Crimson Chargers breeze

By GREG KEIM
greg.keim@goshennews.com

May 07, 2008 11:09 am

— Elkhart Memorial brought home the team championship while Concord senior Anthony Harper was a double winner in the Northern Lakes Conference high school boys track and field meet Tuesday night at Warsaw.
Memorial won four individual titles and one relay to finish with 121 points. Plymouth was second at 90, followed by Warsaw 85.5, Northridge 85, NorthWood 73, Wawasee 69, Concord 53.5 and Goshen 47. (Summary on B-2)
For Memorial, senior Devington Halliburton took the 300-meter hurdles (38.72) junior Jeremy Mack the 110 high hurdles (14.92), junior Race Dorsey the 3,200 (9:49.69) and junior Peter Roach pole vault (15-0).
Memorial went undefeated during the regular NLC season.
“This was a tough conference season,” Memorial coach Adam Homo said. “The conference has gotten better. There are a lot of good teams and great athletes.
“Halliburton had a great 300 hurdles, Mack a personal best in the 110 highs and Dorsey a personal best by four or five seconds in the 3,200.”
Harper was the fastest man, winning the 100 (11.09) and 200 (22.42) dashes.
“Winning feels good after getting beat in a couple of close races last season,” Harper said. “Practices have gotten harder this season and the new coaching staff expects a lot from us.
“My race strategy was to just get out of the blocks and stay ahead.”
Harper had an unusual encounter in the 200.
“Coming around the curve I got a bug in my mouth and it was hard to breath,” he said. “After I got that out I started to catch back up what I has lost. I told myself that I couldn’t let a bug ruin my race.”
Northridge senior Ladd Mercer won the 1,600 (4:24.09), junior Andrew Albert the 800 (1:58.80) and junior Seth Virgil long jump (21-10 1/4). Albert, junior Mitch Keyser, senior Tony Yoder and Mercer finished first in the 4 x 800 relay (7:59.75).
“We ran good in areas where we thought we would,” Northridge coach Ryan McClane said. “We were hoping for some areas of improvement, but that didn’t happen.
“You can’t believe what Mercer does sometimes. Albert ran an incredible 800. We even placed in the 400 (senior Nate Meyer fifth at 51.38). That is the first time we have down that in four or five years.”
Goshen’s best finishes were second from senior Brock Goodman in high jump (5-10), third from senior Michael Murto in the 800 (1:58.8), third from senior Zach Prater in pole vault (12-6) and third from freshman Tyler Wynn in the 3,200 (10:00.84). Junior Cameron Miller, junior Carmelo Castillo, Wynn and Murto were third in the 4 x 800 relay (8:03.78).
“This was a great NLC meet and we had some unbelievable personal bests,” Goshen coach Brock Maust said. “Prater improved six inches in pole vault and Wynn nearly broke 10 minutes in the 3,200.”
Goshen’s 4 x 800 was missing freshman Luke Jacobs who is out with an injury.
“We asked Castillo to step in and he responded with a 2:03 split,” Maust said.
Despite placing eighth in the team standings Maust sees improvement.
“The public doesn’t know how hard these kids have worked and how much progress they have made,” the coach said. “A lot of coaches have told me we are going in the right direction.”
Homo agreed saying, “Brock (Maust) is doing a great job and (GHS assistant) Mike Wynn is excellent with the distance runners. Goshen is probably about a year away, but the program is getting back to what Carl Weaver had when he was coaching.”

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.