BOYS GOSHEN RELAYS: Fairfield throws themselves atop Class B with complete showing

Apr. 20—GOSHEN — With field events scoring highly for Fairfield in the 81st running of the Goshen Relays, the Falcons took away a trophy that they might not have planned for.

"No, we didn't, I mean guys just stepped up," Fairfield boys head coach Scott Lancaster said of the win. "The throwers, they did a tremendous job. They got us nearly 30 points, scored two in the pole vault, two in the 100 so those things really add up."

Fairfield's lone champion of the day was shot putter Nick Hofer, who stood atop the Class B list with a marking of 49-feet.

The temperature at Goshen High School swayed between low and high 40's throughout the event. Strong winds swung through the area as well, creating a higher degree of difficulty for each participant. Action started at 9 a.m. and the final results were posted around 5:30 p.m., creating a meet which lasted over eight hours.

It was also the first year that both the boys and girls meets were ran on the same day. Each ran the same events.

Both Hofer and Ethan Hochstetler also placed for the Falcons in the discus. Hochstetler finished second with a throw of 144-feet 11-inches. Hofer's throw of 137-feet, four-inches was good for third.

Other standouts for Fairfield included sophomore Waylon Herschberger and senior Marco Garcia who both advanced to the finals of the 100-meter dash. Herschberger finished third with a time of 12.15 while Garcia stood one spot behind with a time of 12.19. Both improved from their trial runs earlier in the meet.

"The 100 guys in Waylan and Marco just did a tremendous job," Lancaster said. "Marco's nursing an injury but they just got it done. I think everyone stepped up."

The high winds and chilled temperature affected the runners, but the Fairfield boys coach deflected it off.

"We knew it was going to be miserable for everybody so we're all in the same boat," Lancaster said. "That doesn't concern us because we practice in it incase, we end up in it."

Also in the Class B stood Westview which finished fourth as a team. Senior Jacob Peruski finished fourth in the 110-meter hurdles finals with a time of 18.15.

The Warriors, however, placed better in the distance events. Westview cruised to a first-place finish in the distance medley relay. Lead runner Noah Bontrager created a wide gap in the 1200-meter leg before Nick Bontrager capped up the mile portion of the leg to created a seven second difference between first and second.

NORTHWOOD, NORTHRIDGE FOLLOWS ELKHART IN CLASS A

Elkhart made it clear throughout the day that the Lions meant business. That didn't stop NLC rivals NorthWood and Northridge in dueling for the top.

The Raiders excelled on the track but NorthWood added in more help in the field to slip into second place overall with a team score of 82. Northridge followed with a 72.

"It was a pretty good team effort," NorthWood assistant Bill Mitschelen said. "I think surprising with the boys on the throws. They did a tremendous job and we scored high there."

The Panthers got a first place finish from Tyler Bowman in the shot put, throwing 50-feet, nine-inches. Junior Max Parciak followed in second with a throw of 46-feet, 3.5-inches.

"Max, he got second in shot put so that was really good, he PR'd there," Mitschelen said. "Actually PR'd today in discus and turned a corner and is probably starting to put some pressure on Tyler Bowman who won it so that would be really great for that."

Northridge racked up several first place finishes in the relays. With two heats of the 4X100-meter dash, both the Raiders and Panthers won their heat. Overall, it was NorthWood that carried the best time by less than a second.

The Raiders did sweep the 4X200, 4X400, 4X800 and sprint medley relay first place titles.

"We had just a handful of sprinters here today but they showed up and did a great job and our distance guys really shouldered the load from 400-meters up," Northridge assistant coach Sam Miller said, who stood in for Raiders head coach Trisha King who followed the Raiders' girls at Penn's Invitational. "They ran most of the 400's and all of the 800's and the 1200 and the mile so the distance kids really shouldered a heavy load."

His son Xavier Miller had a thrilling finish to the 1600-meter run. Xavier Miller then gave some insight on what it felt like to turn the corner as the pack leader during the windy day.

"Oh my gosh," Xavier Miller exclaimed. "The thing is, especially when you're leading, especially on the third lap I think there was a big gust right away so that felt rough. Honestly, it didn't feel that bad on the last lap but it was a lot louder in my ears."

"It's really nice," Xavier Miller said on the first-place finish. "I mean obviously some other good guys in that race but holy crap that wind on the home stretch was bad. It feels good, time wasn't great but again, the wind."

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2024 GOSHEN RELAYS — Event winners and final team standings

Note: races that had two winners (one for each championship race) are noted.

Honorary referee: Lowell Nafziger

CLASS A

4X100-meter relay:

* Race 1: NorthWood (Gavin Rulli, Trey Woods, Logan Becker, Wyatt Mast), 44.52

* Race 2: Northridge (Chase Aplin, Tre Copeland, Jacob Wetzel, Mikey Squiers), 44.56

4X200-meter relay:

* Race 1: Northridge (Tre Copeland, Jaden Fisher, Jacob Wetzel, Mikey Squiers), 1:32.18

* Race 2: SB St. Joseph (Samuel Harshman, Cle Kimbrough, Jack Moran, Richard Halliburton), 1:34.06

4X400-meter relay: Northridge (David Gingerich, Trevin Schlabach, Xavier Miller, Max Estep), 3:38.66

4X800-meter relay: Northridge (Marc Hernandez, Brady Hicks, Trevin Schlabach, Xavier Miller), 8:31.27

Sprint medley relay (200, 200, 400, 800):

* Race 1: Northridge (Jacob Wetzel, Trevin Schlabach, Joe Keyser, Baylor Miller), 3:50.06

* Race 2: Goshen (Guy Branam, Jonathon Flores, Sebastian Chavoyo, Lincoln Clark), 3:58.02

Distance medley relay (1200, 400, 800, 1600): Elkhart (Max Malloy, Jackson Ezzell, Max Huckleberry, Aaron Richter), 10:51.05

100-meter dash: Nathan Munson (Elkhart), 11.25

110-meter hurdles: Javion Westfield (FW Northrop), 15.89

1600-meter run:

* Race 1: Xavier Miller (Northridge), 4:33.86

* Race 2: Gavin Good (Columbia City), 4:34.38

Long jump: Nicholas Edwards (Elkhart), 20' 9.75"

High jump: Trinton Harris (Elkhart), 6'2"

Pole vault: Brady Farrell (SB St. Joseph), 13'0"

Discus throw: Donovan Arnold (Concord), 147'0"

Shot put: Tyler Bowman (NorthWood), 50'9"

Final Class A team standings:

1. Elkhart: 105

2. NorthWood: 82

3. Northridge: 72

4. Concord: 70.5

5. Goshen: 65.5

6. SB St. Joseph: 59

7. FW Northrop: 54

8. Columbia City: 50

9. FW Snider: 38

10. SB Adams: 32

11. SB Washington: 27

12. Wawasee: 25

13. SB Riley: 10

14. East Chicago Central: 7

15. FW North Side: 7

CLASS B

4X100-meter relay:

* Race 1: West Noble (Drew Yates, Jaylun Shaffer, Xavier Yates, Seth Pruitt), 45.10

* Race 2: Central Noble (Redick Zolman, Branson Klink, Cameron Elias, Devin Hiestand), 44.81

4X200-meter relay:

* Race 1: Tippecanoe Valley (Owen Omondi, Brason Smith, Nathan Parker, Wade Jones), 1:35.34

* Race 2: Angola (Hawkins Hasselman, Tyler Blum, Benjamin Thomas, Jackson Smith), 1:36.96

4X400-meter relay: Angola (Hawkins Hasselman, Ayden Copeland, Benjamin Thomas, Gavin Kuhr), 3:36.46

4X800-meter relay: Culver Academies (Dionte Obertein, Chris Sorg, Landon Uher, Adrian Rodarte), 8:59.01

Sprint medley relay (200, 200, 400, 800): Angola (Thomas Caswell III, Alex Thomas, Gavin Kuhn, Kaden Klink), 3:51.60

Distance medley relay (1200, 400, 800, 1600): Westview (Noah Bontrager, Bentley Ryall, Aiden McBride, Nick Bontrager), 11:01.35

100-meter dash: Coleson Kugler (Wabash), 11.37

110-meter hurdles: Spencer Stout (Wabash), 15.83

1600-meter run:

* Race 1: Luke Kincaid (Bremen), 4:38.28

* Race 2: Liam Lee (Trinity Greenlawn), 4:37.08

Long jump: Redick Zolman (Central Noble), 20'10"

High jump: Keithyn Duncan (Angola), 5'8"

Pole vault: Lincoln Hulsey (LaVille), 14'0"

Discus throw: Michael Good (LaVille), 168'7"

Shot put: Nick Hofer (Fairfield), 49'0"

Final Class B team standings:

1. Fairfield: 77

2. Angola: 72

3. Bremen: 68

4. Westview: 65.5

5. LaVille: 65

6. Wabash: 62

7. West Noble: 50

8. Culver Academies: 45

9. Tippecanoe Valley: 38

10. Trinity Greenlawn: 38

11. Lakeland: 37

12. Hanover Central: 29.5

13. Central Noble: 24

14. Mishawaka Marian: 22

15. Prairie Heights: 12

16. Bishop Noll: 8

17. St. Thomas More: 7

18. Whitko: 6

Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.