Edgewood, Wawasee and Lakeview all battled at the top of the eighth grade meet at the NELMSC Championships held at Plymouth High School on Saturday morning. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

PLYMOUTH – The girls meets at the North East Lakes Middle School Conference Track and Field Championships were dominated by two local schools on Saturday morning.

The Rock Pile at Plymouth High School proved to be anything but rocky for the Wawasee and Edgewood girls track teams. Edgewood slipped by Wawasee by a score of 103-100 for the eighth grade title. The Wawasee seventh graders ran away with their meet championship with a score of 103 points, well ahead of second place Lincoln Junior High who finished with 61 points.

Edgewood only won two events in the eighth grade meet, but cleaned up in second through fourth spots across the board to get a somewhat surprising win over rivals Lakeview and Wawasee. It was not easy, but the Tigers did exactly what they had to do in order to bring home NELMSC bragging rights.

“We had a lot of personal bests today,” said Edgewood head coach Donna Moudy. “Almost everybody that competed had personal bests, they really just ran their hearts out today. I am very proud of these girls. They have improved so much over the year, I can’t believe it. I’m just so proud of them.”

Moudy’s girls took first in the 4×100 meter relay with a time of 56.99. Raina Armey, Kerigan Hatfield, Liza Lewis and Paola Nieves all made up the first place relay squad. Morgan Bruner gave Edgewood its only other first place finish in the long jump with a distance of 14’8″. Lewis (14’4″) took second in the event.

Edgewood also took second in shot put (Katiana Rodriguez, 29’4″), high jump (Alexie Day, 4’8″) and in the 4×4 relay (4:46.41). The Tigers racked up more points with a third place finish in discus from Hatfield (89’1″) and four fourth place finishes in the 800, 1600, hurdles and discus. The second through fourth place finishers were key for the Tigers in surpassing Wawasee by such a slim margin to get the meet championship.

Wawasee still had a stellar day on the track as the Warrior girls won five events, the most of any school on Saturday.  Hannah Marie Lamle picked up one of those first place finishes for Wawasee with her time of 17.19 in the 100 meter hurdles.

Lamle also claimed third in the long jump with her mark of 14’1″. Yanelly Pizana led the Warrior distance runners as she claimed third in both the 800 (2:41.11) and 1600 (5:59.27). Lamle and Pizana were the only Warriors to get third place finishes on Saturday. Wawasee had no second place finishes and the only fourth place finishers for Wawasee were Lamle in the 200 and Harmony Schlabach in discus.

Despite the lack of points gained from second through fourth place finishes, the Warriors still cleaned up in certain events. Wawasee’s 4×4 relay won comfortably over Edgewood (4:46.41) with a time of 4:40.03. The team was made up of Pizana, Lamle, Regan Atwood and Aubrey Kuhn.

Kuhn led the way for Wawasee as she won three events on her own. Kuhn set a new school record in the 100 meter dash with a time of 13.00 seconds and set a new school record for individual points set at a conference meet with 32.5. Kuhn also finished first in the 200 (28.29) and 400 (1:06.19).

Kuhn’s accomplishments did not come easily as she was challenged every step of the way by Lakeview’s Abbi Curtis. The two girls have a budding rivalry as each has gotten the best of the other at one point in their two prior meetings this season. Curtis took second by narrow margins in the 100 (13.07), 200 (28.40) and 400 (1:07.07).

The rest of Curtis’ team had solid finishes across the board as well as Lakeview finished third overall with a score of 79. Lakeview took second place in the 4×1 relay with their team of Curtis, Shunterra Davis, Hanna Leach and Emma Gelbaugh.

Passion Gardner took third in shot for Lakeview with her mark of 25’9″. Gardner also gave Lakeview its lone first place finish with her mark of 94’4″ in discus.

Whitko’s Megan Thomas made herself known on Saturday as she took third in both the 100 and 200 with times of 13.45 and 29.90, respectively.

The results were not quite the same in the seventh grade meet.

Wawasee’s seventh grade girls absolutely dominated their meet, placing top three in 11 of the 12 events.

Wawasee’s relay teams were solid, per usual. The 4×1 relay team of Casey Schroeder, Katie Haines, Jada Parzygnot and Olivia Clouse was the highlight of the the meet for Wawasee. The girls set a new school record in the event with a time of 55.00 seconds.

The 4×4 team, made up of Carmen Yoder, McKenzie Smith, Marissa Hunziker and Caitlin Wortinger, did not set a record but still managed to win its race by a comfortable margin. The girls finished with a time of 4:41.02, well ahead of Riverview’s 4:48.69.

Smith took first place in the 400 with her time of 1:05.89 for the only other first place finish on the track for Wawasee. The Warriors only won three track events, but dominated in the field.

Casey Schroeder placed second in the high jump (4’5″) and first in the long jump (14’2″). Graceanne Kerlin took third in the shot put for Wawase with a mark of 26’8″. Finally, Wawasee cleaned up in the discus throw with Kerlin’s first place mark of 89’8″ and a second place finish from Sara Pritchard (78’7″).

“We’re real proud of this girls team,” said Wawasee head coach Jay Smith. “We knew coming in that we had a strong group so to see them break a record and win the meet is good.”

Lakeview’s best finish of the day came from Lynae Dawson in shot with her mark of 27’2″. Lakeview also saw a third place finish from Abby Wilson in the high jump with her jump that measured 4’4″. Lakeview finished fourth with 41.5 points.

Edgewood struggled, finishing in just sixth place. The Tigers top finishes both came from Kenzie Martz. Martz took second in the 400 (1:05.89) and third in the long jump (13’9″).

Whitko’s day was highlighted by Emalee Duggins’ day on the track. Duggins placed third in the 100 (14.28) and 200 (29.82). Duggins also helped Whitko place fourth in the 4×1 with her relay teammates, Sidney Overmeyer, Kristina Slater and Ellie Snep. The girls finished with a time of 58.00 seconds.