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Clay
Wilker of Versailles clears this attempt in the high jump Saturday
during the Tiger Classic in Versailles. Photo by Dylan Knoop.
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Tiger Classic brings in top competition
Versailles and
Greenville finish well
By George Starks
VERSAILLES- Despite cool winds that often seemed to hamper the
athletes, the annual Versailles Tiger Classic provided top notch
athletes the chance to compete against excellent competition.
With only two divisions in the meet versus three in the past, the meet
hosted 21 teams including Greenville, Bradford, Ansonia and Franklin
Monroe as well as the host Tigers.
In the Black Division (bigger schools) it was Covington that took first
place (137 points) in the team standings while Versailles came in
second with 99 team points. Greenville would finish a distant fifth
behind the Buccaneers but only 19 points off the pace of Versailles,
scoring 80 points.
"I feel like we did a pretty good job overall," said Versailles coach
Rob Winner. "It was our first meet of the season and we were able to
get all the kids involved in the meet. I know where our kids are at and
I want to see them improve so I really don't get caught up in where we
finished as much as how we did in each individual event. Our kids went
out and competed well. Covington is strong all the way around the
board. I think the meet went pretty well. Going to two division instead
of three has made the meet a little more competitive. There was more
competition and the heats were faster. We liked it as a coaching staff."
With it being the initial meet of the season, Winner know there's a
long way to go in 2013.
Tuesday, Versailles will travel to Ft. Loramie. Thursday, the Tigers
will visit Greenville and then will run in the Troy Invitational on
Friday.
"We have a lot of meets left to run," said Winner. "If the kids work
hard and listen to the coaches, they will get better. The MAC is one of
the toughest conferences around and we compete with each other knowing
if we are going to win, we have to push ourselves to be the best. Going
against the bigger schools in the dual and tri meets will only make us
better."
Along with Covington, the Classic saw Twin Valley South in from the CCC
along with the Jets, Roaders and the A-Tigers.
Greenville coach Bill Plessenger has often said, the Mac brings some of
the strongest competition around. Saturday, the Wave was forced to run
against a couple of other powerhouse teams in West-Liberty Salem and
Spencerville.
"The two teams that finished ahead of us in the team points but it's
amazing that small towns like that can consistently come up with solid
athletes year after year," Plessinger said. "I think our kids finished
well. We had a great day from Tyler Neff. On the bus, he got four
medals and that is a rare feat. We finished fifth out of ten teams but
when you look at the whole picture, That's not to bad. Covington,
Versailles, West Liberty and Spencerville are all strong, quality
programs. I have no complaints. We placed in every event but two and we
have never done that at Versailles. This was the best the boys have
ever done at Versailles."
Greenville will host Covington next on Tuesday.
In the small school (Orange) division, Minster racked up 230 points and
waltzed away with the title, beating out Waynesfield-Goshen with 108
points.
Bradford, Ansonia and Franklin Monroe finished in the bottom three,
9-11 respectfully.
Get the complete individual and school results by clicking here |
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Bradford's
Rhyn Turner hands off to Nick Rank during the 4x200 relay. Photo by
George Starks.
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Greenville
sophomore Ben Whittington unloads a throw in the discus for the Wave
Saturday in the Tiger Classic. Photo by George Starks.
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