By MIKE DEAK
Sports Editor
[email protected]

WARSAW — The pressure to maintain its level of excellence didn’t seem to bother Warsaw in the least as it claimed its sixth straight sectional team title and 13th overall on its home turf Tuesday night. Doing it in style seemed to be more the M.O. of a team that knows the road to state will get much tougher in short order at the regional level.

Warsaw claimed seven titles, racking up 160 total team points to easily distance itself as the elite team of the night. Northridge’s 87 points were a mere formality on the team scale. Overall, Warsaw will claim 17 spots at the Warsaw Regional next Tuesday, which pleased Tiger head coach Scott Erba.

“The biggest dynamic is knowing that if you are not top-four, your season is done,” coach Erba stated. “That was a big motivation for us, not only team-wise, but to get another week of training, another week of competing. It gives our girls more time to reach those personal goals. They want to be a regional qualifier for the first time, to be a regional finalist.”

Scott could only smile when asked about the night his daughter, Ashley, had on the distance circuit. Having smashed the mile and two-mile records a week prior at the Northern Lakes Conference meet, Erba outdid herself again. Clipping the old mark of 5:00.37 by Wawasee graduate Rachel Stichter set in 2005, Erba coasted in at 4:57.54. Erba then went one better and destroyed Stichter’s two-mile record of 10:53.69 with a blistering 10:31.16, hitting almost a full sprint six laps in, keeping one eye on the track and the other on the scoreboard clock.

“I was definitely doing a lot of clock glancing tonight,” Ashley Erba said. “I had some specific times in mind, some splits I was going for. I was thinking just staying smooth, staying consistent. Hitting a rhythm, a feel. So watching the clock, I need to be at 800, then the next 800. I can go hard for one or two laps, just being able to pick it up feels good.”

Tiger teammate Ann Harvuot also had a huge night, winning the 100 at 12.54 and just getting in with the win in the 200 at 26.28, only .40 ahead of Angelica Ramon of NorthWood. Harvuot also anchored the winning leg of the 4×100 relay that edged Concord to the line at 49.76. Harvuot’s enthusiasm afterwards showed the true emotion of what Warsaw were trying to accomplish all night.

“Overall, I am really happy with what I did tonight,” Harvuot began. “The 4×100 was amazing. We totally slaughtered our personal best, which was great. We had amazing hand-offs, so that was good for us.”

Tennie Worrell also grabbed a win in the 400 (1:00.21) and helped Warsaw to a 4:03.65 winner in the concluding 4×400 relay. The Lady Tigers also had a notation in pole vault, where Claire Hickerson flew over the bar at 11’0″ to break the old sectional record of 10’07”, but the old record holder, Sophie Brown of Fairfield, was active Tuesday as well. Brown continued past 11-feet and finished with a new record of 11’06.75″ to set the new sectional standard.

Wawasee were not without a little bit to celebrate, claiming a championship in the shot put from Jordan Edington. Throwing in the final heat of qualifiers, Edington sent her second throw 38’00” and let the distance ride to the title. Sarah Heagy of Warsaw claimed runner-up honors at 36’06.75″.

“She started off well, throwing 37 feet then followed up with a 38 and that was a winner,” said Wawasee head coach Scott Lancaster of Edington’s shot put series. “So everyone else was chasing after her. It’s a field that doesn’t chase very well because some of the longer throwers are freshmen, and they choked tonight.”

Wawasee’s 4×800 relay team finished fourth (10:04.21) and Bre Robinson was a runner-up in the 800 (2:22.32) to continue on as regional representatives from Syracuse.

The Warsaw Regional will begin at 6 p.m. next Tuesday, and will feature the top four finishers from the Warsaw, Bremen, Rochester and Madison-Grant Sectionals. Top three placings from the regional will qualify for state.

WARSAW SECTIONAL TEAM STANDINGS
WARSAW 160
NORTHRIDGE 87
FAIRFIELD 79
ELKHART MEMORIAL 68.5
GOSHEN 57
CONCORD 53.5
ELKHART CENTRAL 48
WAWASEE 28
NORTHWOOD 24
JIMTOWN 11
ELKHART CHRISTIAN ACADEMY 8

4×800 Relay
1. Northridge (Mackenzie Gray, Jennifer Schrock, Olivia Golden, Mandy Campbell) 9:40.83; 2. Warsaw 9:47.75; 3. Elkhart Memorial 10:01.43; 4. Wawasee 10:04.21

100 Hurdles
1. Liana Yoder, Goshen 15.47; 2. Becca Kropf, Fairfield 15.60; 3. Jessica O’Connell, Concord 15.96; 4. Jackie Ferguson, Warsaw 16.22

100 Dash
1. Ann Harvuot, Warsaw 12.54; 2. Jametria Culbreath, Elkhart Central 12.79; 3. Lauren Lambert, Northridge 13.05; 4. Melissa DuBois, Concord 13.10

1600 Run
1. Ashley Erba, Warsaw 4:57.54* (new record, old mark 5:00.37 by Rachel Stichter, 2005); 2. Corinne Comminator, Northridge 5:06.92; 3. Sierra Moore, Memorial 5:18.67; 4. Olivia Golden, Northridge 5:19.57

4×100 Relay
1. Warsaw (Regina Anderson, Mariah Harter, Brittney Rhodes, Ann Harvuot) 49.76; 2. Concord 50.56; 3. Central 50.58; 4. Fairfield 50.75

400 Dash
1. Tennie Worrell, Warsaw 1:00.21; 2. Allison Hoefle, Memorial 1:00.54; Megan Kratzsch, Warsaw 1:01.31; 4. Mackenzie Gray, Northridge 1:02.00

300 Hurdles
1. Becca Kropf, Fairfield 44.65* (new record, old mark 45.02 by Tiffany Aiken, 2007); 2. Jessica O’Connell, Concord 45.24; 3. Jackie Ferguson, Warsaw 47.19; 4. Liana Yoder, Goshen 47.57.

800 Run
1. Sierra Moore, Memorial 2:20.94; 2. Bre Robinson, Wawasee 2:22.32; 3. Brooke Kline, Warsaw 2:24.19; 4. Adrienne Henke, Goshen 2:25.99

200 Dash
1. Ann Harvuot, Warsaw 26.28; 2. Angelica Ramon, NorthWood 26.68; 3. Christina Juroff, Northridge 26.70; 4. Lauren Stutzman, Goshen 27.04.

3200 Run
1. Ashley Erba, Warsaw 10:31.16* (new record, old mark 10:53.69 by Rachel Stichter, 2005); 2. Corinne Cominator, Northridge 11.24.98; 3. Jennifer Schrock, Northridge 11:40.60; 4. Anna Bearss, Warsaw 11:43.95

4×400 Relay
1. Warsaw (Nicole Eckert, Jackie Ferguson, Megan Kratzsch, Tennie Worrell) 4:03.65; 2. Fairfield 4:07.36; 3. Concord 4:07.43; 4. Northridge 4:14.25

High Jump
1. Lily Russo, Northridge 5’02”; 2. Donya McKinney, Central 5’00”; 3. Sophie Brown, Fairfield 5’00”; 4. Michelle Detwiler, Concord 4’10”

Long Jump
1. Melissa DuBois, Concord 17’02.5″; 2. Lauren Stutzman, Goshen 16’05.5″; 3. Stephanie Bettis, Memorial 16’03”; 4. Rosalyn Miller, Fairfield 15’10.25″

Discus
1. Mallory Conrad, Memorial 122’03”; 2. Samantha Jensen, Warsaw 119’06”; Karla Corral, Goshen 116’02”; Lauren Burish, Warsaw 115’03”

Shot Put
1. Jordan Edington, Wawasee 38’00”; 2. Sarah Heagy, Warsaw 36’06.75″; 3. Sierra Smith, Fairfield 36’05.75″; 4. Karla Corral, Goshen 36’02.25″

Pole Vault
1. Sophie Brown, Fairfield 11’06.75″ (new record, old mark by Sophie Brown, 2011); 2. Claire Hickerson, Warsaw 11’00”; Melissa Berger, NorthWood 10’03”; 4. Megan Dearlove, Warsaw 10’00”