Wawasee’s Clayton Cook soars to victory in the 110 hurdles at the NLC Meet Tuesday night in Warsaw. The stellar sophomore won both hurdles events (Photos by Jim Harris)

WARSAW – Wawasee boys and girls track coach Scott Lancaster wore a big smile at the end of the Northern Lakes Conference Meet Tuesday night.

The Warrior mentor saw a lot to like from both of his teams in the finale of the conference season played out under ideal weather conditions at the Tigers Athletic Complex.

Clayton Cook was the top Wawasee performer in the NLC Championships. The stellar sophomore won a pair of titles, topping the field in both hurdles races. Cook claimed the league crown in the 110 event in a top time of 15.19 and won the 300 race in a meet best 40.07.

“Clayton was very good tonight,” said Lancaster. “It was no surprise in the highs. He got a bug worked out there. Tonight in the 300 he unveiled his speed. He was out there in lane 7 in the final and just ran away from everyone. He was second in the highs last year at the NLC after he hit a hurdle and I know that stuck in his craw for a year.”

Cook, for good measure, placed fourth in the 100 in a time of 11.48.

Wawasee teammates Adam Doll and Zach Cockrill compete in the 1,600 Tuesday night.

The Wawasee boys team, led by Cook, scored 84.33 points to finish in fifth place among the eight teams. No. 8 Warsaw scored 169.33 to win the boys title with Northridge second with 116.5.

“We had a lot of guys contribute points tonight for us,” said Lancaster. “We were 3-4 in the NLC during the regular season and our goal tonight was to score enough points to improve our place in the conference.

“Ethan Brown scored big points for us in the discus. JJ (Gilmer) was solid in both the high jump and the long jump. Zach Cockrill ran a 2:01 in a really fast race in the 800 and ran the 1,600. I was pleased to see him double tonight.”

Sophomore JJ Gilmer took second place honors in both the high jump (6-4) and long jump (19-08.75) for the Warriors. Junior Ethan Brown was second in the discus (141-04) and senior Chad Eppley fifth in the shot put (45-01.50) for Wawasee.

Junior Adam Doll was fourth in the 3,200 (10:01.48) and fifth in the 1,600 (4:30.25).  Sophomore Zach Cockrill was seventh in the 1,600 (4:39.75) and eighth in the 800 (2:02.36).

The Wawasee girls team, which scored 41 points to place seventh, also impressed their coach.

“On the girls’ side is where we showed the most improvement tonight,” Lancaster said. “We had all kinds of good things happen. It was a huge success for us. The girls took a huge step forward tonight.

“Catherine Yankosky was probably the girl of the meet for us with her performances in the 100 and 200 and on our 4 X 100 relay team that had a PR by two seconds. Taylor Busse improved her best in the pole vault by a foot tonight just through her hard work the last few days in practice.

“Courtney Linnemeier broke 12 minutes in the 3,200 for the first time. We had Jordan Edington third in the shot put and two discus throwers (Caitlin Clevenger and Hannah Winters) both place.”

The top finishes for the Wawasee ladies came from Jordan Edington and Courtney Linnemeier.  Senior Edington was third in the shot put with a throw of 37-00.50. Sophomore Linnemeier was fourth in the 3,200 in a time of 11:56.46.

Senior Jen Slabaugh runs in the 1,600 for the Warriors at the NLC Meet Tuesday night.