Warren Central sweeps state finals in track

Boys State Tournament \nDepth paid off for the Warriors of Warren Central as they captured the state boys high school track and field championship without winning an individual event.\nThe Warriors, runner-up in the meet last year, finished first only in the 400-meter relay while accumulating 74 points. Fort Wayne Northrop was a distant second with 45 and Indianapolis Ben Davis took third with 42, while Indianapolis Chatard and Southport tied for fourth with 26.\nSeniors Joey Hodges and Anthony Vaden teamed with sophomore D'Juan Richaredson and junior Devin Pipkin to win the 400 relay in 41.18 seconds. Indianapolis Ben Davis placed second in 41.72.\n"We would have liked to have won some individual events, but the big thing to us was winning the championship and we accomplished that as a team," said Pipkin, who placed second to Arthur Wims of Fort Wayne Northrop in the 100.\nThe triumph, combined with the girls championship Friday night, gave the Warriors the destinction of becoming only the second school in state history to capture both titles in the same year. Gary Roosevelt was the other school, sweeping the championship in 1983.\nBryce Brown of Evansville Harrison successfully defended his championship in the 300 low hurdles, finishing in 36.56. Joey Hodges of Warren Central, who went into the meet as the top seed, was second in 36.76.\nBrown, who was also the defending champion in the high hurdles, finished second to Brian Brautzch of Fort Wayne Wayne. Brautzch won the race in 13.82 with Brown timed at 13.88. Hodges, who also had the top seeded time in the event, placed third at 13.96.\nBrautzch was awarded the IHSAA's mental attitude award for track and field.\nOther state champions included junior Josh Greenwald of Decatur Central, discus; senior Arthur Wims of Fort Wayne Northrop, 100; senior Brandon Youngdale, Western, high jump; senior Keenan Hall of Ben Davis, long jump; senior Eric Werskey, Seymour, shot put; and senior Clayton Wilson of Southport, 400; junior Dan Stockberger, 800.\nGirls State Tournament\nA photo finish in the final event gave Warren Central a victory in the 1,600 meter relay Friday night, giving the Warriors the state girls high school track and field championship.\nJaminnia States, Ashley Seehase, Candyce McGrone and Milanie Gilbert teamed to win the event in 3 minutes, 52.471 seconds. Indianapolis North Central finished second in 3:52:478\nThe victory gave Warren Central 47 points, six more than Fort Wayne Northrop, which was going for a seventh consecutive state championship. Northrop was tied with Muncie Central for second with 41 points.\nEarlier, it looked like victories by senior Tamara Adams in the 100-meter dash and 100-meter hurdles would be enough to lead Northrop in the 30th annual IHSAA girls track and field state meet.\nAdams had little rest between her two victories. After winning the dash in 11.85 seconds, she had only about 15 minutes before going out to finish her hurdles race in 13.94. That was a tick quicker than the state record of 13.95 seconds set by defending champion Vanneisha Ivy of Muncie Central, who placed second in 13.96.\nHowever, the wind was too strong during the event so Adams had to settle for a championship without the record.\n"I didn't care about the record," said Adams, who came into the meet seeded second in both events. "I was just pretty happy because I beat \nVanneisha."\nLater, Ivy came back to give Muncie Central 10 big points by winning the low hurdles.\nOne other state record was set. Katie Veith of Homestead claimed the mark in the pole vault, clearing 13 feet-6 inches. She had set the old mark of 12-9 last year when she and Brianna Neumann of Northrop both cleared the height last year and Neumann claimed the championship of the basis of fewer misses.\nIndianapolis Ben Davis was fourth with 40 points and Chesterton finished fifth at 29.\nRachel Thiel of Lowell, who won the state championship in the shot with an effort of 45 feet, 3 1/4 inches was awarded the IHSAA's mental attitude award for track and field.