PREP GIRLS TRACK: Concord finishes second, several area standouts advance at Warsaw Sectional

May 14—WARSAW — Warsaw dominated sectional action again for the 17th straight year as Concord, Columbia City and Wawasee followed the Sectional 7 action at Warsaw High School Tuesday night.

Rain throughout the state threatened action, but the dark clouds that surrounded Warsaw High School only saw a few sprinkles of precipitation, largely ignoring the area and helping the meet run smoothly and right on schedule.

The shot put was the final event to finish Tuesday.

Fourteen different individuals and three area relay teams earned automatic advancement to next Tuesday's regional at Kokomo High School.

GOSHEN'S PETKOVA ADVANCES IN 400, 200-METER DASH

Goshen sprinter Kristina Petkova entered as the favorite in the 400-meter dash Tuesday. After the running of the race, she proved why with a first-place finish in the event with a time of 57.79 — her second time as the sectional 400 champ.

"I credit my success to my parents, my coaches and my teammates," Petkova said afterward, acknowledging she didn't keep track that it was her second career sectional win. "I don't really keep track. I mean, I think it's nice, I just want to keep pushing myself."

It was the first event Petkova qualified in before returning for the 200-meter dash, finishing second with a time of 26.29.

YODER BREAKS SECTIONAL RECORD

Wawasee's Emma Yoder continued to make her mark for the second time in as many weeks at Warsaw.

After breaking the discus record at the Northern Lakes Championship last week, Yoder returned to break the sectional record in the event, placing first with a throw of 143-feet, 2-inches in the prelims and throwing 131-feet, 4-inches in the finals for first. The Indiana State commit's throw was nearly 13-feet more than the second-place finisher in the prelims.

Yoder also competed well in the shot put, finishing fourth with a throw of 35-feet, 10-inches in the final round. Yoder will have to wait to see if her placing will be good enough to sneak in to next week's regionals at Kokomo by virtue of next-best distances after all sectional scores in the state have been tallied.

EMERSON REPEATS IN LONG JUMP

Another repeat champion from last week's NLC Championships was Concord's Dea'ana Emerson in the long jump.

Emerson battled another tough field of jumpers but won with a distance of 16-feet, 6-inches — half an inch behind her winning jump last week.

"It's really nice, it feels good," said Emerson, a first-time champion of the event. "I'm getting better at my strategy because I wasn't putting my feet out and I warm up better now."

Emerson also outdueled opponents in the 100-meter dash, placing third with a time of 12.71.

CHUPP EDGES OUT FIRST IN 100-METER HURDLES

For a second-straight year, NorthWood hurdler Hannah Chupp got the edge for the first-place title in the 100-meter hurdles.

"It's just exciting, I mean, it never gets old and that's something I'm glad about," Chupp said. "[I was] definitely very confident, it's easy to get nervous at big meets but having one under my belt and knowing that's something I can do is a big confidence boost to me."

Chupp added her time in the final race of the event was far better than the prelim performance, crediting more adrenaline knowing that there is more riding in the finals and running side-by-side against girls she's familiar with in tight races from the past.

The NorthWood hurdler also added a performance in the 4X100-meter relay helping the Panthers place second with a time of 50.49 and with a team of Anna Roeder, Kady Hutsell, Chupp and Elayna Yoder.

BETHANY CHRISTIAN'S BORGMANN PLACES HIGH FOR BRUINS

Despite not getting an automatic advancement, Bethany Christian came up with a memorable performance from thrower Leyna Borgmann.

The Bruin set the school record for the third different time this season in the discus, with a fourth-place finish and finals throw of 111-feet, 3-inches. It was also a 9-foot personal record.

"I feel great," Borgmann said. "Really I just wanted to put the best that I could out there. I felt like I had something more. I actually ended up scratching two of my six throws. I felt like everything came together when it needed too."

"It's been a rough season, we've had five meets canceled in a row, so I only had seven meets before sectional," Borgmann added. "It was pretty frustrating because there was about a month, two month stretch where we just practiced every day."

The Bruins may have finished at the bottom of the team scores, but Borgmann's performance was a memorable one to look towards.

Full results from Tuesday night are below.

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2024 GIRLS TRACK SECTIONAL 7 AT WARSAW — Automatic regional qualifiers and team standings

Qualifiers advance to the Kokomo regional on Tuesday, May 21. More athletes may qualify once all sectional times have been tabulated.

100-meter dash: Ja'leiiya Williams (Elkhart, 12.51), Camryn Burner (Warsaw, 12.54), Dea'ana Emerson (Concord, 12.71)

200-meter dash: Camryn Burner (Warsaw, 25.92), Kristina Petkova (Goshen, 26.29), Allison DeFreese (Concord, 26.71)

400-meter dash: Kristina Petkova (Goshen, 57.79), Hanna Clyde (NorthWood, 57.91), Addison Baxter (Columbia City, 1:00.31)

800-meter run: Josefina Rastrelli (Warsaw, 2:14.44 — new meet record), Eden Metz (Warsaw, 2:17.03), Samantha Lickey (Columbia City, 2:20.20)

1,600-meter run: Josefina Rastrelli (Warsaw, 4:56.29 — new meet record), Kenya Leitch (Columbia City, 4:59.90), Dakotah Moore (Northridge, 5:15.51)

3,200-meter run: Kenya Leitch (Columbia City, 11:09.82), Mia Hodgson (Wawasee, 11:45.75), Samantha Rastrelli (Warsaw, 11:50.16)

4X100-meter relay: Warsaw (49.89; Anna Stevens, Addison Williams, Claire Walters, Camryn Burner), NorthWood (50.49; Anna Roeder, Kady Hutsell, Hannah Chupp, Elayna Yoder), Elkhart (50.79; Brendayah Dale, Grace Wesselhoft, A'Dreanna Brown, Ja'leiiya Williams)

4X400-meter relay: Warsaw (4:03.93, Madison Smalley, Ella Laput, Eden Metz, Josefina Rastrelli), Columbia City (4:05.84, Alana Bonham, Felica Mullinax, Lillian Richmond, Addi Baxter), NorthWood (4:10.06, Claire Payne, Joslyn Miller, Syndey Prenkert, Hanna Clyde)

4X800-meter relay: Columbia City (9:43.56; Alana Bonham, Brooke Sigler, Felica Mullinax, Samantha Lickey), Warsaw (10:00.36; Samantha Rastrelli, Hannah Fisher, Elizabeth Vander Brie, Ella Laput), Goshen (10:10.26, Kassandra Ortega, Jetcimani Cid, Sydney McLaughlin, Edith Loera-Arambula)

100-meter hurdles: Hannah Chupp (NorthWood, 15.56), Annabel Parker (Warsaw, 16.33), Madelyn Culp (Fairfield, 16.35)

300-meter hurdles: Annabel Parker (Warsaw, 47.07), Evie Mashala (Concord, 47.53), Melayna Howett (Warsaw, 47.69)

Long jump: Dea'ana Emerson (Concord, 16'6 1/2"), Kaydence Shepherd (Wawasee, 16'2 1/4"), Claire Sprankle (Warsaw, 15' 8 1/4")

High jump: Lia Davis (Concord, 5'1"), Allison Mullet (Columbia City, J5'1"), Lani Calizo (Lakeland Christian, 5'0")

Pole vault: Elliana Transparenti (Warsaw, 10'3"), Lily Vasil (Northridge, 10'0"), Margaret Barnett (Warsaw, J10'0")

Shot put: Brynlee Jellison (Elkhart, 38'5"), Ava Decker (Elkhart, 36'1 1/2"), Brooklyn King (Elkhart, 36'3")

Discus throw: Emma Yoder (Wawasee, 131'4"), Ava Decker (Elkhart, 130'1/2"), Abbigail Kohler (Warsaw, 113'1")

Final sectional team standings:

1. Warsaw (150.5)

2. Concord (74.5)

3. Columbia City (65.5)

4. Wawasee (65)

5. Elkhart (62)

6. NorthWood (52.5)

7. Northridge (45)

8. Goshen (41)

9. Fairfield (28)

10. Jimtown (25)

11. Lakeland Christian (6)

12. Elkhart Christian (5)

13. Bethany Christian (4)

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