Poyner Stars At All-Star Meet
FORT WAYNE – Leave it to Jake Poyner to do something special in his final high school track meet.
Poyner, the former Warsaw distance star, capped his prep career in style Saturday.
Poyner led the way to an impressive 1-2-3 finish for Indiana in the 3,200 meter run in the Midwest Meet of Champions contested at Spuller Stadium at Fort Wayne Northrop High School.
Poyner clocked in a personal record time of 9:09.80 to win the race in the All-Star meet featuring the top seniors from Indiana, Ohio and Michigan.
Poyner, who will run at Wake Forest, was followed by teammates Connor Sorrells of Barr-Reeve in second in a time of 9:12.60 and Jacob Reinking of Fort Wayne Concordia in third in a time of 9:16.87.
Poyner earned his spot on the All-Star team after he placed fifth in the 3,200 in a time of 9:14.20 at the State Finals in Bloomington on May 31. He was also third in the 1,600 at the State Finals.
Robert Murphy also capped his career with one more impressive performance Saturday. The former Tiger star placed third in the 800 in a time of 1:52.78. Matt Dorsey of Lawrence Central, who won the Indiana state title, captured the 800 Saturday with a top time of 1:51.76.
Murphy, who will run at Vincennes University, was seventh in the State Finals in the 800 with a time of 1:55.33. He also placed fourth in the 1,600.
Murphy and Poyner led coach Matt Thacker’s Tiger squad to a fifth-place finish in the team standings at the State Finals held at Indiana University May 31. The dynamic duo, along with Ellis Coon, led coach Jim Mills’ cross country team to a fourth-place finish at the State Finals last October.
Joel Hartman of Elkhart Christian Academy placed eighth in the 1,600 Saturday in a time of 4:19.00.
Wawasee boys and girls track coach Scott Lancaster was an assistant coach for the Indiana boys team on Saturday.
Sarah Ray, another recent WCHS graduate, placed ninth in the 3,200 for Indiana on the girls’ side Saturday. Ray clocked in at 11:11.79. Lauren Wood of Ohio won the race with a time of 10:28.07.
Ray, in just her first season competing in track, placed 11th in the 3,200 at the State Finals in Bloomington June 1 with a time of 11:02.66. She was also 14th in the 1,600 at the State Finals.
Ray will run at Olivet Nazarene University next season.
Sophie Brown from Fairfield, who was runner-up at the State Finals, placed third in the pole vault Saturday as she cleared 12-3. Michelle Adeniyi from South Bend Clay was fifth in the high jump with a top effort of 5-4.
Ohio won both the boys and girls team titles Saturday. The Ohio boys totaled 190 points with Indiana second with 163 and Michigan third with 112. The Ohio girls team tallied 203 points with Indiana second with 154.50 and Michigan third with 109.50.