‘Good things will happen.’ Penn boys track team gets the message on way to NIC title
ELKHART — Penn boys track coach Chad Wetzel had a message for his team before Thursday’s NIC meet at Elkhart High School’s Rice Field: Don’t let the bright lights change you.
He believed that if the Kingsmen didn’t do too much, stayed within themselves, they would succeed.
“We talked about everybody doing their job,” the first-year head coach said. “We don’t have to be Superman here. Just show up, be the best version of yourself and good things will happen.”
They got the message as the Kingsmen ran their way to a Northern Indiana Conference title two days after Penn’s girls accomplished the same feat.
“We are happy with a lot of things,” Wetzel said, “and there are some things we got to work on.”
The Kingsmen won 10 of the 16 events, leading to a 91-point gap between them and second place Elkhart, plus a lot of conviction ahead of next week’s sectional meet.
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“We got to fine tune some things, build some confidence and want everybody to feel good about next week,” Wetzel said.
Here are some takeaways from Thursday’s meet
Alec Hardrict shows his speed at full health
Alec Hardrict, Penn’s senior sprinter, has some regrets about last year’s NIC meet because he wasn’t at his best.
Earlier in the year Hardrict, who also plays rugby, injured his hamstring and it bothered him all season. At NIC he never got a chance to show how fast he truly was.
“If you can’t run your fastest and homebody beats you, you never know if you could beat that person,” Hardrict said. “There were some people I ran against last year that were seniors and I will never know if I could have beaten them.”
There was no “what-ifs” or “what could have beens” Thursday night because fully healthy, Hardrict proved he is the best sprinter in the South Bend area by winning the 100 (10.91) and 200-meter dashes (22.62).
“I feel way better,” Hardrict said. “Last year when I wasn’t fully healthy it affected my running. I didn’t feel as great. This year I could run as fast as I could and it was easy to do it.”
Mariano Retzloff is the endurance champion
During his four years running at Penn, Mariano Retzloff developed a slogan for himself when competing in long-distance races: Be comfortable with the pain. Why?
“I love it,” he said, “because I know in those races those guys next to me are hurting and I can push harder than those guys.”
While other runners were struggling to complete the one-mile and two-miles races in Thursday’s heat Retzloff looked conditioned, effortlessly gliding to two first-place finishes with times of 4:27.64 and 9:51.
04, respectively.
Retzloff said he’s developed a strong routine to get him through those races, which includes hydration, adding energy from food like nuts, elevating his legs, doing a cool-down and stretching.
It’s the same routine that guided him to state last year as a junior and one he believes can get him back there this season.
“I’ve gained some serious hunger,” he said. “This is my senior year, my last races. Regardless I am going to go out there, have fun and do my best.”
Kingsmen sweep relays
The first thing that stuck out about Penn’s relay runs to Wetzel was a poor exchange in one of the 4×100 legs. It didn’t matter, because the Kingsmen still had enough speed, thanks to DJ White, Jake Balis, Skjold Aallmann and Hardrict to win the event.
The Kingsmen weren’t the No. 1 speed in the 4×400, but that didn’t matter, either as they won that, too thanks to Kohen Turner, Carter Kaser, Connor Hamilton and Seth Jankowski.
Penn also took home the 4×800, sweeping Thursday’s relay races. That race has been important to Wetzel all year. He believes Jankowski, Hudson Kaser, Dylan DeDario, Carter Kaser can break the school record before the end of the year. They are currently just a couple of seconds off.
By season’s end, Wetzel thinks that group can medal at state, too after finishing one spot off placement points last year (Penn finished 10th and it stops at nine).
Riley’s Robert Nabieu adds to strong season
Robert Nabieu had a strong showing during this year’s South Bend City meet. A couple of weeks later he continued his strong season on the NIC’s biggest stage.
Nabieu won the long jump competition, finished third in the 100-meter dash and was part of South Bend Riley’s second place 4×400-meter relay team.
Final Team Results
1. Penn 191, 2. Elkhart, 100, 3. SB Riley, 75.5, 4. SB Saint Joseph, 61, 5. New Prairie, 52, 6. SB Adams, 44.5, 7. Bremen, 31, 8. Glenn, 30, 9. Jimtown 22, 10. SB Washington, 9, 11. Mishawaka Marian, 8
Final Event Results
100-meter dash: 1. Alec Hardrict (Penn, 10.91), 2. Ollie Kaufhold (SB Saint Joe, 11.19), 3. Robert Nabieu (SB Riley, 11.20). 200-meter dash: 1. Alec Hardrict (Penn, 22.62), 2. Rodney Gates (Elkhart, 22.78), 3. Julian McMahan (Glenn, 23.24). 400-meter dash: 1. Sam Taylor (SB Riley, 50.93), 2. Aydan Roberts (New Prairie, 51.92), 3. Bishop Williams (Jimtown, 52.24). 800-meter run: 1. Seth Jankowski (Penn, 1:59.93), 2. Hudson Kaser (Penn, 2:01.98), 3. Teagen Rodriguez (Elkhart, 2:02.44). 1,600-meter run: 1. Mariano Retzloff (Penn, 4:27.64), 2. Carter Kaser (Penn, 4:31.91), 3. Ethan Walden (New Prairie, 4:33.52). 3,200-meter run: 1. Mariano Retzloff (Penn, 9:51.04), 2. Ethan Walden (New Prairie, 9:55.71), 3. Maxwell Malloy (Elkhart, 9:56.58).
100-meter hurdles: 1. Luke Kaufhold (SB Saint Joe, 15.43), 2. Austin Wells (Penn, 15.94), 3. Nicholas Edwards (Elkhart, 16.19). 300-meter hurdles: 1. Austin Wells (Penn, 41.76), 2. Derek Vondrak (SB Riley, 41.86), 3. Will Baldwin (Glenn, 42.48). 4×100-meter relay:1. Penn (DJ White, Jake Balis, Skjold Aallmann, Alec Hardrict, 43.49), 2. Elkhart (Zachary Anderson, Christopher Williams, Rodney Gates, Nathan Munson, 43.63) 3. SB Saint Joe (Gavin Sparke, Ollie Kaufhold, Hayden Miller, Bill Imanene, 44.60). 4×400-meter relay:1. Penn (Kohen Turner, Carter Kaser, Connor Hamilton, Seth Jankowski, 3:30.01), 2. South Bend Riley (Robert Nabieu, Sam Taylor, Maleek Richardson, James Boyd, 3:31.43), 3. South Bend Saint Joseph (Lucas Miller, Daniel Pries, Nick Njuguna, Luke Kaufhold, 3:31.84). 4×800-meter relay: 1. Penn (Seth Jankowski, Hudson Kaser, Dylan DeDario, Carter Kaser, 8:09.53), 2. Elkhart (Maxwell Malloy, Aaron Richter, Denis Kale, Teagen Rodriguez, 8:16.43), 3. South Bend Adams (Grayson Wilson, Isaac Howk, Bol Agwick, Jonas Larsen, 8:26.94).
High Jump: 1. James Boyd (SB Riley, 6-04), 2. Ian Joyce (SB Saint Joe, 6-01), 3. Blake Barker (Penn, J6-01). Pole Vault: 1. Daniel O’Laughlin (New Prairie, 13-06), 2. Gabe Speicher (Penn, 13-00), 3. Joey Rutten (Penn, J13-00). Long Jump: 1. Robert Nabieu (SB Riley, 22-01), 2. Aalias Leonard (Elkhart, 21-08), 3. Tony Hardin (Bremen, 20-08.5). Discus Throw: 1. Mike Paquette (Penn, 170-03), 2. Ty’Shaun Williams (Elkhart, 162-11), 3. Vishavjeet Turna (Penn, 138-04). Shotput: 1. Ty’Shaun Williams (Elkhart, 54-10), 2. Rae’Kwon Lemons (47-8.5), 3. Vishavjeet Turna (Penn, 46-10)
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: South Bend Penn races to NIC boys track championship in Elkhart
