Warsaw Continues NLC DominanceSurely there’s been a time this season Warsaw track and field coach Matt Thacker wondered if he had his hands full.
Taking over the highly-successful Lady Tigers program from longtime coach Scott Erba, all the while trying to keep the boys program at the level Thacker’s taken it to, is no small task.
Tuesday night, standing on the 50-yard line under the bright glow of the lights at Fisher Field, Thacker indeed had his hands full – with a Northern Lakes Conference championship trophy in each of them.
The Lady Tigers scored 158.5 points in Tuesday’s NLC?Meet, beating runner-up Concord by 33.5 points and extending their conference championship streak to 12.
Warsaw’s boys team racked up 168 points, easily outdistancing second-place Concord (125.5) en route to a seventh consecutive league title.
“There’s been a lot of organizational learning this season,” said Thacker. “It’s been a big learning experience, but it’s been a lot of fun.
“We’ve got a great group of girls, great group of coaches. Coach Erba left a fantastic legacy. I can’t even come close to him ... he’s a heck of a guy and he’s done phenomenal things for Warsaw track and field. I’m just blessed to be a part of it.
“I don’t know that being a part of winning them both has sunk in yet, but it certainly feels good. Like I said, I’m just blessed to be a part of it.”
Elkhart Memorial finished third in the girls team standings with 92 points, followed by Goshen (85.5), Northridge (85), Plymouth (74), Wawasee (61) and NorthWood (44).
On the boy side, NorthWood was third with 103 points, followed by Goshen (102), Concord (101), Plymouth (53), Elkhart Memorial (42) and Wawasee (36.5).
Both Warsaw squads won five of the 16 events en route to their championship.
Individually, Mia Beckham won the 1,600 (5:11.90) and 3,200 (11:19.64), while Alexi Day took the top spot in the high jump (5-4).
The Lady Tigers’ 4x800 team of Emma Bohnenkamper, Dayton Groninger, Allison Miller and Anna Craig crossed the line in 9:34.67.
In the final girls race of the meet, the team of Maygan Bellamy, Angie Sanchez-Vijil, Kenzie Martz and Remi Beckham won in a new NLC record time of 4:02.15.
“It was kind of unexpected, to be honest,” Thacker said of the girls 4x400 squad breaking the conference record. “But Coach (Troy) Furnivall does a heck of a job with our sprints from December up until now. He works with them on the weekends when we get an opportunity.
“On both teams, we talk about breaking records and doing things we haven’t done. And on the girls side, that’s something we hadn’t done, break the 4x400 record.”
The Lady Tigers had second-place finishers in Anna Craig (800, 2:24) and Morgan Bruner (high jump, 5-3).
Wawasee had two individual champions in the girls meet, as Hannah-Marie Lamle won the long jump with a leap of 15-9, and Alexis Manges had a winning distance of 115-10 in the discus.
The Warsaw boys team had four individual champions.
Zeb Hernandez won both the 1,600 (4:30.71) and 3,200 (9:51.12), while Rane Kilburn was tops in the 100 (11.39) and Tristan Larsh the 200 (22.89).
Kilburn and Larsh teamed up with Will McGarvy and Alijah Wade to win the 4x100 in 43.03 seconds.
Thacker said the success his boys program has had has been a dream come true.
“We were told it wouldn’t happen,” Thacker said when asked about the new heights the boys program has reached. “But that’s why you dream. You dream about stuff like this. You dream about staying on top. You dream about competing, doing your best, you dream about just getting one championship ... to have seven in a row and making history, that’s pretty special.
“We’ve talked about that, we’ve talked about guys like Robert Murphy, Jacob Poyner, Spencer Rheinhardt, Seth Fouts ... guys that were a part of the first six championships. They laid the foundation to what we’re doing now, and these now have bought in and just continued that early success.”
Warsaw had four second-place finishers in the boys meet: Dalton Smoker (shot put, 49-8), Justin Fleming (800, 2:01.25), Kendal Miller (300 hurdles, :41.96) and the 4x400 team of Kilburn, D’Andre Street, Ridley Lemon and Wade (3:25.00).
Wawasee’s lone winner in the boys meet was Luke Griner, who crossed the line in 1:59.69 to win the 800.
The boys meet was highlighted by the high jump competition, in which Plymouth’s Nate Patterson set a new conference record with a jump of 7-0.
NLC MEET
(Listed are the top 3 finishers in each event)
(Girls)
Team Scores – Warsaw 158.5, Concord 125, Elkhart Memorial 92, Goshen 85.5, Northridge 85, Plymouth 74, Wawasee 61, NorthWood 44
