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Rochester’s Fishback takes 5th in shot put
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Led by two relays that placed and seniors Wade Melanson and Dawson Perkins, the Tippecanoe Valley boys track team scored 23 points and finished in eighth place out of 39 scoring teams at the Hoosier State Relays – Small Schools meet at Gladstein Fieldhouse in Bloomington on March 26.
The Indiana Association of Track and Cross-Country Coaches run the annual meet and a series of qualifiers.
Melanson, the 2021 sectional shot put champion at Plymouth, was sixth with a heave of 49-10 ¾. Perkins, who was seventh at last year’s state meet in the high jump, cleared 6-3 and finished fifth. Perkins had broken Valley’s school record with his jump of 6-7 at an indoor meet at Trine University one week earlier.
Valley also finished fourth in the 4 x 200 relay and sixth in the 4 x 400 relay. Wade Jones, Rex Kirchenstien and Nathan Parker ran on both relays. Caleb Petgen rounded out the 4 x 200 lineup while Brady Rodgers anchored the 4 x 400 relay.
Meanwhile, Rochester participated in the meet and scored four points to finish in a tie for 31st place.
Marshall Fishback was the only Rochester athlete to score, taking fifth in the shot put with a throw of 51-7, which was one spot ahead of Melanson.
The other area athlete to compete was Rochester senior pole vaulter Dustin Siebert, who was 13th with a clearance of 10-6.
Other area relay teams that competed included Pioneer, who was 22nd in the 4 x 800 relay, and Rochester, who was 12th in the 4 x 200 relay.
West Lafayette Individuals (March 4)
Siebert was second in the pole vault with a clearance of 12-0. Fishback was third in the shot put with a throw of 47-10 ½. R.J. Keranko was sixth in the 800 in 2:08.76.
Pioneer’s Ryan Adams was sixth in the pole vault with a clearance of 9-6.
Trine Indoor Meet (March 18)
Valley’s Dawson Perkins cleared 6-7 in the high jump to break a 43-year-old school record and earn the No. 1 seed at the Hoosier State Relays – Small Schools meet.
Melanson was second in the shot put with a throw of 49-10. The 4 x 200 relay team was third, and the 4 x 400 relay team was fifth.
Boys results: 1. Indianapolis Chatard 67, 8. Tippecanoe Valley 23, t-31. Rochester 4
4 x 800 m relay
1. Fort Wayne Concordia (D. Adair, M. Adair, Bentz, Connelly) – 8:18.28, 22. Pioneer (Carson Meyer, Jack Cooper, Leighton Dodt, Jackson Baker) – 9:23.32
4 x 200 m relay
1. Churubusco – 1:33.17, 4. Valley (Wade Jones, Rex Kirchenstien, Nathan Parker, Caleb Petgen) – 1:34.78, 12. Rochester (Zach Pickens, Jarret Regan, Braxton Mencias, Layne Backus) – 1:37.44
4 x 400 m relay
1. Indianapolis Chatard (Dudik, Nash, Joven, O’Gara) – 3:30.90, 6. Valley (Wade Jones, Rex Kirchenstien, Nathan Parker, Brady Rodgers) – 3:35.65
Pole vault
1. Curl (West Lafayette) – 14-0, t-13. Dustin Siebert (RHS) – 10-6
High jump
1. Collins (Danville) – 6-8, 5. Dawson Perkins (TV) – 6-3
Shot put
1. Himes (Heritage Christian) – 63-6 ¾, 5. Marshall Fishback (RHS) – 51-7, 6. Wade Melanson (Valley) – 49-10 3/4
