BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC

Boys track
Tippecanoe Valley senior Wade Jones advanced to the IHSAA boys track state finals for the third consecutive year in the 200 meters after finishing third in the event at the Goshen regional at Foreman Field Thursday.
Penn’s Elijah Coker won the 200 title in 21.89 seconds, and his teammate Kohen Turner was second in 22.19. Jones was third in 22.41.
He ran a 22.57 in his qualifying heat earlier Thursday to reach the final.
The top three in each event plus those meeting a difficult qualifying standard for their event advanced to state.
Jones was fifth in the 200 at the 2022 regional at Goshen in 22.52 seconds but advanced on a callback. He won the 2023 regional in 22.07 seconds when the regional was held at Warsaw.
Jones accounted for all six of Valley’s team points. They finished in 20th place.
The state finals will be held at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington on June 1.
Forty-nine schools feed into the Goshen regional, and 31 of them scored at least one point Thursday.
Jones also anchored the 4 x 100 relay that placed 10th. Cody Black, Owen Omondi and Nate Parker ran the other three legs.
The other area team to score at Goshen was Pioneer, who scored three points and finished in a tie for 27th place.
Leighton Dodt was the only Pioneer athlete to score in an individual event as he took eighth in the 1,600 meters in 4:33.40.
Pioneer also finished eighth in both the 4 x 800 and 4 x 400 relays.
Dodt anchored the 4 x 800 relay, which also included Carson Meyer, Ian Kitchell and Jackson Baker. Their time of 8:20.09 fell short of the 8:11.12 they ran at the Kokomo sectional, which broke a school record that had stood since 1986.
Austin Brooke joined Dodt, Baker and Kitchell on the 4 x 400 relay, which ran a 3:32.37.
Other Pioneer athletes at the regional included Kitchell, who was 12th in the 400 in 52.30 seconds; Baker, who was 14th in the 400 in 52.47; and Meyer, who was 15th in the 3,200 in 10:34.53.
None of Rochester’s four regional qualifiers scored.
Sophomore Mason Hisey took 12th in the discus and was eliminated after the preliminary round. His best throw was 137-4. Sophomore Grant Bailey took 13th in the 1,600 in 4:46.04. Junior Trevor Walley cleared 11-0 in the pole vault and took 15th. Sophomore Harrison Dunwoody took 16th in the 110 hurdles in 16.87 seconds.
Hisey, Bailey, Walley and Dunwoody were all participating in their first regional.
Penn won the regional with 96 points. Warsaw was second with 71.
Goshen boys track regional results (top 10 teams plus local teams): 1. Penn 96, 2. Warsaw 71, 3. Elkhart 64, 4. Concord 57, 5. South Bend St. Joe 46, 6. Mishawaka 38, 7. Northridge 27, t-8. South Bend Adams 23, t-8. Columbia City 23, t-8. LaVille 23, 10. Valley 6, t-27. Pioneer 3, Rochester 0
Scoring on 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for all events
State qualifiers (top three) plus all Rochester, Valley and Pioneer athletes
100 m
1. Watson (PENN) – 10.61 seconds, 2. Thomas (Concord) – 10.78, 3. Anderson (Elkhart) – 10.91, 4. Munson (Elkhart) – 10.96, 5. Moon (Concord) – 10.99
NOTE: Munson and Moon met the state qualifying standard of 10.99 seconds and also advanced to state.
200 m
1. Coker (Penn) – 21.89 seconds, 2. Turner (Penn) – 22.19, 3. Wade Jones (TV) – 22.41
400 m
1. Kelly (Maconaquah) – 49.22 seconds, 2. Afari-Aikins (CMA) – 49.39, 3. Zolman (Mishawaka) – 49.86, 12. Ian Kitchell (PIO) – 52.30, 14. Jackson Baker (PIO) – 52.47
800 m
1. Yoder (Concord) – 1:56.85, 2. Ridge (Columbia City) – 1:57.22, 3. Agwick (SB Adams) – 1:57.52
1,600 m
1. Ridge (Columbia City) – 4:16.71, 2. Malloy (Elkhart) – 4:17.81, 3. Miller (Northridge) – 4:18.20, 8. Leighton Dodt (PIO) – 4:33.40, 13. Grant Bailey (RHS) – 4:46.04
3,200 m
1. Gackenheimer (Warsaw) – 9:19.06, 2. Bauschke (Mishawaka) – 9:25.22, 3. Richter (Elkhart) – 9:35.99, 15. Carson Meyer (PIO) – 10:34.53
110 m hurdles
1. Kaufhold (SB St. Joe) – 14.46 seconds, 2. VanSkyhawk (Mishawaka) – 14.79, 3. Keene (Warsaw) – 14.81, 16. Harrison Dunwoody (RHS) – 16.87 (prelims)
300 m hurdles
1. Kaufhold (SB St. Joe) – 38.74 seconds, 2. Altherr (Tipton) – 39.69, 3. Nash (Penn) – 40.17
4 x 100 m relay
1. Penn – 41.11 seconds, 2. Elkhart – 41.46, 3. Concord – 41.97, 10. Valley (Cody Black, Owen Omondi, Nate Parker, Wade Jones) – 44.14
4 x 400 m relay
1. Penn – 3:23.22, 2. Northridge – 3:23.43, 3. Mishawaka – 3:24.03, 8. Pioneer (Leighton Dodt, Austin Brooke, Jackson Baker, Ian Kitchell) – 3:32.37
4 x 800 m relay
1. Elkhart – 7:55.94, 2. Northridge 7:57.60, 3. Warsaw 7:58.53, 8. Pioneer (Carson Meyer, Ian Kitchell, Jackson Baker, Leighton Dodt) – 8:20.09
Long jump
1. Coker (Penn) – 24-2 ½, 2. Young (Kokomo) – 22-4 ½, 3. Harris (Elkhart) – 21-9 1/2
High jump
1. Randall (Warsaw) – 7-0 ½, 2. Thomas (Mishawaka) – 6-4, 3. Asay (Warsaw) – 6-4
Discus
1. Good (LaVille) – 178-3, 2. Kauffman (Warsaw) – 170-1, 3. Beard (Kokomo) – 168-6, 12. Mason Hisey (RHS) – 137-4
Shot put
1. Kauffman (Warsaw) – 55-10, 2. Goralski (Penn) – 55-0 ¼, 3. Bowman (NorthWood) – 53-8
Pole vault
1. Hulsey (LaVille) – 15-9 ¼, 2. Farr (Tipton) – 15-3, 3. Poe (Penn) – 14-6, 15. Trevor Walley (RHS) – 11-0
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