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BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
Winamac junior Kolbey Wegner finished sixth in a personal-best 9:59.06 in the 3,200 meters at the Valparaiso regional on May 26.
Wegner accounted for all three points the Winamac team scored. Winamac finished in a tie for 28th place out of 33 teams that scored at Valparaiso. Forty-seven different schools feed into the regional.
LaPorte won the regional with 80.5 points. Merrillville was second, 1.5 points back.
Wegner ran a 10:01.00 in finishing third at the Rensselaer sectional on May 19. He also won the Hoosier North title in the event at LaVille on May 12.
Wegner also joined Andrew Cardenas, Tyler Tankersley and Cristian Cardenas on the 4 x 800 relay team that finished in 15th place in 9:16.26.
Cristian Cardenas also competed in the 300 hurdles and took 13th place in 44.21 seconds.
The other Winamac athlete who competed at the regional was senior shot putter, Logan Schultz, who took 11th place with a throw of 46-0.
Hobart’s Cody Johnston broke the regional record with his winning pole vault clearance of 16-7. Johnston broke Winamac’s Bill Williamson’s record of 16-2 set in 2017. Johnston was third at the 2021 state finals.
The top three athletes in each event plus those meeting a difficult qualifying standard advanced to the IHSAA state finals at the Robert C. Haugh Track and Field Complex in Bloomington at 3 p.m. Saturday.
Valparaiso boys track regional results: 1. LaPorte 80.5, 2. Merrillville 79, 3. Lake Central 72, 4. Munster 40, 5. Crown Point 39, t-28. Winamac 3
Scoring on 10-8-6-5-4-3-2-1 basis for all events
State qualifiers (top three) plus all Winamac athletes
100 m
1. Gethers (Lake Central) – 10.81 seconds, 2. Wright (Merrillville) – 10.75, 3. Watta (Lake Central) – 10.78, 4. Bullock (Chesterton) – 10.92, 5. VerSchure (Valparaiso) – 10.93, 6. Clanton (Michigan City) – 10.96
(NOTE: Bullock, VerSchure and Clanton all met the state qualifying standard of 11.03 seconds and also advance to state.)
200 m
1. Gethers (Lake Central) – 21.76 seconds, 2. Hill (Portage) – 22.05, 3. Watta (Lake Central) – 22.12
400 m
1. Materna (North Judson) – 50.18 seconds, 2. Berry (Lake Central) – 50.61, 3. Bergquist (LaPorte) – 51.39
800 m
1. Raymond (LaPorte) – 1:58.39, 2. Marconi (Valparaiso) – 1:59.97, 3. Becker (South Central (Union Mills)) – 2:00.28
1,600 m
1. Raymond (LaPorte) – 4:21.85, 2. Noble (Hanover Central) – 4:23.61, 3. Hulen (Crown Point) – 4:25.79
3,200 m
1. York (Hanover Central) – 9:34.18, 2. Pillai (LaPorte) – 9:36.53, 3. Allen (Munster) – 9:39.66, 6. Kolbey Wegner (WIN) – 9:59.06
110 m hurdles
1. Akins (Merrillville) – 14.96 seconds, 2. Allen (Munster) – 15.02, 3. Carter (Merrillville) – 15.23
300 m hurdles
1. Ingram (Covenant Christian (DeMotte)) – 39.94 seconds, 2. Magnuson (LaPorte) – 40.16, 3. Carter (Merrillville) – 40.34
4 x 100 m relay
1. Lake Central – 42.11 seconds, 2. Merrillville – 43.08, 3. Chesterton – 43.44
4 x 400 m relay
1. Lake Central – 3:22.86, 2. LaPorte – 3:28.35, 3. Munster – 3:28.69
4 x 800 m relay
1. Munster – 8:03.67, 2. Illiana Christian – 8:06.12, 3. Valparaiso – 8:10.27, 15. Winamac (Kolbey Wegner, Andrew Cardenas, Tyler Tankersley, Cristian Cardenas) – 9:16.26
Long jump
1. Hill (Portage) – 23-10 ¼, 2. Caldwell (Calumet) – 22-8, 3. Miller-Lane (Hobart) – 22-5 ½, 4. Berry (Lake Central) – 22-4 ½
(NOTE: Berry met the state qualifying standard of 22-2 ¾ and also advances to state.)
High jump
1. Benkovich (Boone Grove) – 6-5, 2. Mathis (Merrillville) – 6-3, 3. Ballin (Westville) – 6-2
Discus
1. Johnson (Lowell) – 151-4, 2. Cree (Rensselaer) – 150-4, 3. McNutt (Highland) – 147-4
Shot put
1. Grant (Merrillville) – 58-4, 2. Cree (Rensselaer) – 51-0 ¼, 3. Smith (Lake Station) – 50-11 ¾, 11. Logan Schultz (WIN) – 46-0
Pole vault
1. Johnston (Hobart) – 16-7, 2. Roman (Crown Point) – 14-6, 3. Haywood (Merrillville) – 14-6
