Kelsie Peterson pulled off the thee-peat by winning Saturday’s women’s pool of the Tournament of Champions. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

NORTH WEBSTER — Two dominating performances left little doubt as to which man and woman deserved to be the champion of champions Saturday morning at North Webster Elementary School.

In the annual Tournament of Champions – an event sponsored by the Shoop Sports and Youth Foundaiton – Kelsie Peterson fought her way to the title for the third year in a row while the men were stuck in the wake of a great showing by first-time champion Brandin McCulloch.

The TOC, which is an academic scholarship event where the top four competitors earn money toward college tuition, is a ten-event gauntlet of varying levels of athletic prowess. Athletes began with the mile run, the free throw contest and then meandered through the 40-yard dash, football/softball throw, obstacle course, standing long jump, pull-ups, shuttle run, soccer course and concluded with the three-point shootout.

Competitors earned points based off top-four finishes, with four points per win, three for second, two for third and one for fourth. All ties were split in points accordingly.

It was another year of improvement for Peterson. After scoring 20 and 20.5 points respectively in her past two appearances, the West Noble grade and current Grace College student totaled 22 point in Saturday’s tournament. She took first in pull-ups, the 40-yard dash and the three-point shootout. Peterson tied for first in the softball throw and grabbed second on the obstacle course while also placing in the free throws contest and long jump. Her efforts earned her the first place prize of $2,000.

McCulloch earned that top spot for the men in dominating fashion by winning five events. The University of Northwestern Ohio student and Wawasee alumnus started off the day by winning the mile run. He then came inside to take first in pull-ups and one the obstacle course. McCulloch later dominated the soccer course and ran his way to first in the 40-yard dash. He took second in the shuttle run while placing in the football throw and free throw contest to total 24.2 points on the day.

Following McCulloch in the men’s tournament were Jordan Anderson and Kurtis Liston who tied for second to each earn $1,250. Each scored 13 points in the tournament.

Anderson won the free throw contest, took second in both the obstacle course and three-point shootout and placed in both the mile and football throw. Anderson is a 2016 graduate of Triton and will attend Holy Cross College in the fall.

Liston, a Wawasee grad and current student at IPFW, won the shuttle run and took second both the 40-yard dash and pull-ups. He also placed on the obstacle course and in the mile.

Braxton O’Haver took fourth for the men to receive $500. The current St. Francis Cougar and Wawasee grad won the long jump and football throw while also placing in the shuttle run.

Megan Kratzsch claimed $1,500 towards her education at Ball State by taking second. Kratzsch, a Warsaw grad, took first on both the soccer and obstacle courses, tied for first in free throws, took second in the shuttle run and placed in the softball throw and 40-yard dash. She finished with a total of 17 points on the day.

Sarah Harden and Ashley Ousley ended up tied for third with 13 points apiece. Harden tied for first in the softball throw, took second in the mile run and pull-ups and placed on the obstacle course and 40-yard dash. Ousley won the shuttle run, took second in the 40-yard dash and placed in both the softball throw and mile run. Harden is a Wawasee grad and current Purdue student while Ousley graduated from Warsaw and currently attends IUPUI.

Other individual event winners for the women were Amy Walker and Leanza Reyes. Walker won the mile run while Reyes tied for first in free throws. The other event winner on the men’s side was Jeffrey Moore, who won the three-point shootout.

24 athletes competed in total, 14 for the men and 10 for the women.

The Shoop Sports & Youth Foundation has put on scholarship events for area youth for over 40 years. The tournament is run by Mitch Willaman and his wife, Gretchen.  Dedicated to helping the cause this year were volunteers, Brett Willaman, Jace Stewart, Keith Bollman, Dan Gause and Steve Possell.