Freshman Hannah-Marie Lamle of Wawasee will compete in the 300 hurdles at the Warsaw Regional Tuesday night (File photo by Mike Deak)

WARSAW – The Warsaw girls track program would love to win another team regional championship come Tuesday night.

But that would just be the icing on the cake.

It’s time for individuals to step up and shine in their one chance to earn a spot in the State Finals.

A talented field will convene at WCHS Tuesday evening with much at stake, namely the aforementioned opportunity to run in the state’s biggest meet on June 6 at Indiana University in Bloomington.

Host Warsaw, which has won three straight regional titles, should have plenty of young ladies in the mix for a top three finish and a berth at the big show.

“As usual, the regional meet will be highly competitive from an individual event perspective and from a team championship perspective,” said Warsaw coach Scott Erba.  “We view most events as being a challenge not only to advance to State but a challenge to score points (a top 8 finish).  The 100, 800, 4 x 400, pole vault, high Jump and long Jump are all events that major point changes can happen between schools, the difference between the top 3 and 8th-9th place is minimal. Bringing back the Northwestern Sectional teams and losing the East Noble Sectional changes the landscape in distance events, pole vault and long jump from last year.”

Warsaw won the regional title a year ago with 67 points. Penn was second with 60.5, followed by South Bend Adams (56), Mishawaka (50) and Culver (46) to round out the top five.

“We expect a highly competitive meet between us, South Bend Adams, Penn and Mishawaka,” noted Erba. “The team championship will likely come down to a few points, and the 4 x 400 race could be the deciding factor.

“Coming out of the sectional, I really like the position we are in with event coverage and having two athletes to compete for scoring spots and State meet berths in most events.  We are the only team of the ones listed above to have all three relays competing for spots and that is a huge advantage.  Our athletes have persevered throughout the season, learned more about competing at high levels and now it is time to have them perform against the very best from northern Indiana.”

Warsaw has the top seeds in the 200 in Audrey Rich (25.94) and the 300 hurdles in Nicole Eckert (45.87). Rich placed fifth in the 200 at the regional a year ago, while Eckert advanced to State with a second place finish in the hurdles.

The Warsaw 4 x 100 relay team of Mariah Harter, Abbi Curtis, Sam Alexander and Rich is the No. 2 seed behind Adams (49.13). The trio of Harter, Alexander, Rich and Ann Harvuot were regional champions last year and then went on to place second at State.

Alexander, who set a school record this spring in the long jump, is seeded second at 17-02.75. She was fourth at the regional last year. Whitko senior Elaine Warner, who was a state qualifier in 2014, is the No. 1 seed at 17-04.75.

The duo of Harter and Curtis are seeded fourth and fifth respectively in the 100. Sophomore Allison Miller is second in the 3,200 and freshman Mia Beckham is fourth in the 1,600. Rebecca Lemon is seeded third in the pole vault, while Alexie Day is fourth and Jazzmine Brown fifth in the high jump for the Tigers.

Warsaw has the third fastest seed time for both the 4 x 800 and 4 x 400 relay events.

Katylyn Kennedy is the top seeded athlete for a very young Wawasee contingent. She has the third best throw in the shot put. Deanna Cornelius of Elkhart Memorial is the top seed in both the shot (41-04.75) and discus (123-0).

“Obviously the stakes are a lot higher this week,” said Wawasee coach Scott Lancaster. “This is such a tough regional when you bring in the South Bend area schools and Kokomo, but the great thing about that is if you advance from this regional you are performing well enough to perhaps medal down at the state meet.

“Our goal is to advance who we can down to state, and our best opportunity is Katlyn Kennedy in the shot put. She has been so steady for us this season, has been our top point producer and we look for her to go out and give it her best shot to get to Bloomington. This is a great opportunity for all these girls to gain valuable experience at competing at this level. All but one returns for next season and this experience will help motivate them to continue to improve and take their game to another level.”

Kaitlyn Reed of Whitko is the third seed in the high jump. She also has the 10th best time in the 100.

Lexi O’Connell of Tippecanoe Valley has the fifth fastest time in the 100 hurdles. Jaela Meister is the top seeded Triton athlete at ninth in the 300 hurdles.

Anna Rohrer of Mishawaka will be the one to watch Tuesday night. The senior star is the defending champion in both the 1,600 and 3,200. Rohrer, who has signed to run at Notre Dame, earned a state championship a year ago in the 3,200 in a record time. She also won her second cross country state title this past fall, also in a state record time.

Action at Warsaw Tuesday starts with field events and the 3,200 relay finals at 6 p.m. Track trials begin at 6:30 with finals at 7:30.