Honoring one of the top athletes in Warsaw history, the Max Truex Invitational brought top track and field teams from all across the northern half of the state to the Tiger Athletic Complex on Friday night. The Tigers won four events on the night, but it was Penn that won six, beating Warsaw 118.5 to 101. Carmel took third place with 91 points, Homestead fourth with 86 and Valparaiso fifth at 75.
With the field events kicking off the Invite, the Tigers were able to get off to a fast start. First up was shot put, an event won by the Tigers with a combined distance of 100’1.5” by Kameron Kauffman and James Leiter. Kauffman took first place in the event with a throw of 52’2.5”, while Leiter finished in fourth at 47’11”. Carmel earned a second place finish while Penn took third. With 10 points in the bag early, Warsaw looked to stay in front as the track events got going.
The 3200M relay was the next event to take place, an event won by Valparaiso with a combined time of 16:18.57 as the Vikings took 10 points. With a combined time of 16:50.98, the Tigers placed fourth, led by a time of 8:12. Carmel’s second place finish was enough for the Greyhounds to overtake Warsaw by a single point atop the leaderboard.
The third race of the night gave the invite its third different winner in as many events. Penn took first place in the 100M dash, led by a blazing fast time of 10.79 by Kellen Watson. The Tigers were led by Evan Davis and his time of 11.66, but finished seventh. The race also resulted in the third lead change of the night, as Valparaiso’s second place finish was enough to catapult them into first place with 21 points.
The Tigers got back into the win column in the 1600M run, as the combination of Jackson Gackenheimer and Tyler Mimnaugh finished in first and third place with a combined time of 8:55.26 to earn another 10 points for the Tigers. The victory moved the hosts back into second place, as they now trailed Penn by one.
It wasn’t long afterwards that the Tigers added another win to their total, as the 110M hurdles belonged to Warsaw as well. Eric Pohl and Blake Keene each took second place in their respective races, but their combined time of 31.42 was enough to beat out Carmel by .8 seconds. In the top three since the first event of the night, the Tigers were now back in first place, three points above Penn and four in front of third-place Carmel.

    Senior Andrew Potter (L) of Warsaw takes off for the final leg of the 3200 relay after taking the baton from fellow classmate Tyler Swartz (R). Photo by Gary Nieter
Results from the second field event to get done came through next, as Carmel picked up its first win of the night in the discus with a combined distance of 313’8”. The Greyhounds had the top two finishers in the competition, but third and fourth place belonged to Warsaw’s Kauffman and Leiter, who earned eight more points for the Tigers with a combined distance of 290’10”. The runner-up finish was enough for the hosts to remain in first, but just two points in front of Carmel, who had overtaken the Kingsmen for second place.
The 400M relay was an interesting one, as three teams were disqualified on the first heat, one of which being Carmel. Penn was able to use this to their advantage, winning the race and jumping back into second place. The Tigers finished fourth here and still held onto first, but the gap had narrowed once more, with the Kingsmen just a point behind.
One of the most anticipated events of the evening got done next. To the surprise of few, Warsaw was able to win the high jump competition, with first place being won by Jordan Randall, the No. 1 ranked leaper in the state and his jump of 6’8”. Talan Asay came in third place with a bound of 6’3”. Homestead took second and LaPorte third. Penn finished in fourth place, giving the Tigers some breathing room at the top, as they now were in first place by six points.
It wouldn’t take long for things to tighten up, as the duo of Dylan DeDario and Phillip Harris would earn first place honors in the 400M dash for the Kingsmen. Warsaw finished fourth in the event, with Clark Meridew and Rick Orr combining for a time of 1:50.57. Gaining five more points than the Tigers in the event was massive for Penn, as now the visitors from the NIC trailed by just one.
The 300M hurdles was an incredibly close event, one that Penn was able to win by less than three tenths of a second. The combination of Eric Pohl and Blake Keene both took second in their respective heats, finishing with a total time of 1:24.86. The Kingsmen were just narrowly able to top that with a total time of 1:23.86, earning a crucial 10 points that put them one ahead of the Tigers on the night at 74-73. The two teams had found plenty of separation from the rest of the pack by now, with third place Carmel boasting a total of 60.
Neither of the leaders fared too well in the 800M run, with Warsaw finishing in fifth and Penn in sixth, resulting in a tie at the top of the leaderboard. The highest finisher of either school was Gackenheimer with his time of 2:04.30. The event was won by Homestead.
The Spartans would pick up their second win of the night not long afterwards as the long jump competition wrapped up. Michael Wyatt of Homestead took first with a leap of 20’10.5”. Even though it was a second place finish for the Kingsmen, it was a victory in the sense that the Tigers finished fifth, led by Asay’s jump of 19’11”. With just a few events remaining, Warsaw now trailed by four.
The gap widened even more as the 200M finished up, another win for Penn and Watson, who breezed by all competition with a time of 22.01 seconds. The hosts were led by Jackson Winey and his time of 23.86, but had to settle for a fourth place finish. Three events remained, and the Tigers now had a nine-point deficit to make up.
Valparaiso took first place in a 3200M event for the second time in the 3200M run, with Sam Sienkowski running a 9:30.63. Warsaw finished fourth in the event, with Tyler Swartz posting a time of 9:56.33. The bad news for Tiger fans was that Penn took second, extending their lead even further with one track and one field event remaining.
The Tigers took second place in the pole vault, with Matt Marsh and Cooper Hummitch combining for a total of 25’6”. Homestead took first place in the event for its second field victory and third on the night.
The 1600M relay was the final event of the night, and Penn put the finishing touches on its victory by taking first place for the sixth event of the night. While the meet was close for a majority of it, the Kingsmen ended up winning by 17.5 points.