By Rob Potter
JEFFERSONVILLE — April 15, 2005 – As dozens of spectators watched the scholastic athletes competing in front of them Tuesday afternoon at Sullivan West’s Jeffersonville campus, more than one fan remarked that it was a perfect day for competing.
Bright sunshine filled the blue sky and the temperature hovered in the upper 40s to low 50s as Tri-Valley and Sullivan West battled in an Orange County Interscholastic Athletic Association (OCIAA) Division IV track and field meet.
However, T-V seemed to enjoy the weather a bit more than SW. In the boys’ competition, the Bears defeated the Bulldogs by a final score of 102 to 39. In the girls’ competition, the Lady Bears beat the Lady Bulldogs, 90-51.
The Tri-Valley boys’ and girls’ teams each improved their record to 2-0 overall and 2-0 in Division IV competition. The SW boys’ and girls’ teams fell to 0-1 overall and 0-1 in Division IV.
“We had a good day,” T-V Coach Joe Iatauro said. “A lot of kids stayed in the area to practice during the recent break and those that went away with their families for vacation worked out on their own. Those workouts made a big difference in terms of our fitness level today.”
While noting that the entire team performed well, Iatauro singled out Meaghan Drown, Jen Gorman and Casey Offringa. Drown won the 100, 200 and 400-meter races, Gorman took first place in the 100-meter hurdles and 400-meter hurdles and Offringa was a part of the Lady Bears’ first-place 400-meter relay team and she placed second in two other events. Drown and Gorman were also on the Lady Bears’ first-place 1,600-meter relay team.
T-V’s win in the girls’ competition was the team’s 114th consecutive dual meet victory. That streak, which includes wins in the now-defunct Western Sullivan League and the OCIAA, dates back to 1986. That year, an Eldred squad led by Tammi Reiss defeated the Lady Bears.
SW Coach Ron Bauer noted that the recent break hurt his team in Tuesday’s meet.
“We missed a lot of practices with the vacation and snow days,” he said. “We need to work on our speed.”
However, Bauer noted that there are still plenty of meets left this spring.
“We’ll improve,” the veteran coach said.
The winners in the different events were as follows:
Boys: 3,200-meter relay – 1. T-V (John Huppke, Jeremy Mathsen, Derek Smith, Tompkins) 8 minutes, 59 seconds; 110 hurdles – 1. Max Fiedler, T-V, 17.4 seconds; 100 – 1. Matt Smith, T-V, 12.0; 1,600 – 1. Travis Wolfe, T-V, 4:54; 400 relay – 1. T-V (Casey Gray, Matt Smith, Fiedler, Brett Hyde) 48.1; 400 – 1. Sean Messenger, T-V, 55.6; 400 hurdles – 1. Fiedler, T-V, 1:02.6; 800 – 1. Wolfe, T-V, 2:14; 200 – Messenger, T-V, 25.6; 3,200 – 1. Wolfe, T-V, 9:54; 1,600 relay – 1. T-V (Messenger, Fiedler, Derek Smith, Wolfe), 3:55; Long jump – 1. Matt Smith, T-V, 18 feet, 4 inches; High jump – 1. Hyde, T-V, 5-2; Triple jump – 1. Will Schlott, SW, 35-10 1/4; Shot put – 1. Alan Coombe, T-V, 47-5 1/2; Discus – 1. Alan Ackermann, SW, 121-1; Pole vault – 1. John Kitson, SW, 10-0.
Girls: 3,200-meter relay – 1. SW (Jamie Clifford, April Ackermann, Amanda Ward, Chelsea Schadt), 10:34; 100 hurdles – 1. Jen Gorman, T-V, 17.7; 100 – 1. Meaghan Drown, T-V, 13.8; 1,500 – 1. Clifford, SW, 5:07; 400 relay – 1. T-V (Jen Coomer, Monica Lee, Casey Offringa, Rebecca Pearston), 57.5; 400 – 1. Drown, T-V, 1:03.3; 400 hurdles – 1. Gorman, T-V, 1:12.8; 800 – 1. Ackermann, SW, 2:37; 200 – 1. Drown, T-V, 29.0; 3,000 – 1. Ackermann, SW, 11:19; 1,600 relay – 1. T-V (Gorman, Drown, Melissa Fancher, Erin Beach), 4:37; Long jump – 1. Jessica Wagner, SW, 14-2; High jump – 1. Pearston, T-V, 4-4; Triple jump – 1. Ackermann, SW, 29-2; Shot put – 1. Kayla Bozan, SW, 27-9 3/4; Discus – 1. Bozan, SW, 78-7; Pole vault – 1. Heather Knox, T-V, 5-6.