Warsaw won its 14th straight sectional title Tuesday night at the Warsaw Girls Track Sectional. InkFreeNews photos by Mike Deak

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

WARSAW – It’s been a minute since Warsaw won a girls track sectional. If only because of COVID, Warsaw got back into the winner’s circle Tuesday, winning its 14th straight team title at the Warsaw Girls Track Sectional.

After not having a chance to continue its streak in 2020, Warsaw got back to business in 2021 and kept its era of dominance at the sectional level in full force.

Warsaw stacked up 168 points to run away with the meet, much in the same way it did at the Northern Lakes Conference Championships a week ago. The Tigers claimed 10 championships and 16 automatic qualifiers, landing those athletes within the top three positions required to advance to next week’s regional at Goshen.

Multiple champions again adorned the Warsaw onslaught, led by Marin Hart’s 15.67 in the 100 hurdles and the 5-4 clearance of the high jump, both achieved with relative ease. Hart gave up her 300 hurdles dominance to focus on the other two, and it showed in her ability to transition between the two and set a tone.

Joey Rastrelli also had two convincing wins, pulling away in the mile run at 5:17.82, and then putting on a show in the two-mile, coasting to a 11:54.10 championship. The freshman was impressive, and her coach can’t wait to see what else she can do.

“She has really come in knowing what she needs to do, which you don’t always see in a freshman,” said Warsaw head coach Megan Davis of Rastrelli. “She’s running really hard every day, and now she’s got a season under her belt and runs like a veteran. She comes out of tonight with wins in the 4×8, 4×4, individually in the 16 and 32. Her level of calmness is impressive.”

Wini Barnett scored a 2:20.56 in the 800 and Adree Beckham had a 1:00.17 in the 400, .14 quicker than teammate Rylee Burns, both for championships. Ava Knight was second in the 800 at 2:24.82 and Whitney Shepherd was third in the two-mile at 12:16.36.

Lilly Boston was second in the 100 at 13.17, and was part of Warsaw’s 50.60 second place in the 4×100 relay. The Warsaw 4×4 closed the meet with a 4:04.20, and opened the meet with a 9:42.29 in the 4×800 relay, one of its signature events that has Warsaw among the state leaders in the show opener.

Warsaw claimed two titles in the field, Josie Niebbia continuing Warsaw’s history of strong pole vaulters with a 10-0 championship with teammate Brooke Bolinger third at 9-0, and Erika Bugg was the only contestant in long jump to cross 16 feet, touching down at 16-3.5.

“The girls were pretty confident in what they needed to do,” stated Davis. “There weren’t any real surprises in what needed to be done. From this point forward, it’s do or die. There was a level they wanted to maintain, and we tried not to make it more than it was, which is really just a track meet.”

Wawasee had two athletes secure spots in Goshen next week. Dylan Konieczny will compete in both the high jump, placing third at 5-1 at Warsaw, and was also second to Bugg in the long jump at 15-9.5.

North of the hubbub in the throws area, Emma Yoder moved up two spots from prelims in the discus to record a 110-4 and take third place.

Wawasee’s Bailey Mayhew was just on the outside of the 400, placing fourth at 1:03.80 and hoping for a phone call for a regional callback.

“I saw a lot of heart today,” said Wawasee head coach Jose Lopez. “We saw some good competition and our girls looked relaxed. They were really in the mindset that they were going to do well. Girls like Dylan and Emma, they put it together, and this is what we have.”

NorthWood also lacked a champion, but had reason to celebrate regional qualifications. NorthWood’s 4×800 relay ran second for much of the race, and only Northridge was able to eclipse them in Warsaw’s wake. The Panthers took third at 10:10.19, which opened the vibe for Kady Hutsell to place third in each of the 100 (13.46) and 200 (27.24) dashes.

Kaitlin Burden was runner-up in the mile run (5:23.29) and will move on as well.