Wawasee Ends NLC Losing Skid
MIDDLEBURY – The Wawasee girls track team overcame the cold, the wind and host Northridge Tuesday night to collect a big Northern Lakes Conference win.
The Warriors topped the host Raiders by a 74-57 count in an NLC triangular played out under chilling and blustery conditions. The victory marked the first time Wawasee has beaten Northridge since the 2004 season, breaking a nine-year losing skid to the Lady Raiders. The win against Northridge also ended a long-suffering NLC slide for Wawasee, having not won a conference dual since May 3, 2006 at Concord. Wawasee had one tie among the 51 losses during the run, at NorthWood in 2008.
Powerful Warsaw bested both the Warriors 114-18 and Northridge 114-17 in the NLC action.
Wawasee was led in the win by the trio of junior Shelby Swartz, sophomore Sarah Lancaster and junior Courtney Linnemeier.
Swartz placed second in the 100 hurdles with a time of 18.20, while Lancaster was second in the 300 hurdles in 54.00. Linnemeier earned a third-place finish in the 3,200-meter run in a time of 12:30.50. All three of the Warriors finished ahead of Northridge in their respective events.
Junior Catherine Yankosky bested her Raider counterparts in both the 100 and 200 meter dashes for Wawasee. Also placing in front of the Raiders for Wawasee were Ruby Minnick in the long jump, Taylor Busse in the pole vault and Katlyn Kennedy in the shot put.
The Warriors’ 4 X 100 relay team of Yankosky, Lancaster, LeighAnn Shrack and Skylar Janda earned a second-place finish in a time of 55.17. The 4 X 400 relay team of Yankosky, Lancaster, Shrack and Molly Swartz also placed second in a time of 4:32.98.
“This was a total team effort as many athletes contributed to the victory that had been a long time coming,” said Wawasee coach Scott Lancaster. “There were many key moments in the meet where the girls were faced with adversity and they stepped up and got the job done.
“This was a good, solid step in the right direction for us, but we still have a lot of work to do.”
Wawasee improves its’ season and NLC mark to 1-3.
The Warriors will compete Saturday in the Turtletown Classic at Churubusco.