compete for their schools and builds bridges between those students and the non-disabled peers who compete alongside them. After doing coaching duties at both last Tuesday’s Warsaw Girls Track Sectional and Thursday’s boys sectional at Goshen, the Bremen tournament was Swain’s favorite of the week.
“This is my third track sectional this week, and this is the most fun I’ve had because everybody is out here to have fun and to get better and compete,” said Swain. “They’re not here to just be ‘OK, if I’m not in the top three, I’m done.’ They’re out here to get better, and they’re out here because they love being out here.”
“And they all cheer each other on, which is really nice to see. Because you don’t see that at regular events,” said Miller.
Also in Bremen, Warsaw and Tippecanoe Valley both closed out their seasons. The Vikings placed ninth with a score of 83, and the Tigers took 10th with a score of 75 points.
A highlight of the day for Warsaw came in the 400 relay, as Josh Bradford, Aaron Brown, Jacob Green and Lennon Long held off Memorial to win their section of the 4×100 with a 55.10 time to the Chargers’ 55.25 stop. Emily Gilbertson finished second in her section of the 400 meters with a 1:19.01 time, while Keegan Rice was third in his flight of the shot put, Green placed third in his heat of the 400 meters, and Austin Bowell and Josh Jarrett each finished third in their sections of the 100 meters.
For Valley, Cameron Parker won his section of the 400 meters with a 1:01.8 time, Hannah Ames was the top finisher in her flight of the long jump with an 8’05.5” leap, and Addy Miller took first in her flight of the shot put with a 22’08.5” distance. Miles Fowler was third in his section of the 100 with a 1:24.08 stop and also collected third-place honors in his flight of the shot put with a 21’00” throw behind teammate Miller’s first-place toss. Hailey Hale was second in her 100 heat with a 20.95-second stop, and Cheyenne Barngrover was third in her flight of the shot with a 17’03” put.
The Kokomo Regional is set to begin at 11 a.m. Saturday. The top five team finishers from that tournament, and the top five finishers from the Bedford North Lawrence Regional will advance to the state finals at Indiana University’s track and field complex the following Saturday, June 2 in Bloomington.
A link to the complete results from Saturday’s Bremen Sectional can be found here.