BLOOMINGTON –  Warsaw’s Lauren Burish said so long to her senior season in impressive fashion at the State Finals Friday night.
The youthful members of the No. 14 Tigers gained valuable experience on the biggest stage of the season.
All in all, it was a strong showing by coach Scott Erba’s squad at the meet contest at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex on the campus of Indiana University.
Warsaw scored 10 points in the meet, those coming on the state championship effort of junior Ashley Erba in the 3,200. The 10 points were the most at state during coach Erba’s tenure and earned the Tigers a tie for 23rd place in the final team standings.
Pike won the team championship with 55 points, ahead of runner-up Fort Wayne Northrop (49). Westview was the top finisher among area teams as the Warriors placed fourth with 38 points, 30 of those scored by triple state champion Skyler Carpenter.
Burish, making her second straight state finals appearance, just missed earning a medal in the discus. She did accomplish her goal though of advancing to the finals and ended up placing 10th in the event with a top throw of 125-3.
“I think Lauren is very content with what she did tonight,” said WCHS coach Scott Erba. “Her goal was to make the finals and she did that. She came in with a lot different aura about her this time. She had a lot more confidence than last year and it showed.”

Sophomore Claire Hickerson tied for 14th place in the pole vault with a top effort of 10-6. Classmate Ann Harvuot was 17th overall in the preliminaries of the 100 with a time of 12.76.
“This is the first time here for both Claire and Ann and they can use this experience as something to build on,” Erba said. “They now see what it takes and they can get better and come back here next year.”
The 1,600 relay team turned in an exceptional effort for the No. 14 Tigers. The quartet of sophomore Jackie Ferguson and freshmen Nicole Eckert, Megan Kratzsch and Tennie Worrell placed 11th with a season best time of 4:02.10. The group’s seed time was 4:03.44.
“Our 4 X 400 did a phenomenal job,” said Erba. “They did a great job competing. All of them had their best splits of the season tonight.”
The 3,200 relay team of senior Brooke Kline, junior Kristin Quick,  sophomore Anna Bearss and freshman Kendra Paton placed 26th in a time of 10:09.37.  The group was competing for the first time together after Paton replaced senior Lilly Fleming, who was sidelined after having recent surgery.

 

TEAM SCORES
Pike 65, Fort Wayne Northrop 49, Lawrence Central 45.5, Westview 38, Bishop Chatard 31, Fort Wayne Wayne 27, Carmel 26, North Central 26, Center Grove 20.5, Eastern 17, DeKalb 17, Southridge 16, Bellmont 16, Bloomington South 16, Homestead 14, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran 13, Noblesville 13, Northridge 13, Greencastle 12, Ben Davis 12, Columbus North 11, Fishers 11, Lake Central 10, Evansville Central 10, Warsaw Community 10, Fairfield 10, Hamilton Southeastern 9, New Palestine 9, Lawrence North 8, Rensselaer  Central 8, Mitchell 8, Fremont 8, Merrillville 8, Carroll (Fort Wayne) 7, South Bend Adams 7, Garrett 6, Edgewood 6, Martinsville 6, Mount Vernon 6, Goshen 5, South Knox 5, Elkhart Memorial 5, West Lafayette 5, Franklin Central 5, Southport 5, Greenfield-Central 5, Churubusco 4, Concord 4, West Central 4, Chesterton 4, Fort Wayne Snider 4, Warren Central 3, Linton-Stockton 3,  Perry Meridian 3, Decatur Central 3, Hamilton Heights 3, Mishawaka Marian 3, Evansville North 2.5, Oak Hill 2.5, Bremen 2.5, South Bend Riley 2, Union County 2, South Dearborn 2, Jay County 2, Angola 1.5, Munster 1, Brownsburg 1, Lowell 1, Evansville Bosse 1, Richmond 1, Terre Haute North Vigo 1.

100
1. Brionna Thomas (FW Wayne) 11.91.
200
1. Brionna Thomas (FW Wayne) 24.18.
400
1. Montayla Holder (Lawrence Central) 5626.
800
1. Taylor Wiley (Evansville Central) 2:11.85.
1,600
1. Bethany Neeley (Eastern-Greentown) 4:53.95.
3,200
1. Ashley Erba (Warsaw) 10:24.94.
100 Hurdles
1. Skyler Carpenter (Westview) 14.13.
300 Hurdles
1. Skyler Carpenter (Westview) 42.20.
400 Relay
1. Pike 46.75.
1,600 Relay
1. Fort Wayne Northrop 3:51.45.
3,200 Relay
1. Carmel 9:14.39.
High Jump
1. Morayo Akande (North Central) 5-8.
Pole Vault
1. Hannah Acton (Bloomington South) 12-3.
Long Jump
1. Skyler Carpenter (Westview) 18-10.50.
Shot Put
1. Cassie Wertman (Southridge) 50-01.25.
Discus
1. Rachel Dincoff (DeKalb) 143-7.