PREP BOYS TRACK: Concord sprints to second-place finish at Goshen sectional

May 16—GOSHEN — Warsaw took first, Concord claimed second and Elkhart finished third at Thursday's boys track sectionals at Goshen High School.

What started as a windy competition turned into cloudy skies and sprinkles of rain throughout the night. Fortunately for the competitors, it wasn't enough to halt any events as the meet ran smoothly.

Advancers qualified for next week's boys regionals Thursday, staying at Goshen for the contest.

Storylines from Thursday night are listed below.

MINUTEMEN SPRINTERS MAKE QUICK WORK

Continuing the usual success of the Concord sprint team this season, the collection of Minutemen did much of the same Thursday night at Goshen.

The flashy duo of Jaron Thomas and Joseph Moon once again competed at the top of the 100-meter dash. After Thomas edged Moon at the Northern Lakes Championship last week, it was Moon that shown brighter this go-around.

Finishing with a time of 10.87, Moon took the top spot while Thomas followed Elkhart's Zachary Anderson with the second Concord finisher clocking in at 11.01.

A LATE RULING

Concord's Moon and Minutemen sophomore Dalex Moreira finished 1-2 in the final heat of the 400-meter dash and looked like they'd have the fastest times with Moon finishing in front. The senior put the credit on the sophomore.

"That boy, I can't cuss but he worked his tail off to get here," Moon said of Moreira. "Last year he missed his year, had some problems, came back [this year]. He's going to be a problem, only a sophomore, love to see it."

Moon's immediate praise of his teammate came to matter more when an official ruled a lane violation by Moon on the last stretch. An appeal changed little, and Moreira took the top spot while Moon was DQ'd.

Before the ruling Moon did foreshadow a win for the Minutemen in the 4X400-meter relay. Finishing third with a time of 3:30.50, Moon qualified for his third, Moreira his second event at next week's regional — also at Goshen.

"That team right there, we're going to get it," Moon said after the 400 referring to the relay they still had to run. "We'll keep going to regionals, anything after we pray to God."

MITSCHELEN LEAPS INTO REGIONAL SPOT

Finishing second in the 300-meter hurdles, NorthWood's Joe Mitschelen claimed a spot in the regional round for the first time in his history of running that event.

Sandwiched in with Warsaw runners in first and third, Mitschelen described his mentality going into the race with familiar faces.

"With competing with a lot of those guys in the NLC, I knew how I stacked up a little bit," the junior Mitschelen said. "I knew there would be some difference, it's never the same race, but I had to keep the same mentality going into it and that's getting out as fast as I can and just hold it down until then."

OTHER AREA ADVANCERS

Other area individuals who automatically qualified for a spot at next week's regional by placing top three included Wawasee's Lucas Linder (200-meter dash, 22.53), Northridge's Jacob Wetzel (200m, 22.65), Jaden Fisher (400m, 51.06) and Xavier Miller (1,600-meter run, 4:19.75), Concord's Jackson Yoder (800-meter run, 1:57.64), Reese Breveard (long jump, 20'8 1/4"), Christopher Adams (shot put, 51'6 1/2" and discus, 162'1") and Donovan Arnold (discus, 162'4"), and NorthWood's Tyler Bowman (shot put, 53'9").

Also advancing were relay teams form Concord (4X100-meter relay, 4X400-meter relay), Wawasee (4X100m relay) and Northridge (4X400m relay, 4X800-meter relay).

Regional advancers and team scores are listed below.

------

2024 BOYS TRACK SECTIONAL 7 AT GOSHEN — Automatic regional qualifiers and team standings

Qualifiers advance to the Goshen regional Tuesday. More athletes may qualify once all sectional times have been tabulated.

100-meter dash: Joseph Moon (Concord, 10.87), Zachary Anderson (Elkhart, 10.96), Jaron Thomas (Concord, 11.01)

200-meter dash: Zachary Anderson (Elkhart, 22.23), Lucas Linder (Wawasee, 22.53), Jacob Wetzel (Northridge, 22.65)

400-meter dash: Dalex Moreira (Concord, 50.49), Jackson Winey (Warsaw, 51.02), Jaden Fisher (Northridge, 51.06)

800-meter run: Marcus Ridge (Columbia City, 1:57.37), Jackson Yoder (Concord, 1:57.64), Daniel Mullet (Columbia City, 1:58.50)

1,600-meter run: Marcus Ridge (Columbia City, 4:17.41), Max Malloy (Elkhart, 4:19.49), Xavier Miller (Northridge, 4:19.75)

3,200-meter run: Jackson Gackenheimer (Warsaw, 9:26.24), Max Malloy (Elkhart, 9:34.01), Aaron Richter (Elkhart, 9:35.17)

4X100-meter relay: Elkhart (42.20, Zachary Anderson, Anthony Leonard, Alfonzo Newbern, Nathan Manson), Concord (42.30, Reese Breveard, Joseph Moon, Simeon Lake, Jaron Thomas), Wawasee (43.12, Derek Bontrager, Bradyn Pike, Hunter Tinkey, Lucas Linder)

4X400-meter relay: Northridge (3:27.39, Jason Hauta, David Gingerich, Max Estep, Jaden Fisher), Warsaw (3:30.14, Jackson Winey, Michael Schenck, Cameron Fox, Sam Allebach), Concord (3:30.50, Jackson Yoder, Dalex Moreira, Bo Brunner, Joseph Moon)

4X800-meter relay: Elkhart (7:59.15, Max Euckleberry, Jackson Ezzell, Aaron Richter, Max Malloy), Northridge (8:00.96, David Gingerich, Trevin Schlabach, Joe Keyser, Baylor Miller), Warsaw (8:02.16, Tyler Mimnaugh, Clark Meridew, Andrew Potter, Tyler Swartz)

110-meter hurdles: Blake Keena (Warsaw, 14.92), Ernest Jennings (Concord, 15:55), Eric Pohl (Warsaw, 15.59)

300-meter hurdles: Blake Keene (Warsaw, 41.03), Joe Mitschelen (NorthWood, 41.36), Eric Pohl (Warsaw, 42.12)

Long jump: Trinton Harris (Elkhart, 21'11 1/4"), Reese Breveard (Concord, 20'8 1/4"), Jackson Clopton (Jimtown, 20'6 1/4")

High jump: Jordan Randall (Warsaw, 6'8"), Talan Asay (Warsaw, 6'3"), Triston Harris (Elkhart, 6'2")

Pole vault: Ian Stahl (Columbia City, 13'5"), Ian Darrott (Warsaw, 13'0"), Matt Marsh (Warsaw, J12'5")

Shot put: Kameron Kauffman (Warsaw, 57'7"), Tyler Bowman (NorthWood, 53'9"), Christopher Adams (Concord, 51'6 1/2")

Discus throw: Kameron Kauffman (Warsaw, 167'9"), Donovan Arnold (Concord, 162'4"), Christopher Adams (Concord, 162'1")

Final sectional team standings:

1. Warsaw (135)

2. Concord (109.5)

3. Elkhart (108)

4. Columbia City (67)

5. Northridge (64)

6. NorthWood (44)

7. Goshen (30.5)

8. Wawasee (27)

9. Fairfield (21)

10. Jimtown (15)

11. Elkhart Christian (1)

12. Lakeland Christian (1)

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