By Greg Keim
Qualifying 10 athletes in 10 events and all three relays were more than enough for the Northridge Raiders to win the team championship of the boys track and field sectional Thursday at Goshen.
Northridge finished first in seven events, amassing 142 points. Elkhart Central and Elkhart Memorial were tied for second at 100.
It’s the first boys sectional track championship in Northridge history.
“It was definitely a good night for us,” Raider coach Ryan McClane said. “We have won the Northern Lakes Conference and a regional title so it’s nice to have something to fill in that gap.”
The top four finishers in each event advance to the Kokomo regional next Thursday.
Senior Seth Virgil was a key performer for the Raiders, winning long jump (22-5 3/4), the 400-meter dash (49.70) and anchoring the first-place 4 x 400 relay (3:22.75).
“Seth has been bothered by a hamstring injury, but he is just about 100 percent,” McClane said. “We can start jumping him full. We have basically only been jumping him once in a meet. He looked good in the 400 and has a chance of placing at the state meet.”
Other members of the 4 x 400 are sophomore J.J. Frey, seniors Jake Meier and Mitch Keyser.
Northridge set one of two meet records as Meier, sophomore Trevor Moore, senior Andrew Albert and Keyser won the 4 x 800 relay in 7:56.44, breaking the mark of 7:57.29 by Paul Perales, Luke Stoffel, Eric Gingerich and Ryan Stichter of Wawasee in 2003.
“A 7:56 is impressive in the sectional, but it is not quite where I wanted to be,” McClane said. “Keyser’s split was 1:56.5 and the rest were around 2:00. We can’t have three guys around 2:00 if we want to be in the fast heat at State.”
Also winning events for Northridge were Keyser the 800 (1:56.04), senior Andrew Albert the 3,200 (9:44.21) and senior Jordan Hoffman discus (172-7). Hoffman’s toss was a Northridge record, breaking the mark of 159-6 1/2.
“We have seen Hoffman throw 160 consistently in practice,” McClane said. “(Assistant) Coach Clint Borntrager had been telling me that one night Hoffman was going to pop one and he did it.”
The other sectional record came in pole vault as Memorial senior Peter Roach cleared 15-11, shattering the mark of 15-1 1/2 by Kyle Boley of Warsaw in 2003. He attempted 16-2 which would have broken the Foreman Field record of 16-1 by Corey Shank of Fort Wayne Northrop in the 2008 Goshen Relays.
Concord sophomore Anthony Yoder won the 300 intermediate hurdles (39.20) and placed third in the 110 high hurdles (15.04). Junior Jarred Fair, senior Donald Mulroy, senior Ben Clark and sophomore Daniel Zelaya were second in the 4 x 800 relay (8:07.81).
“We had a lot of outstanding performances, but at the same time showed how young we are,” Concord coach Jeff Payne said. “We were not as sharp as we were in the NLC. I told the kids that the only way you learn how to compete at this level is by getting experience.”
Goshen finished in sixth place with 45 points.
Senior Jacob Heiliger was second in pole vault (14-4), senior Thomas Gingrich second in discus (156-0), senior Cameron Miller third in the 800 (1:58.49) and sophomore Tyler Wynn fourth in the 1,600 (4:35.30). Junior Austin Hodge, Wynn, senior Clark Warner and Miller finished third in the 4 x 800 relay (8:09.23).
“We had a really good night, advancing a handful of deserving athletes from a very strong sectional,” Goshen coach Brock Maust said.
NorthWood senior Danzele Johnson won the 100 (11.41).
“We have been working on Danzele’s start and he is getting better,” NorthWood coach Adam Yoder said. “He came on at the end of the race and raced all the way through. He leaned at the right time.”
Fairfield advanced sophomore Tanner Foust in long jump (third at 21-7 1/2), senior Jake Yoder in pole vault (tied for fourth at 12-6), sophomore Jordan Smeltzer in the 3,200 (fourth in 10:04.91) and sophomore Jake Walter in shot (fourth at 48-8 1/2).
“Advancing three sophomores to regional says a lot about the young talent we have,” Fairfield coach Bob Miller said. “This is the first time Foust and Yoder have competed hard since the Goshen Relays.”
