Warsaw won the Princess Relays Friday night at Mishawaka. Photo courtesy the Warsaw Girls Track Twitter

Hart, Lady Tigers Royalty At Princess Relays

The queen of track and field? Possibly.

For a night, Marin Hart was crowned queen as the Princess of the Meet at the annual Princess Relays track showcase at Mishawaka High School. Hart won the 300 hurdles with a time of 48.88 and was second in high jump at 5-0.

Warsaw earned titles in the 4×4 relay, running 4:05.63, but raised a lot of eyebrows with its 4×800 relay team smoking a 9:38.50, the quartet of Joey Rastrelli, Elizabeth Vander Bie, Ava Knight and Wini Barnett posting what was noted as a top-two time in the state in the event.

The Warsaw 4×1 relay was second at 51.81, the 800 sprint medley was second at 1:56.31 and distance medley was also second at 13:14.44. Abby Sanner added another second place finish, throwing the discus 111 feet.

The Warsaw high jump, pole vault and shuttle hurdle relays all were third.

The Tigers would claim the team title, scoring 95 points to clip Chesterton’s 88 points and Elkhart’s 65 points atop the team leaderboard.

NorthWood was part of the meet, but finished way down the list in 12th with 11 points. Top finishers for NorthWood were the 4×8 relay in sixth at 10:35.82, the 800 sprint medley in seventh at 2:01.80 and Hannah Chupp in seventh in the 300 hurdles at 52.09.

Penn Takes Max Truex Title

While Warsaw was in St. Joe County winning a girls track title, Penn came down to Kosciusko County to score a boys track trophy at the Max Truex.

The Kingsmen scored 134 points to run away with the title, Fort Wayne Carroll well behind at 96.5 and Warsaw third at 89.

For the Tigers, Jeremy Johnson claimed a championship run in the 400 meters, clocking 52.58. Tanner Stiver joined him in the winner’s circle with a top time in the 800 run at 1:59.96.

Sam Lechlitner was second in the mile run at 4:38.80, as was Cam Harness in the high jump at 5-10. Third places went to Warsaw’s Andrew Frush in the 110 hurdles, the 4×4 relay, and both Will Wells and Trace Stookey tying in the shot put.

Lancers Shine In Home Invite

In its final tuneup before the postseason, Grace’s track and field team impressed at its first home meet of the season.

The men won the Lancer Invitational, and the women placed second out of nine teams.

Gracious O’Connor broke a school record in Grace’s home meet. Her time of 12.01 seconds in the 100-meter dash won the race and was also an NAIA “B” standard. Zoe Huley was runner-up in the 100 at 12.58.

O’Connor also teamed up with Nordia Campbell, Julia Malson and Lyne Camara to win the 4×400 relay at 4:01.20. Grace’s second squad (Heather Plastow, Makenzie Adams, Emma Lingenfelter, Elizabeth Moore) placed second in the same relay.

Campbell won the 200 with a time of 25.27 seconds, and Isaac Brown battled strong winds to win the high jump with a leap of 6-feet-8.75.

Abbot Joy impressed in the men’s javelin. His heave of 173-9 was a personal record and is the top mark to date in the NCCAA. He was followed closely by third-place Josiah Thompson and fourth-place Ethan Brown.

Grace’s men dominated the relays. The Lancers won the 4×400 (Luke Smith, Tanner Sallee, Isaac Beatty, Kyle Smith) at 3:25.96, and the team’s second unit placed third (Dimitri Margaritidis, Logan Rufenacht, Matthew Helton, Seth Yoder).

The men’s 4×100 foursome of Isaac Findley, John Green, Michael Williams and Braden Smith was second at 42.74.

Williams claimed the 200 title with a time of 22.61, and Kyle Smith (50.71) and Sallee (52.09) finished 1-2 in the 400.

Margaritidis (1:58.45) and Beatty (1:59.47) placed second and third respectively in 800. Rufenacht (4:07.16), Bryan Hernandez-Rios (4:07.29) and Korry Hamlin (4:08.86) finished 2-3-4 in the 1,500.

Caleb Brown had a busy day, finishing third in the hammer (150-10), fifth in the shot put (45-6.5) and fifth in the discus (136-7). Seth Yoder was fourth in the long jump (19-11.75).

The women’s squad had a number of strong finishes. Ashley Stoltzfus was runner-up in the 400 (1:01.35), and Plastow was third in the 1,500 (4:47.11).

Kiara Gill placed third in the long jump (16-feet-5), and Bethany Hoffman was also third in the javelin (95-6).

Adams, Elizabeth Moore and Anna Hulstedt finished 4-5-7 in the 800.

“This was a great final tuneup before the Crossroads League meet. Competing on our home track is an honor, and we look forward to being out there again next week,” said Grace head coach Jeff Raymond.

Next week the Lancers will begin postseason competition. Grace will host the 2021 Crossroads League Outdoor Track and Field Championships on Thursday and Friday. The two-day meet will be held at the Key Track and Field Complex.