March 1, 1954 -- Mentone's 25-game winning Bulldogs added the sectional title to their county championship last Saturday night by defeating the Warsaw Tigers 72 to 55, and today were planning for an all-out effort next Saturday afternoon against powerful Elkhart in the regional classic at South Bend.

It marked the first sectional crown for Mentone since 1940.

March 17, 1954 -- Those who say today's trend toward the "big boys" is making it hard for the "little man" to make a success of athletes may have blushed had they been at the annual Elks banquet for Warsaw High School lettermen last night.

A couple of real "shorties" -- Max Truex and Donald (Chub) Stamats -- shared the spotlight and received the plaudits of the many Elks who turned out to honor Warsaw's track, basketball, baseball, football and cross-country athletes as well as the school officials and coaching staff.

Truex, a senior and son of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Truex, of North Bay Drive, received the Minear Trophy for being selected as the best all-around athlete in Warsaw High School.

April 7, 1954 -- State cross country champion Max Truex yesterday evening shattered two records, one of them 16 years old, by winning the mile run in 4:30.6 as the local Tigers opened their 1954 track campaign with a surprisingly easy 67-42 triumph over the visiting Plymouth Pilgrims.

Truex's time was the best of his carrer and the best in the state of this young track season.

May 4, 1954 -- Jack Evans, Larry Woodling, Ray Heiman, Larry Mulcahy and Max Truex received coveted awards last night and Jesse Owens delivered what many observers believed to be one of the finest talks ever given at a local athletic banquet as 140 Lions, Kiwanians and Rotarians feted Warsaw High School lettermen at the Masonic Temple.

Owens, probably the greatest track and field athlete in world history, gave a very impressive talk in which he stressed the responsbility of the high school athlete to his school and to his community.

Jan. 17, 1955 -- The Silver Lake High School Ramblers triumphed 56-54 over Pierceton in the final game of the 38th annual county basketball tournament Saturday night at the Warsaw school armory. Members of the team include student manager Larry Spangle, Larry Caudill, Merl Montel, coach Art Windmiller, Fred Vetor, student manager Bob Brown, Norman Roberts, Joe Pegg, Jim Haney, Don Allen, Dave Kinsey, Emery Brandenburg, Bill Whitaker and Dallas Fingerle.

Feb. 5, 1955 -- Warsaw's Tigers defeated Plymouth to win the Central conference basketball championship. Team members are Jim Sumpter, Joe Sensibaugh, Larry Yarger, Kent Adams, Larry Pinkerton, Leon Horn, Don Truex, Coach Ken Norris, Jack Evans, Lavon Harman, Jake Elliott and Gordon Thompson. The Tigers ended their CIC season with a 7-1 record by defeating Plymouth 65-43.

March 10, 1955 -- Jack Evans and Kent Adams, Warsaw High School seniors, were honored by Central Indiana conference coaches last night by being named to the all-conference first and third teams, respectively, during the CIC basketball banquet held at the American Legion home in Warsaw.

April 28, 1955 -- Five-foot, seven-inch Larry Pinkerton, the little man who performs in a big way, last night received the coveted Minear Award as Warsaw High School's most outstanding senior athlete during the annual Elks banquet honoring all Warsaw lettermen.

May 7, 1955 -- Warsaw High School coaches Ken Norris and Frank Sanders present the Central conference all-sports trophy to Principal James Riley during a victory celebration in the school auditorium Friday. Warsaw won the conference basketball, football and track titles this year, making the first time in the 23-year-old history of the CIC that one school has won all three major sports crowns in the same year.

May 12, 1956 -- Tim Derf and Bertis Gebert were the instrumental figures in Pierceton's winning the sectional track title Friday at Huntington. Derf broke the 880-yard run record with his winning time of 2:05.7, then anchored the mile relay team to second place. Gebert won the century dash, tying the sectional mark of 10.3 seconds, and anchored Pierceton's half-mile relay team to victory. That accounted for all of Pierceton's 26 points.

June 23, 1956 -- Max Truex, son of Mr. and Mrs. Russell Truex, of Warsaw, last night won a berth on the 1956 U.S. Olympic squad by capturing the 10,000-meter run in the National AAU track and field meet at Bakersfield, Calif.

Truex, a sophomore at the University of Southern California, thus won the right to compete in that event for the U.S. when the Olympics events are held in Melbourne, Australia, next November. He later qualified for the 5,000-meter run.

Oct. 2, 1956 -- Nineteen Warsaw High School football players were under two weeks suspension today for what Coach Bill Goshert termed infraction of training rules.

It was believed to be one of the largest, if not the largest, number of players ever suspended from a Warsaw athletic squad at one time. Goshert, in his first year here as head coach, declined to name the boys suspended. However, it is known that the list includes a large share of varsity regulars.

Oct. 22, 1956 -- Max Truex, of Warsaw, has set a new American record in the 5,000-meter run.

Truex, now a U.S. Olympic team member, reeled off the distance in 14:22.8 minutes last Saturday afternoon in an Olympic track team practice meet at Ontario, Calif.

Nov. 23, 1956 -- Warsaw's Max Truex, hampered by a strained muscle, dropped out of the 10,000 meter run at the Olympic games today after 10-3/4 laps.

Truex sustained a back injury one week before his departure from Los Angeles. He was unable to do any training until a few days ago.

Jan. 14, 1957 -- The first 1957 Times-Union All-County Tourney First Team includes Jack Horn, Pierceton; Tom Hoover, Mentone; Ronnie Hoffer, Etna Green; Dave Kinsey, Silver Lake; John Stookey, Leesburg; Rex Slusher, Pierceton; Eddie Stine, Etna Green; and Mike Gard, North Webster.

April 8, 1957 -- Warsaw's pride and joy of the track world -- Max Truex -- today owned the National Collegiate record for the two-mile run with a winning time of 8:55 Saturday.

Jan. 10, 1958 -- Seven students of Leesburg High School, in a letter to The Times-Union, today challenged officials of the school to meet with them and learn the truth about why some 11 members of the Leesburg basketball squad have quit the team.

They accused Coach John Lozier of using profane and abusive language in speaking to them and gave this as their principle reason for leaving the squad. Some of the boys were on the varsity, some on the second team.

May 25, 1959 -- Larry Ruch today reigned as Indiana's best pole vaulter after winning the event in the state track meet last Saturday and becoming Warsaw High School's first gold medal winner since Max Truex set a record mile pace in 1954. Ruch is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Ruch, 935 E. Clark St., Warsaw.

April 30, 1960 -- Pierceton's mighty Cubs --always a power in track --captured both the county high school and county junior high school track championships Friday afternoon at Syracuse.

Host Syracuse finished second in both meets, but whereas the Yellowjackets were beaten out by less than two points in the high school carnival, they were soundly trounced by 43 points as Pierceton made a runaway of the junior high affair.

Individually, laurels must go to Etna Green's Larry Heisler, who heaved the 12-pound shot 56 feet, 1-1/2 inches in the high school meet. This was not only a new county record but also is believed to the best throw in the state this season.

Sept. 10, 1960 -- Whitey Bell, one of Warsaw High School's all-time athletic greats and now a professional basketball star, attended the Warsaw-Nappanee football game last night at Nappanee. Bell will leave by plane Sunday for New York to join the New York Knickerbockers of the NBA. Whitey is the only major professional athlete from Warsaw.

Oct. 4, 1960 -- Syracuse pushed over runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings Monday evening to win its third-straight county high school baseball championship by downing Etna Green 7-4 on a fast Pierceton diamond.

Tom Firestone went all the way on the mound, limiting the Cubs to just four hits and two walks for the win. Bill Whitacre and Terry Thomas toiled for Etna Green, with Thomas picking up the loss in the middle 3-1/3 innings he worked.

Team members are Mickey Jones, Tom Kramer, Richard Bitner, Sam Bushong, Jerry Kirkdofer, Dennis Buhrt, Pat Money, Arden Druckamiller, Dan Caskey, Charles Crow, Richard Simon, Steve Crow, Coach Eldon Ummel, Bob LeCount, Francis Deaton, Carl Alfrey, Tom Firestone, Charles Folger and John Lantz.

Nov. 17, 1960 -- Warsaw High School's basketball Tigers will make their 1960-61 debut Friday night under a new coach, Dennis Blind, with the hope of erasing the memory of several "poor" or "mediocre" seasons dating back to the mid-'50s.

Dec. 29, 1960 -- Coach Dennis Blind's Warsaw Tigers trimmed Nappanee 64-51 last night at the local school armory to win the tri-county four-team holiday basketball tourney for the first time in the four-year history of the affair (since Bremen and Plymouth replaced Goshen and Columbia City in the 1957 meet).

Team members are Val Metzger, Jim McCleary, Tom Knoop, Barry Niemann, Pat McClure, Don Phillips, Tom Evans, Dick Lesh, Darwin Call, Don Wiley, Jack Cook, Lee Harman and Coach Dennis Blind.

Jan. 16, 1961 -- The Milford Trojans are all smiles after winning their first county basketball crown in 12 years at the Grace College gym Saturday night. They are: managers Joe Jessop and Tom Parrett; cheerleaders Marcia Dewart, Sally Berkeypile, Vicki Fuller; manager Jack McClintic; alternate player Denny Cory; Lance Estep, Doug Miller, Fred Haab, Steve Kaiser, Chuck Berkeypile, coach Jerald Van Meter, principal Donn Kesler, alternate player Ron Baumgartner, Bill Musser, Bill Troup, Brad Beiswanger, Clark Crafton, John Gerber and assistant coach Jim Allen.

May 29, 1961 -- Senior Dick Fancil last Saturday became Warsaw's second Indiana state pole vault champion in three years when he cleared 12 feet, 9 inches at the state track and field meet in Indianapolis. Two years ago, Larry Ruch cleared 13 feet to win the state crown.

July 25, 1961 -- Ralph "Boag" Johnson today was named head basketball coach at Warsaw High School, and he will bring with him his son, David, who as a sophomore last season at Columbia City was recognized as one of the outstanding centers in northeastern Indiana.

Sept. 27, 1961 -- Larry L. Slabaugh, 15, 120-pound reserve halfback for Nappanee High School, died Tuesday night 20 minutes after he was knocked unconscious in a football game in Bremen.

Coroner Marshall E. Stine blamed the death on a brain injury. Larry was the son of Mr. and Mrs. LaMar Slabaugh of Nappanee.

Oct. 26, 1961 -- A very happy Coach Bill Goshert was lifted atop the shoulders of cheering Warsaw High School football players following their convincing 32-7 victory Wednesday night over Columbia City in the final game of the season at Columbia City. The Tigers finished with a seven won, two lost record --their best season in seven years. Players include Nolan Huffer, Pat McClure, Paul Howard, Tim Weidman, Darwin Call, Tom Sanders, Jim Gast and Dennie Baker.

Jan. 15, 1962 -- The Mentone Bulldogs were happy after winning their second county basketball tourney in three years. The Times-Union and WRSW All-County Tourney Team includes junior Bill Nellans, Mentone; junior Allen Creighton, Mentone; senior Bob Menzie, Pierceton; sophomore Raymond Slusher, Pierceton; senior Ronnie Longyear, Claypool; senior Bill Whitacre, Etna Green; senior Nick Kintzel, Etna Green; and junior Jerry Ryman, Atwood.

Feb. 23, 1962 -- Bill Goshert, 34, Warsaw High School football coach, was taken by surprise this morning when he learned he had been named Kosciusko County's "Outstanding Young Man of the Year" by the Warsaw Junior Chamber of Commerce. He received the Jaycee Distinguished Service Award at a student assembly and YMCA program in the school auditorium.

Feb. 26, 1962 -- The Mentone High School Bulldogs will head into regional tournament play against South Bend Central Saturday with one of the winningest records in the state, with a 24-1 record. Mentone defeated Warsaw 65-61 Saturday night in the Columbia City sectional finals. Members of the Mentone squad are: cheerleaders Linda Smythe, Diane Silveus; players Jerry Blackburn, Larry Beeson, Bill Nellans, Eddie Tridle; cheerleaders Linda Nees, Susie Nellans; student manager Mark Hubbard; players Steve Nelson, Lyle Long, Allen Creighton, Jon Newcomb, Rickey Nelson, coach Paul Bateman, Jim Whetstone, assistant coach Marvin Sanders and junior high coach Paul Rush.

Feb. 6, 1963 -- A new six-team athletic conference -- to be named later -- was organized last night with Warsaw, Rochester, Plymouth, Manchester, Bremen and Nappanee high schools making up the membership.

The new conference will begin operating at the start of the 1964-65 school year in football, cross country, basketball, track and baseball. Tennis and golf will be included no later than 1965-66 with the possibility of conference competition in 1964-65.

Feb. 23, 1963 -- Two contests wrap up the regular season tonight following a hectic nine-game schedule for Kosciusko County basketball teams Friday night that included a record-shattering 42 points by Warsaw's Dave Johnson in an overtime victory over Tipton.

Johnson was lethel from all angles, especially at the charity stripe where he sank 20 out of 23. He scored 31 of his 42 points in the last half and overtime. His achievement, and the team's was lauded when fans poured onto the field after the thrill-packed, nerve-racking contest. Dave shed emotion-filled tears of joy when congratulated by his mates in the dressing room after the contest. The 42 points gave him the Central Conference scoring title, broke the all-time CIC single-game record and also shattered Whitey Bell's Warsaw school record.

March 25, 1963 -- Dave Johnson, Warsaw Community High School's brilliant basketball center, this afternoon received what is probably the greatest honor in his athletic career when he was named "Player of the Year" in the Central Indiana Conference.

May 4, 1963 -- Five co-captains of the Pierceton track team accepted the championship trophy from Etna Green Principal Brenton Graham after the Cubs won the Kosciusko County High School track and field title Friday afternoon for the ninth time in the last 10 years. The co-captains include Robin Stickney, Jerry Blanchard, Rick Kerr, Phil Conley and Jim Kilgore.

Dec. 28, 1963 -- Co-captains Dave Evans and Dean Rummel, only seniors on the Warsaw High School basketball squad, smiled happily as they accepted the championship trophy of the Nappanee four-team holiday tournament. The local Tigers edged Nappanee by one point in an afternoon overtime thriller, then nipped Bremen by one point in the title game Friday night. Other team members are manager Andy Emerick, Mike Chambers, Greg Lancaster, Bill Wiley, manager Bruce Turner, Tommie Thomas, Head Coach Ralph "Boag" Johnson, Mike Niles, John Beebe, Kevin Jensen, Terry Yeiter and B-team Coach Burt Niles.

Jan. 13, 1964 -- Yes, Claypool, is still celebrating today!

And why not? All the town's beloved Knights did Saturday was walk off with everything the 47th annual Kosciusko County high school basketball tournament had to offer.

First and foremost the Knights won the tourney championship --their first in history -- defeating Pierceton 69-65 Saturday night before a thrill-packed crowd at the Warsaw High School gym.

Second, the pert little Claypool gals who led the yells got into the act by winning the cheerleaders' trophy, known as the McKown Award, given annually by Fred McKown Jr. It was the fourth consecutive trophy for Claypool cheerleaders.

And third, coming along with the tourney championship was the coveted "silver horseshoe," which passes from one team to another when a county school defeats the possessor of the plated good luck omen.

The team includes cheerleader Marcy Bouse, Coye Conley, cheerleader Beth Frantz, Larry Evans, cheerleader Barbara Heckman, Charlie Patrick, James Patrick, Hal Gunter, Herb Gunter, Larry McKenzie, Charlie McKenzie, Dave Shively, Coach Tom Miller and Principal Carl Sands.

Feb. 6, 1964 -- A large crowd dotted the Grace College gym at Winona Lake Wednesday night as former Leesburg High School star Glenn "Chet" Kammerer set a new Indiana intercollegiate four-year scoring record in leading the Lancers to a 90-82 basketball victory over arch-rival Goshen College.

Many persons from Leesburg and Warsaw joined with the Grace well-wishers in watching Kammerer hit a free throw in the second half --his 15th point of the game --to eclipse the mark of 2,268 points established by Bailey Robertson, of Indiana Central College. Kammerer went on to hit a total of 28 in the game Ð 20 in the last half Ð giving him 2,282 in his career.

March 5, 1964 -- Former Milford High School star Clark Crafton scored 30 points last night in leading Indiana Central to a berth in next week's national NAIA basketball finals at Kansas City.

Indiana Central, of Indianapolis, defeated Manchester 91-76 in the District 21 championship game at Indianapolis to qualify for the NAIA tournament.

March 25, 1964 -- The North Webster Trojans won the county high school volleyball championship Tuesday night. They are Tim Hine, Dennis Wagoner, Tom Reiff, Mike Vanator, Rick White, Craig Baker, manager Ray Weaver, Coach Donnie Butts, Mark Jones, Bill Brown, Jim Hunt, Jim Lenker, Chad Beazley and Dan Sullivan.

Sept. 12, 1964 -- Keven "10-Yard" Jensen and a rugged Tiger defense made Warsaw High School's football debut in the Northern Lakes Conference a success last night as the Bengals bobbed Plymouth 21-0 before a good crowd at Fisher Field.

Jensen, the 190-pound halfback, from New Mexico, ripped through the Rockie line for an unofficial 214 yards in 22 carries for a 9.7 average and two touchdowns.

The Orange and Black's stingy defense limited the visitors to just 81 yards, all on the ground, and allowed them inside the midfield stripe just three times during the night.

Much can be said for the kicking of team captain, tackle Terry Hopkins, who botted some booming kick-offs and split the uprights three perfect times in adding the extra points.

Nov. 5, 1964 -- Shouts of "Tenth in the state and going up!" "We love our Tigers," and the like were prevalent in celebration ceremonies at Warsaw High School this morning as the student body uncorked joyous blasts acclaiming the Tigers' first undefeated football season in 12 years.

As soon as the football team and student fan buses hit the outskirts of the city last night, they were given an all-out welcome by the blaring sirens of police and fire vehicles.

Anyone connected with the "fighting Tigers" of 1964 were surely proud of the 40-20 rout dished out to an outstanding Peru 11 last night for an undefeated season and 15th straight victory dating back to the last five games of last year.

Nov. 6, 1964 --The Warsaw High School football Tigers placed eight men on the first Northern Lakes Conference all-conference football teams chosen last night and team captain Terry Hopkins was named the NLC "Lineman of the Year" by the sportswriters.

Dec. 31, 1964 -- The Warsaw High School cheering section had much to cheer about last night as their beloved Tigers edged Nappanee 55-49 for the championship of the holiday tourney at the Warsaw gym.

Warsaw won the crown, its third in nine meetings among the schools, by virtue of a strong third quarter, where the Tigers outscored the Bulldogs 18-8.

Team members include Glynn Johnson, Steve Hepler, Jim Webster, Bill Wiley, Terry Yeiter, Mike Chambers, Ben Niles, Greg Lancaster and Mike Niles.

Jan. 11, 1965 -- The town of Claypool is still celebrating today, and well it should after its beloved Knights copped the championship of the 48th annual Kosciusko County high school basketball tournament Saturday.

Claypool won its second consecutive tourney championship by defeating Silver Lake 60-45 Saturday night before a capacity crowd at the Warsaw High School gym.

Team members include cheerleaders sponsor Mrs. Wayne Harshberger; players Dave Shively, Coye Conley, Charlie McKenzie; cheerleaders Beth Frantz, Joyce Palmer and Jo Merkle; players Alan Sands, Steve Ault, Doug Ault, James Patrick, Larry McKenzie; principal Carl Sands; team managers Max Evans, Steve Curtis and Gary Hurd; timekeeper Kenneth Baker; coaches Larry Evans and Tom Miller; Clay township trustee Raymond Reed; and player Hal Gunter.

March 3, 1965 -- Beat Penn! Those two words echoed through the halls of Warsaw Community High School today amidst the great joy and excitement of the local Tigers' first sectional basketball championship since 1956.

Coach Ralph (Boag) Johnson and his sky-scraping orange and black Tigers captured the crown here last night by defeating Pierceton 62-47 before a jam-packed crowd estimated at close to 3,500.

Team members are assistant coach Burt Niles, Terry Yeiter, Ronnie Barsh, Steve Hepler, Bill Wiley, John Beebe, Mike Niles, principal William Davis, Ben Niles, Greg Lancaster, Mike "Deacon" Chambers, Jim Webster and Head Coach Ralph "Boag" Johnson.

March 24, 1965 -- South Whitley High School won the Kosciusko County volleyball championship at Syracuse last night by edging Leesburg, although it took the team three games before the title match was decided. The team includes Randy Roberts, John Leiter, Mike O'Connor, Steve Reiff, Ray Auker, Tom Leiter, Coach Bill Patrick, John Shaffer, Harry Kyler, Dallas Caudill, Steve Walpole, Jack Hart and DeWayne Kyler.

May 1, 1965 -- Fourteen-year old Tim Johnson told Papa Art and big brother Glynn to "move over" yesterday afternoon and make room for the newest member of this city's star-studded golf family.

Tim, a freshman, carded a phenomenal one-under-par 69 at the Rozella Ford Community Golf Course in pacing the Warsaw High School golf team to the Northern Lakes Conference championship.

May 1, 1965 -- Warsaw High School athletic teams have made a clean sweep of all major sports in the Northern Lake Conference with the track crown at Rochester Friday, as speedster Errol White shattered two school records.

The Tigers added the track title to other first place finishes in basketball, baseball, football and cross country as the conference completes its first cycle of sports after being formed one year ago.

White shattered the 100 yard record which has stood for nearly 20 years when he clipped over the course in 10 seconds flat. In the 220 White shaved seven-tenths of a second off the record of 22.5 set last year by Perry Webb.

Dec. 16, 1965 -- Two cherished prizes --the coveted "Silver Horseshoe" and a large basketball trophy --don halls of Leesburg High School today after the Blue Blazers won the battle of the undefeated by toppling Claypool 75-68 in the finals of the Larwill four-way tourney last night.

The victory, before a standing-room- only throng, was the first varsity cage tourney triumph for Leesburg in more than 41 years.

Dec. 24, 1965 - John Smith, 17, student at Warsaw High School and son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Smith, of 515 Oldfather St., won the second place trophy in competition for the Hoosier Teen-age Championship weightlifting title recently. The invitational meet was held at Marion and entrants from several states competed. Smith did three Olympic lifts totaling 640 pounds to win the trophy. He holds six high school records in addition. On Dec. 28 and 29, Smith will compete with area weightlifters in a contest at the Baker Boys' Club. He works out at the local YMCA and boys club.

Jan. 10, 1966 -- Claypool High School basketball fans continue celebrating today after their beloved Knights copped their third consecutive county tournament crown here Saturday night.

Claypool bested Akron 87-71 in the championship tilt before a near capacity crowd in the Warsaw gym as star forward Charlie McKenzie scorched the nets for 41 points to crack a nine-year-old county tournament single game scoring mark.

Feb. 12, 1966 -- Charlie McKenzie, who uses his 6-7 frame to a great advantage, last night became the highest scoring basketball player in a single season in Kosciusko County history by dumping in 43 points although his Claypool Knights were nipped 83-80 by Caston here.

The output brought the junior forward's total to 681 for the season in surpassing the record of 672 set by Tom Hoover, of Mentone, during the 1956-57 campaign.

Feb. 28, 1966 -- Warsaw High School's basketball team is elated, and rightly so, after the Tigers won a thrill-packed 46-44 decision over Columbia City to capture their second consecutive sectional crown Saturday. Team members include cheerleaders Angie Blanchard, Beth Anglin, Bette Jo Carlin, Vonnie Goshert, Pat Cox, Nancy Gable; Paul Howard, manager John Lucas, Phil Zile, Ben Niles, Mike Niles, Ron Barsh, alternate Ron Yeiter, Coach Boag Johnson, Jan Essenburg, Glynn Johnson, Steve Hepler, Tim Johnson, Ron Clase, Doug Moore, manager Jim Mangan and assistant coach Burt Niles.

April 25, 1966 -- Warsaw High School basketball standout Mike Niles is the first cager from Warsaw or this county ever to be elected to the Hoosier squad which will meet the Kentucky All-Stars in two benefit games this June. Mike is the son of Burt and Maxine Niles. Niles will wear the No. 10 jersey.

June 7, 1966 -- Don Byrd, professional at the Wawasee Golf Course at Syracuse, was one of four Hoosier golfers that qualified at two sites Monday for the National Open Golf Tournament to be held next week in San Francisco.

July 21, 1966 -- Warsaw High School baseball teams under Coach Howard Bock have dominated the Northern Lakes Conference since its inception and this year's Tigers continued that supremacy last night by nailing down a third-straight crown with a 6-2 triumph over Plymouth in a season finale here.

Sept. 30, 1966 -- Syracuse High School's Yellowjackets won the county baseball title this week and completed a perfect season last night with their seventh win without a loss. The team compiled a 11-1 record during the summer league play. Members of the team include Jon Coy, Dennis Harper, Rob Smith, Mike Gordon, Steve Conrad, Gary Firestone, Greg Smith, Steve Wagner, Steve Hoover, Tom Thornburg, John Wortinger, Max Brockers, Alan Zimmerman, Curt Stucky, Rob Clevenger, Bob Pilcher, Mike Byrd, Brad Brauer and Coach Eldon Ummel.

Nov. 15, 1966 -- Three Warsaw High School football players -- Rocky Clemens, Rick Thompson and Jan Essenburg -- were named unanimous first team choices in the Northern Lakes Conference at the NLC banquet held last night at Plymouth.

Nov. 19, 1966 -- Mrs. Alberta Davis, sponsor of the Akron High School Girl's Association, admired the trophy and ribbon won by Luana Teel, a senior, who placed first in competition in singles in the state badminton tournament play at Jefferson High School in Lafayette. Luana played a total of eight games to win the title.

Jan. 9, 1967 -- The community of North Webster, perhaps best known for its beautiful lakes and annual Mermaid Festival, pointed with pride today to its newest "center of attraction" -- the small but mighty Trojan basketball team that captured the 50th annual Kosciusko County High School basketball tournament last Saturday night.

The Trojans' 64-58 triumph over Syracuse in the title game brought North Webster its first county cage crown in 14 years --the second in 44 years --and the first for Coach Donnie Butts, who in his 10th year at the school is the "senior member" of Kosciusko County coaches.

Members of the team include: cheerleaders: Candy Leinker, Sherri Rider, Sara Jernigan, Marsha Bockmen; Trojan mascot Jane Vanator; Charlie Baker, Dennis Stalter, Bert Culver, Rick White, Barney Culver, Mike Lewallen, Tim Hine, assistant coach Mike Kurtz, manager Terry Bowser, head coach Donnie Butts, Ron Shipley, Kent Brower, Roger Cormican, alternate Dean Anderson, managers Dennis Shields and Morgan Bowden and principal G. Wendell Bryant.

Feb. 27, 1967 -- Warsaw will carry this area's basketball hopes into the Elkhart regional this week after the Tigers captured their third consecutive sectional crown here Saturday by overpowering Syracuse 91-50.

The Times-Union All-Sectional selections include Jan Essenburg, Warsaw; Rob Clevenger, Syracuse; Denny Mikesell, Rochester; Lee Ritchey, Mentone; Ben Niles, Warsaw; Steve Henson, Akron; Charlie McKenzie, Warsaw; Tom Thornburg, Syracuse; Rex Bowser, Mentone; and Dave Henson, Akron.

March 17, 1967 -- A 1920 graduate of Warsaw High School, John Longfellow Sr. is one of five new members in the Indiana Basketball Hall of Fame today.

Longfellow, former athletic director at Indiana State, won 302 games and 24 different championships while coaching high school basketball at Elkhart. His coaching career began at Leesburg in 1924.

April 10, 1967 -- Warsaw's Charlie McKenzie and Ben Niles are among 10 Hoosier high school seniors named to join Willie Long of Fort Wayne South, 1967 "Mr. Basketball," in rounding out this year's Indiana All-Star squad.

The selection of the local cagers gave Warsaw the distinction of being the only team with two representatives on this year's Hoosier "blue ribbon" group.

May 4, 1967 -- After trailing through the first day field events, the Pierceton Cubs came on strong as expected in the final races to wrap up their ninth consecutive Kosciusko County track and field title here Friday.

Coach Tom Sittler's cindermen, winners of 14 of the last 15 county meets, were led by hard-running Clint Pletcher, who captured three events on the final day to help the Cubs to the title.

May 16, 1967 -- Warsaw High School drew further statewide acclaim today with the naming of Jan Essenburg and Rocky Clemens to the first Indiana All-Star football team.

Essenburg and Clemens were among top players named to the North squad, which will meet top grid stars from the south in the first Indiana Shrine All-Star high school football game at Victory Field, Indianapolis, on Aug. 12.

June 5, 1967 -- Syracuse will be shooting for a regional baseball title at Manchester this week after winning the first IHSAA-sponsored state high school sectional crown at Nappanee Saturday.

Team members are Greg Smith, Max Brockers, John Kramer, Steve Wagner, Bob Pilcher, Tom Thornburg, Rob Clevenger, manager Kermit Welty, Dennis Harper, Rob Smith, John Wortinger, Mike Bordon, Coach Eldon Ummel, Curt Stucky, Dave Wickstrom, Gary Firestone, Alan Zimmerman and Brad Bauer.

June 14, 1967 -- Veteran senior tennis player Homer Shoop of North Webster received word this week that he and his longtime partner Gardnar Mulloy of Miami, Fla., have been accepted for senior doubles play in the 1967 London championships and in the 1967 British championships to be held on the world famous Queen's Club and Wimbledon grass courts, respectively, in England beginning next week.

July 21, 1967 -- For the second consecutive year the Warsaw High School varsity cheerleaders, under the guidance of Bedella Weirick, have taken top team and individual honors in a Midwest cheerleading camp held at Lake Geneva, Wis., this week.

The Warsaw varsity squad of Robin Rasor, Susie Gresso, Missy Thomas, Judy Shoemaker, Margie Merkle and Bonnie Harris captured the team trophy after making a complete sweep of the competition.

Aug. 14, 1967 -- Warsaw's fleet-footed 6-4 end Jan Essenburg single-handedly led the North to a smashing 39-13 victory in the Indiana Shrine All-Star football game at Indianapolis Saturday and was appropriately honored as the "star of stars."

Aug. 14, 1967 -- 17-year-old Tim Johnson captured the Rozella Ford Community Golf Course club championship Sunday with a 5 and 3 victory over Wayne Sebo.

Jan. 15, 1968 -- Joy reigns supreme in South Whitley today after the hometown Bulldogs became the first school outside of Kosciusko County to ever capture the county tourney when they defeated Mentone Saturday 78-76 to capture the 51st annual Kosciusko County basketball tournament crown.

Winning coach Bill Patrick labeled hustle as the key to the Bulldogs' success in capturing the title over a tall and talented Mentone ball club, coached by Glenn Petty, that is sure to be heard of in the future.

Feb. 26, 1968 -- A packed goalhouse Saturday night saw Akron advance to the Elkhart regional with a thrilling 78-77 win over Mentone in a fitting climax to the local roundball season.

The win marks the first sectional crown in 12 years and only the second in 38 years for the Flyers.

The Flyers won the heart-stopping contest Saturday when senior Jeff McFarland scored the winning bucket with 13 seconds left in the game, but had to suffer through the agony of seeing a Mentone shot by Dennis Meyer rip the cords seconds later, before learning the attempt was made after the gun sounded.

June 5, 1968 -- A new chapter in county history will be opened Thursday when Wawasee High School near here undertakes its initial varsity athletic competition in a baseball game against South Whitley.

The new high school, which is a consolidation of former high schools at Milford, North Webster and Syracuse, is currently under construction and is scheduled to open its doors for classes this fall.

Head baseball coach Bill Dorsey and his assistant, Mike Kurtz, will have the memorable distinction of representing the school in interscholastic varsity athletics for the first time when the Warriors travel to South Whitley for a contest at 6 p.m. Thursday.

The Warriors will compete in the eight-member Northern Lakes Conference with Warsaw, Bremen, Concord, Nappanee, North Manchester and Plymouth.

Members of the baseball team include Dean Anderson, Charles Baker, Rob Clevenger, Jon Coy, Burt Culver, Gary Firestone, Tom Gunden, Andy Hartley, Dennis Harper, Dean Martin, Steve Mock, Steve Runge, Greg Smith, Gary Sorenson, Steve Tatman, Mark Thomas and Randy Troyer.

Sept. 16, 1968 -- Saturday was a great day for football, at least for Wawasee High School, as the Warriors won their first varsity game in history with a 24-0 romp over the LaVille reserves before an enthusiastic hometown crowd.

Sept. 21, 1968 -- Concord's ace hurler, Tom Tessar, and Manchester outfielder Joe Simmons are unanimous selections for the first Northern Lakes Conference All-Star team in history, it was learned today from William Schroer, secretary-treasurer of the NLC.

Every school placed at least one player on the first team with the exception of Warsaw and Wawasee. The co-champions of the 1968 baseball race, Manchester and Concord, placed two players each, as did Plymouth and Bremen. Rochester and Nappanee added one apiece.

Surprisingly enough, Warsaw, which finished in a second-place tie with Plymouth, placed only one player on the first two teams, that being outfielder Ted Pfenning to the second unit. Wawasee, in its first year of competition in the NLC, had pitcher Rob Clevenger and infielder Tom Gunden on the second squad.

Oct. 5, 1968 -- Steve Cumberland won the annual Kosciusko County Cross Country meet for the second straight year to lead Akron to its first meet crown in history while thwarting Pierceton's unprecedented bid for an eighth consecutive title at the local fairgrounds Friday.

Cumberland held a comfortable lead throughout the entire race and crossed the finish line in a time of 10:26, well ahead of South Whitley's Eric Swing.

Team members are Jake Baker, Cumberland, Pete Sanders, Ed Jenkins, Tom Ramsey, Steve Behney, Coach Bob DuBois, Dave Cumberland, Doug Davis and Dan Backus.

Oct. 14, 1968 -- The Wawasee Warriors fell short in their bid to make Saturday night's first year homecoming a complete success as they suffered a 7-0 setback at the hands of the Plymouth High School reserves.

The loss ended the Warriors' four-game winning streak, which had started early in September, and was the second time this season that Wawasee has been shutout at the goal line.

Nov. 14, 1968 -- A new coach, challenges and conference will all be part of Wawasee High School's first year of basketball competition which gets under way Friday night.

Wawasee, a consolidation of Milford, North Webster and Syracuse high Schools, will be held in its initial year schedule of 20 games by head coach Vernon Zurcher.

Team members include Gary Firestone, Steve Zurcher, Russ Mikel, Andy Hartley, Ben Fowler, Larry Kammerer, manager Steve Edwards, Al Barrett, Dave Elliott, Bill Pipp, Mark Thomas, Joe Baumgartner and manager John Hulley.

Nov. 16, 1968 -- The Wawasee Warriors, playing in their first cage outing in the school's young history, dropped a tension-filled 70-67 contest to the visiting Westview Warriors in a game played in the Syracuse Junior High School gym Friday night.

Dec. 14, 1968 -- A tenacious Warsaw defense completely stymied the Wawasee Warriors in the first varsity basketball meeting between the schools as the Tigers rambled to a 76-44 Northern Lakes Conference victory at the local high school gym Friday night before a disappointingly small crowd.

Feb. 13, 1969 -- Warsaw's Mike Harris and Russ W. Schelling captured championships in the Elkhart wrestling sectional here Saturday to advance to regional competiton in Fort Wayne next Saturday.

Harris, a 98-pounder, and the 106-pound Schelling led the Tigers of Coach Patrick Carter to a second-place finish with 70 points in the 14-team field at Elkhart behind winning Lakeland with 99 points.

Feb. 19, 1969 -- Virgil (Sug) Risner, brilliant Warsaw High School sharpshooter of the early 1940s, today became the first player in local school history to be named to the Silver Anniversary all-state basketball team.

Risner, who rewrote Warsaw's record books in three years of varsity competition from 1941-44, currently resides in Claymont, Del., where he is government representative for the Orthopedic Equipment Co. of Bourbon, Ind.

March 3, 1969 -- Warsaw and Larwill High School students participated in enthusiastic pep rallies today to celebrate their respective sectional basketball tournament championships and began purchasing tickets for next Saturday's regional competition at Elkhart, where the two teams clash head-on.

At Warsaw, students gathered for a morning pep session in recognition of their team's fourth sectional crown in the last five years, then returned to regular classes.

A pep rally was held at Larwill from 9 to 10 a.m. and classes were dismissed for the remainder of the day while fans toured the area in a victory caravan as the school celebrated what is thought to be the first sectional championship in the history of Larwill High School.

Larwill's team members include Bob Campbell, Arden Hull, Bob Ward, Gary Walter, Steve Eberly, Randy Branning, Mike McManama, Danny Wilkinson, Mike Williamson, David Norris, John Parker, Randy Walter and Roger Tuggle and Dennis Myers.

March 8, 1969 -- Warsaw High School student Marty Auron set off on the first leg of a long trip to Elkhart for 26 members of the school today. The boys planned to dribble a basketball from Warsaw to the regional site in Elkhart, each dribbling a one-mile leg. The plan, which was thought up by Auron, calls for six cars to be spaced at intervals along the route with fresh forces ready to resume the journey. The unique adventure got under way at 6 a.m. on Ind. 15, north of Warsaw.

March 8, 1969 -- The Girls Athletic Association basketball team from Warsaw High School finished the 1968-69 season with a perfect 10-0 record, following their 9-0 record last season. The talented female cagers are piloted by GAA sponsor Janice Soyez. Team members are Landra Lowery, Paula Albert, Karne Albertson, Sus Sisk, Nancy Coop, Karen Denny, Sue Anderson, Ginny Werner, Nancy Highley and Sally Coplen.

May 3, 1969 -- Warsaw ran away with the fifth annual Northern Lakes Conference Track and Field Meet, breaking seven of the 15 records that toppled during the meet held at Concord Community High School.

The Tigers' victory, their third in the five-year history of the NLC meet, was of no surprise, but the wide margin of triumph was a bit shocking.

Warsaw won the blue ribbon in eight of the 14 events to finish with 79 points, followed by Plymouth with 46. The other finishers were: Concord, 38; Wawasee, 31, Manchester, 20; Rochester, 19; Bremen, 16; and Nappanee, 3.

Warsaw, under Coach Burt Niles, won the meet in 1965 and again in 1967 to continue their dominance which was led this year by Charlie Vaccaro and Tim Deaton, who had a hand in breaking four former NLC and Concord track marks and tying a fifth.

May 9, 1969 -- This marks the fourth consecutive year that Warsaw High School golf coach Joe Harris and the Tigers have captured the Northern Lakes Conference crown. This year, however, Warsaw was forced into a sudden death playoff before defeating Bremen and winning the conference championship as well as the NLC tourney. Warsaw golfers responsible for the victory are Gary Goshert, Bill Clemens, Bruce Grossnickle and Doug Neville. Grossnickle and Clemens each birdied the extra hole to ensure the triumph.

May 15, 1969 -- The first annual Wawasee High School athletic banquet proved to be a huge success as a large crowd of parents and friends joined in honoring 171 athletes and cheerleaders in the school's new gym here Wednesday night.

A total of 157 boys of the almost 400 fellows attending the school were recognized for their participation in athletics, along with 14 cheerleaders.

May 22, 1969 -- The annual Elks athletic banquet honoring Warsaw Community High School athletes saw a number of firsts Wednesday night, including the presence of Butler University's legendary Paul D. (Tony) Hinkle as guest speaker.

Due to a tie for the Elks basketball award, 10 athletes were honored as well as the presentation of a cheerleader award for the first time in the history of the banquet.

Gary Goshert, a letter winner in football, basketball, baseball and golf, was the recipient of the 22nd annual Minear Award presented annually to the outstanding WCHS senior athlete who receives letters in three sports.

May 26, 1969 -- Warsaw astonished the experts with its second-place finish in the Indiana High School Athletic Association State Golf Tournament at the Coffin Golf Course in Indianapolis won by another decided underdog, North Central, Saturday.

Warsaw linksmen proceeded to finish with a 313 total behind North Central, which toured the 18-hole course with a four-man score of 304.

The finish is the highest ever for a Warsaw team in state golf competition, the closest prior finish being third in 1966.

Doug Neville of Warsaw finished with a 75 to tie for fourth place individually.

July 24, 1969 -- One of the most illustrious coaching careers in the area, dating back to 1939, came to an end Monday as Warsaw Community High School baseball coach Howard Bock took off his spikes for the last time.

Bock, whose coaching days span 31 years, announced his resignation earlier in the year. Although the Tigers will take part in the Concord Baseball Tourney Saturday, Bock is leaving those chores to new head coach Gary Faudree in order to complete preparations for a well-earned trip to Europe.

Sept. 27, 1969 -- A part of the first annual Wawasee Band Night ceremonies held during halftime of the Wawasee-Goshen football game Friday night were the 15 pom-pom girls. This group was formed this year and is expected to participate during athletic events at the high school. They include Jill White, Taceile Estep, Carolyn Gardner, Sue Bahn, Lora Rhoads, Amy Coy, Jan Black, Laurie McFarland, Vicki Mehl, Gloria Mehl, Nancy Gunderlock, Shelley Kaiser, Patty Myers, Bethann Elam and Darlene Long.

Oct. 21, 1969 -- The Warsaw-Wawasee football meeting at Fisher Field Wednesday night will be the first meeting in what is expected to be a long and spirited rivlary between the two Kosciusko County high schools.

Despite the fact that the meeting will be the first ever between the two varsities, the game takes on added meaning for both teams. A year ago the Wawasee varsity walloped the Warsaw junior varsity with many of those JV players now on the Tigers' varsity.

Nov. 18, 1969 -- Homer Shoop, of North Webster, recognized spin expert, teamed with Gardnar Mulloy, nationally known netter, to capture the biggest prize of his colorful 45-year tennis career in San Juan, Puerto Rico, Sunday.

Shoop and Mulloy won the Senior Bowl Invitational Doubles tourney in a three-set thriller at the Hotel Racquet Club in San Juan.

In addition to receiving the largest trophy of his many years in tennis, Homer celebrated his 57th birthday Sunday.

Dec. 1, 1969 -- The second-year Wawasee High School will initiate a sport new to the area scene when it opens the swimming season at New Prairie Wednesday.

Wawasee is one of the few Northern Lake Conference schools that will produce a swim team, Concord being the only conference school the Warriors will meet. Coach Doug Quine is hopeful that the sport will become a standard part of the NLC athletic calendar in the near future.

Jan. 29, 1970 -- Nationally ranked Grace College set a new team scoring record in defeating Trinity Christian College of Illinois 130-69 here Wednesday night as Mike McCoy set a new Lancer single game scoring record with 53 points.

Feb. 9, 1970 -- Kent Wilson of Wawasee was the lone area wrestler to advance to the Fort Wayne regional following his championship performance in the Elkhart sectional Saturday.

Aug. 14, 1970 -- Thanks to a new athletic complex at the Warsaw Community High School, Tiger football teams starting this season will have a home all of their own.

Workmen have transferred the area directly south of the high school into one of the finest prep football fields in the state. The complex also accomodates a baseball diamond and several practice fields. Future plans call for the inclusion of tennis courts.

Since the late 1930s, Warsaw football teams have performed before the hometown crowd at Fisher Field, named after the late George Fisher. However, the first home of the Tigers was at Old Riverview Field, located at that time on West Fort Wayne Street extended. From there the Bengals moved to Hillary Field on South Buffalo Street before a second move took them to Beyers Field on East Center Street.

Fisher Field was the next site for the Tigers, who made it their home for more than 40 years. No official name has been released yet for the new complex, which gets its baptism Sept. 5, when Coach Don Geozeff's squad meets Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger at 2 p.m.

March 5, 1971 -- Veteran Warsaw Community High School head basketball Coach Ralph (Boag) Johnson is stepping down after 10 years of guiding Tiger hardwood teams.

Johnson said today he has submitted a letter of resignation to Superintendent Max R. Hobbs terminating his coaching duties at the end of the current season.

March 22, 1971 -- Bill Patrick, head basketball coach for the past four years at South Whitley High School, has been appointed to a similar position in the new Whitko High School, which is to open this fall at South Whitley.

Patrick's four-year basketball record at South Whitley is 63-26. His team finished with a 13-8 mark this past season.

April 28, 1971 -- Indiana High School's basketball "Coach of the Year" in 1963 -- Dwight D. (Ike) Tallman -- was named today as varsity hardwood mentor at Warsaw Community High School on his 34th birthday.

May 29, 1971 -- Present Warsaw Community High School assistant track coach Dennis Cornelius has been elevated to head track coach and David A. Wolkins will be his assistant next season, Dr. Max Hobbs, superintendent, announced today.

June 12, 1971 Ð The Warsaw Community High School golf team brought home a fifth-place finish in the state high school meet at Indianapolis Friday, which was won by defending champion Carmel.

Feb. 5, 1972 -- It took four overtimes to do it, but the Warsaw Tigers assured themselves a first-place finish in the Northern Lakes Conference cage race with a heart-stopping 85-83 victory over Plymouth Friday night.

The cast in last night's drama was replete with cagers who withstood the tension of the four overtimes to turn in excellent performances. But one player stands out slightly above the rest -- Warsaw's Mark Hanna.

The hustling 5-11 junior guard calmly sank two freethrows to knot the score 73-73 in the first overtime and assure the Tigers a second opportunity to win the game. But Hanna saved his best salvo for last.

With the final seconds ticking off in the fourth overtime, Hanna lobbed a jumper in from his spot near the free throw line to send the Tigers and the crowd into an elated frenzy.

May 12, 1972 -- And the beat goes on.

The Warsaw Tiger track team came up with an overpowering 61-point performance at the Warsaw athletic field Thursday night to capture its fourth consecutive Northern Lakes Conference league crown.

The Tigers were the pre-tourney favorites, but the wide margin of victory was much greater than expected.

It was the first time Warsaw has hosted the eight-team league track tourney, and the Tigers came up with their finest team effort of the season for home-dominated crowd's pleasure.

June 2, 1972 -- It must have seemed like Christmas in June for the Warsaw Tiger golf team Thursday following all-day competition in the Northern Lakes Conference playoff battle at Maxwelton golf course.

Included in the list of "goodies" Coach Joe Harris and the Tiger squad returned home with were the NLC golf title, a final first-place spot in the league's All-Sport race, the top two conference medalists and a surprise meeting with ABC sportscaster Chris Schenkel.

Led by Denny Hepler with a 72 and Ted Pinnick at 73, the Tigers withstood a late charge by Wawasee that saw the Warriors fall three strokes short of matching Warsaw's 308 team total.

Dec. 29, 1972 -- The Warsaw Tigers and Coach "Ike" Tallman captured the Valparaiso Holiday Basketball Tourney title Thursday night crushing Logansport 74-54 en route to the crown.

Warsaw Tiger cage captains are Mark Hanna, Denny Hepler and Terry Ressler.

Feb. 12, 1973 -- The Whitko Wildcats picked up cage victory 13 Saturday night, sinking the Northfield Norsemen 73-64. The win was particularly satisfying for Whitko Coach Bill Patrick --it was his 100th victory in varsity competition against 51 losses.

Feb. 26, 1973 -- The Warsaw Tigers battled back from a 10-point deficit in the Triton Sectional championship contest, stopped defending titlist Rochester 65-56 and earned a spot in opening night regional action Friday against Penn, Elkhart sectional victor.

Warsaw cheerleaders are Carol Steele, Nancy Butts, Susie Smith, Mary Pat Dryer, Karen Widaman and Cindi Carey. Team members are manager Rick Heaton, Dave Kissell, Terry Ressler, Denny Hepler, Mark Hanna, Greg Heberling, Don Wihebrink, Jeff Tallman, Ster Watkins, assistant coach Hugh Ressler, Blaine Metzger, Greg Ault, Steve Shoemaker, Coach "Ike" Tallman, assistant coach Tom Sittler, Larry Richardson, DeLynn Geiger, Rod Wildman and manager Lance Clay.

March 26, 1973 -- Wawasee High School freshman Jenny Cox became the school's first champion in girls' sports competition by capturing a first place in the IHSAA gymnastic finals at North Central High School near Indianapolis Saturday.

Jenny captured the top spot (all-around) in options. She captured the title by placing first in the uneven bars, vaulting and second in floor exercises. The only area she failed to place in was the beam.

Jenny is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Cox of Syracuse.

April 27, 1973 -- Warsaw senior golfer Denny Hepler set one record and tied another Thursday as the Tigers downed Elkhart Central 317-323 in a dual meet at Rozella Ford. The victory was Warsaw's seventh of the year without defeat.

Hepler blistered the course with a sizzling 33 on the front side and came home with a 69 to tie a WCHS record set by Tim Johnson in the 1965 NLC meet at Rozella Ford.

Hepler's 33 on the front nine was the lowest ever recorded at Rozella by a high school golfer and gave him a new school mark. The previous low score was a 34 turned in by several Tiger golfers in past years.

June 2, 1973 -- Wawasee High School won its first IHSAA athletic title in the school's history Friday by topping Triton 1-0 in the championship game of the baseball sectional at Phend Field here.

Triton put the pressure on from the start of the game by loading the bases in the bottom of the first. Wawasee pitcher Bill Fawley cooled the threat, however, when he struck out Tim Gochenour for the third out.

Mark Smith cracked a home run to left field on the first pitch of the fifth inning for the winning margin. It was the first of four Wawasee hits in the game.

Aug. 14, 1973 -- Barry McCleary, standout wrestler at Warsaw High School, took third place honors in the 192 pound class in the National Junior Olympics this past weekend, helping Indiana place 10th among 32 states involved in the tourney. The four-day AAU-sponsored event with more than 700 wrestlers competing was held at St. Cloud Teachers State College in St. Cloud, Minn.

Nov. 9, 1973 -- Rod Wildman, outstanding tailback for the Warsaw Tigers, has been named on the honorable mention list of the UPI all-state football team.

Wildman holds virtually every rushing record at Warsaw, and led the Tigers to an 8-2 record this season. He rushed for more than 3,000 yards during his prep career.

The 6-3, 205-pound senior had his best rushing effort in 1972, when he rambled for nearly 1,700 yards. This year, Wildman broke through defenses for 1,100 yards despite playing in only a little more than seven games.

Feb. 18, 1974 -- The Warsaw Tigers captured first place in the Washington High School Regional wrestling meet Saturday in South Bend, and will send three individuals to the state finals next weekend in Indianapolis.

Coach Ron Hutcherson's cats made a season-long dream a reality by topping the tourney field with 59.5 points to 56.5 for runner-up South Bend Adams.

The triumph capped a perfect season that included 11 dual meet wins, three tourney titles, the championship of the NLC and a first place in the Triton sectional.

Ten Tigers were entered in the rugged Regional meet, and once again the revered "Murderer's Row" made its mark.

The quartet of Greg Kralis, Larry McCleary, Ted Pinnick and Karl Shively paced the strongarmed Warsaw contingent throughout the season by racking up a combined record of 80-9-1.

Feb. 19, 1974 -- It's off to the state swimming meet for Warsaw's Steve Franklin Saturday. Franklin emerged from the recently completed Elkhart Sectional as a double winner in the 50 and 100 yard freestyle events. Franklin, a junior, has reportedly turned in some of the best times in the state this year.

Feb. 25, 1974 -- Ted Pinnick became the first wrestler in Warsaw Community High School history to win a state championship Saturday by defeating Mike Meunier of Brownsburg, 1-0.

March 4, 1974 -- The Akron Flyers proved they are for real. The Rochester Zebras found out the hard way.

Coach Floyd Henson's Flyers added another stripe to the Zebras' hide Saturday night in the final game of the Warsaw Sectional when they handed Rochester its first loss of the season, 91-89 in overtime.

The Akron victory snapped a 21-game win streak by their cross county cousins and propelled the Flyers into Saturday's Elkhart Regional where they will play the Elkhart Memorial Chargers.

It is the second sectional championship for an Akron squad in six years, but perhaps the biggest one in the school's history.

This year's Akron team will be the last for the school, since it will consolidate with Mentone next year to form the Tippecanoe Valley School Corp. Vikings.

March 4, 1974 -- The Whitko Wildcats are today celebrating their first sectional basketball championship in the school's history following a 76-67 triumph over the Churubusco Eagles Saturday night.

The Wildcats will face the Plymouth Pilgrims in the second game of the Elkhart Regional at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.

The Wildcats earned their eighth straight victory with a balanced team effort on both offense and defense.

March 8, 1974 -- Rod Wildman, Warsaw Community High School's outstanding football tailback, recently was selected to participate in the North-South high school all-star football game in July, according to Tiger grid coach Tom Dohrmann.

Wildman had previously been named to the All-American squad of Who's Who in High School Football. Wildman also was named to three all-state teams and was an all-NLC offensive selection.

Feb. 14, 1975-- Warsaw's record-book-on-water Steve Franklin set two freestyle records last night as he led a representative group of Tiger swimmers through the preliminary rounds of the sectional and into tomorrow's finals and consolation rounds.

Franklin, who owns ever Warsaw swimming record, shattered both the 50 and 100 yard freestyle marks, as he continued his course toward a showdown with the very top sprint-men in the state. His 50 time of 22.2 seconds bettered the old mark of 23.1. And his 100 clocking of 50-seconds flat not only broke the previous record of 51.3 but also spread-eagled the field by almost half a pool length.

Feb. 17, 1975 -- Warsaw's swimmers and wrestlers made quite a bit of news Saturday afternoon and evening in the Elkhart-South Bend area. And because of this, they'll have yet another opportunity, on an even higher level of competition, of making even a greater impression when they take part in this weekend's state championships.

As for the individuals, the swimmers who'll be going are Steve Franklin, Bob Vaccaro, Rick Rosenkranz and Alan Barnes; the wrestlers are Curt Holle, Gene Fenix and the DeGaetano brothers, Steve and Bill.

March 12, 1975 -- Chet Kammerer bowed his head as he leaned against a very quiet locker room door.

"Something like this," he said, "is very discouraging for the kids. I know this will be the toughest defeat they've accepted this year."

It was also their last defeat of the season, for Grace's basketball campaign of 1974-75 came to an abrupt halt last night as the Lancers lost in their bid for a trip to Chattanooga by the scantest of margins, 77-76 in overtime no less to Olivet-Nazarene.

At stake for the two combatants was a trip to the NCCAA national championships in Tennessee later this week. Grace was the District 3 champ and thus earned the right to host this regional final, and Olivet-Nazarene represented District 4 as well as a sparkling 27-4 record prior to this game.

March 22, 1975 -- Wawasee's Jenny Cox qualified for the state meet in two events in last night's IHSAA Gymnastic Regional at Wawasee High School. Jenny was second in vaulting and third in floor exercise.

May 23, 1975 -- There were some performances a little better than expected, some a little worse and a little of old lady luck thrown in for area track teams at the IHSAA regional in Fort Wayne Thursday.

Defending state co-champion Fort Wayne Snider won the event for the second year in a row with 42 points.

Warsaw finished with nine, qualifying its 880 relay team for the state meet by coming in second and picking up a point on a sixth place finish in the 440 by Tony Boley. Wawasee, meanwhile, scored six points on a third-place finish by Dave Wollman in the discus. Tippecanoe Valley's Max Meiner didn't place in the 880. The top five individuals and top two relays qualify.

The Tiger 880 relay team broke a school record they had just set at last week's sectional with a 1:31.1 clocking. The team includes Boley, Darrell Carr, Dennis Robinson and Rob Staley.

May 30, 1975 -- Heading for the second annual Indiana state high school women's track and field championships today, Lorene Spearman, a freshman from Wawasee High School, probably stands the best chance of returning home with a state title under her belt.

Spearman, who qualified in both the 100 and 220 yard dashes, and Barb Brouwer, a Wawasee junior who won a chance at state competition in the long jump and softball throw, are both among a field of 276 competitors who will compete at Indianapolis North Central High School tonight.

June 1, 1975 -- The Wawasee High School baseball team simply "out-Smithed" its opponents in the IHSAA sectional in Goshen Saturday.

The result --as freshman Brian Smith pitched a two-hit shutout in the semi-final with Fairfield and senior brother Mark came through with a three-hit blanking of NorthWood in the final --is a sectional championship and a trip to the South Bend regional next Saturday to meet Elkhart titlist Elkhart Central.

June 4, 1975 -- Selection of the late George L. Fisher to the Indiana Football Hall of Fame was announced today by Claude V. O'Maley, of Richmond, chairman of the Hall of Fame board of directors.

Fisher, head football coach at Warsaw High School for 27 years, will be honored posthumously July 16, at a 7 p.m. banquet in the Shrine Building, Kosciusko County Fairgrounds in Warsaw, when he will be inducted and a citation presented to his widow, Miriam, of near Tippecanoe Lake in Plain Township.

July 17, 1975 -- George Louis Fisher was a man who reached many pinnacles during his life, and Wednesday night he reached yet another one, 6-1/2 years after his death.

Before an estimated 130 former players, rivals, friends and relatives, Fisher became the first posthumous induction into the Indiana Football Hall of Fame at the Kosciusko County Shrine Building.

It was perhaps appropriate that Fisher's top player, Dave Rankin, would make the Hall of Fame presentation to Miriam Fisher, GeorgeÕs widow.

John Tatum, himself a member of the Hall of Fame, served as master of ceremonies after introductions by Curtis Garber, editor of the Times-Union and program director.

Tatum, who served as head coach at Wabash High School during Fisher's tenure, was both a top-notch rival and top-notch friend of the Warsaw coach. It was Tatum who first suggested to Garber the idea of an induction dinner for Fisher, and the former Wabash coach was instrumental in planning the program.

Feb. 10, 1976 -- It started out as perhaps a little "impossible dreaming." When Janice Soyez said at the beginning of the year her Warsaw girls' basketball team was out to make some history by winning the first girls' state championship ever, a lot of people just took it as so much bunk --your usual preseason optimism and all.

Monday night, the Tigers completed the first big step toward that ultimate goal, grabbing the Tippecanoe Valley sectional championship with a 52-38 victory over Plymouth after watching a 32-point lead fritter down to 11 in the closing minutes.

Now, Soyez' bunch is 16-0 on the season and the by-word is "only six more."

Feb. 16, 1976 -- It was perhaps the sweetest of Valentine's presents for the Warsaw girls' basketball team ... the sweetness of the "Sweet Sixteen" in the first-ever Indiana girls' high school tourney.

Now the count is four more and we're out the door after the Tigers turned back a valiant effort against arch-rival Wawasee here 50-36 here Saturday.

Feb. 23, 1976 -- Alice's wonderland certainly couldn't compare with the Warsaw Community High School girls' basketball team.

And the Tigers didn't have to walk through any looking glass or any such calamaties to do it in Fort Wayne Saturday --they just showed a little bit of everything from the razzle-dazzle fast break that's become their trademark to a methodical stall, which certainly hasn't -- as this city can now brag about its first semi-state cage championship in history.

For the record, coach Janice Soyez' bunch zipped past Wes-Del 57-44 after toiling their way to a 63-55 afternoon decision over Norwell before a couple of packed houses at Northrop's gym as it's now "on to Indianapolis."

Feb. 24, 1976 -- The Warsaw Community High School swim team had a dog fight, but in the end it was superior performances that led them to a sectional crown. The team includes: Kathy Haack, Kevin Carter, Bruce Newcomer, Bill Rosenkranz, coach Tom Mulry, Todd Davis, Bob Waikel, Bruce Kealey, Steve Clark, Alan Barnes, Blair Zykan, Kevin Kristi, Bob Vaccaro, Rick Rosenkranz, Craig Cummins, Melvin Hawkins, Tracy Truman, Brendt Smith and Steve Rosenkranz.

March 1, 1976 -- There's no need to do any more dreaming for the Warsaw Community High School girls' basketball team.

A season-long hope for 12 young women ended in reality at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis before nearly 10,000 fans Saturday night as the Tigers brought home a 3.5 foot trophy, gold medals and plenty of smiles to a town that has managed to go practically beserk over something which only drew parents and janitors two years ago.

As some 5,000 orange handkerchief-waving fans can attest, Warsaw is the first state champion of girls' basketball, running its season record to 22-0 with a tourney-winning victory over previously unbeaten Bloomfield, 57-52, after manhandling East Chicago Roosevelt 62-44 in the semi-final game.

Judi Warren was named the first recipient of the mental attitude award.

March 8, 1976 -- It was an agonizing three-year wait but the sectional boys basketball championship has returned to Warsaw.

And a town that has been celebrating winners all winter long is just soaking up one more champion as the Tigers of coach Ike Tallman are now busily preparing to make the trip to the Elkhart regional next Saturday, where they'll battle Columbia City sectional champion Whitko at noon.

March 15, 1976 -- It took 39 years for the Warsaw Community High School boys basketball team to win a regional, and now the Tigers head into Fort Wayne to try something that's never been done --win a semistate.

Steve Reed calmly ignored earth-shattering screams and two Elkhart Central time outs to drop through a pair of free throws with two seconds left on the clock and give Warsaw a 57-55 regional title win over the Blue Blazers in Elkhart Saturday night.

March 22, 1976 -- When the end finally came, it was a rather abrupt and at least not a long painful affair. And it certainly didn't come about without an admirable fight.

For the town of Warsaw, the "Wonderful Winter of '76" came to a conclusion here Saturday afternoon when the Fort Wayne North Redskin basketball team shot down Warsaw's Tigers, 57-49, in the second game of the Fort Wayne semistate.

March 29, 1976 -- Warsaw need not be altogether disappointed if they felt they were not represented at the state boys' high school basketball tournament after having teams at the girls' tourney, wrestling tourney and swimming tourney. They just didn't look hard enough.

Warsaw's own Gene Butts, a coach and teacher at Lincoln School, was there and took a rather active part --wearing the striped shirt and tooting the whistle for the afternoon semi-final between eventual champion Marion and Jeffersonville at Market Square Arena Saturday.

For Butts, it was a dream come true as he made the trip to Indianapolis for the first time in his 27 years as a basketball official.

April 24, 1976 -- Judi Warren will wear No. 1 when the Indiana High School Girls All-Star team meets Kentucky in the first-ever girls' games this June.

April 30, 1976 -- Gordy Clemens of Warsaw has been selected to play in the third annual Northern Indiana East-West All Star basketball game at Gary May 29, 1976, the Times-Union has learned.

Clemens, the 6-7 forward for coach Ike Tallman's regional champion Tigers, was informed of his selection via a letter dated April 28 from Charles Brown, the game's coordinator.

June 5, 1976 -- It's been a banner year for girls' athletics in Kosciusko County, and Wawasee has capped the illustrious season with the state title in the third annual Indiana High School Girls' Track and Field championship at North Central in Indianapolis last night.

It took only 30 points to win the girls' team title, and outstanding sophomore Lorene Spearman tallied them all for the Warriors of coach Marcia Carpenter.

The track crown was the third state high school title won by girls' teams in Kosciusko County this year. The Warsaw girls brought home the first-ever state basketball title March 1 to go along with their state badminton crown.

Wawasee sent only four girls to the state meet but those four were enough, thanks to the heroics of Spearman. Spearman was a double winner -- in the 100 and 220 -- then brought the Warrior 440 relay team from behind on the anchor leg for the victory.

June 23, 1976 -- Charles O. Finley is not a very happy man.

Speaking in an exclusive interview this morning at the home of Bruce Howe, County Farm Road, Finley blasted Bowie Kuhn, baseball's reserve clause and then explained his reasons for selling stars Joe Rudi, Rollie Fingers and Vida Blue to American League rivals for a total of $3.5 million.

The flamboyant owner of the Oakland A's said he was planning today to file a $10 million lawsuit against commissioner Kuhn and Major League Baseball after the former last week voided his sale of Rudi and Fingers to the Boston Red Sox for a million dollars each and Blue to the New York Yankees for $1.5 million. Papers for the suit were signed in Fort Wayne Tuesday as Finley played in the Mad Anthony Celebrity golf tournament. Howe, a personal friend and executive vice president of Word Music Inc., of Winona Lake, witnessed the signing and then invited Charlie to his home for the night.

June 24, 1976 -- When Chris Schenkel, Homer Shoop and everybody else at the Palace of Sports went about picking a 1976 King of Sports for the 31st annual Mermaid Festival, they could probably have done no better than what they did -- two-time Heisman Trophy winner Archie Griffin.

Griffin, who made an appearance at the festival Wednesday to be crowned and to head up the Cutie Parade and Contest, is a perfect choice of what the founders had hoped for to provide a splendid example for the King of Sports Youth program.

July 27, 1976 -- Warsaw, under high school coach Ron Hutcherson, has always been a hotbed for wrestling and today it can boast one of its highest honors ever.

Matt Hampton, a graduated senior has come home from the United States Wrestling Federation nationals in Iowa City, Iowa, over the weekend with a plaque representing a second place finish in the Greco-Roman style matches. It is the highest finish nationally ever for a Warsaw grappler, surpassing the third place posted by Barry McCleary in 1973.

Nov. 23, 1976 -- It's a whole new ball game for Warsaw Community High School basketball.

The Tigers, who open their season Wednesday at Columbia City, will enter the Eagle gym with a new head coach (Jim Miller), a new assistant coach (Al Rhodes) and nine new players. Add to that a whole new offensive and defensive system, and the 1976-77 version of Warsaw basketball will probably be something akin to a shiny new automobile: expect some bugs, but once ironed out, it could be a flashy, well-oiled machine.

March 7, 1977 -- The "bragging rights" have returned to Syracuse and there's a little extra bonus this time around.

The Wawasee High School basketball team meets Plymouth in the second game of the Elkhart Regional Saturday after dealing Kosciusko County rival Warsaw an overtime 70-66 defeat at the championship game of the Triton sectional in Bourbon last Saturday night.

The hustling Warriors have plenty of merits indeed after recovering from a disastrous 0-7 start to now climb to 10-12 on the season and own their first sectional trophy in the school's nine-year history --and at the same time revenge a three-point loss to Warsaw in the regular season.

March 22, 1977 -- At least 15 Warsaw Community High School girls will have an opportunity to compete in aquatic feats next autumn because of action taken by Warsaw School Board Monday.

The board approved inauguration of a girls' swim team for the high school following a report from its finance committee, which indicated that an increase in ticket prices could support the program.

School appropriations would be used to pay the salary of the swimming coach and the rental fees for use of the Kosciusko Community YMCA pool.

March 22, 1977 -- Lincoln's Lions defeated Washington 21-16 and earned the first-ever girls' city grade school basketball championship. Team members are Julie Anderson, Brenda Johnson, Jodi Hoenie, Missy Freeman, Kristi Ker, coach Gene Butts, Richelle Dishman, Emily Edwards, Shawn Kehler, Darci Gilbert, Alycee Kimes and Tonya Kitson.

March 31, 1977 -- Steve Cromer, a junior track and football star at Wawasee High School, has filed suit against the Lakeland School Corp., challenging the constitutionality of the school athletic code, which suspended him from competing in sports because he was arrested for drinking beer.

The suit was filed in U.S. District Court in Fort Wayne Wednesday and asked that the athletic code be declared unconstitutional and the school corporation not be allowed to suspend his athletic career.

The suit states Cromer was questioned by police in December 1975 after they found four cans of beer in his possession. However, according to the suit, he was not charged and never admitted drinking any of the beer.

Then a year later, Cromer was arrested and admitted he did drink a half a can of beer.

As a second drinking violation, the school suspended Cromer, in accordance with the school athletic code.

Cromer's attorneys contend the arrest was actually his first drinking offense, but the school has overruled that claim in administrative appeals. The lawyers also maintain the suspension is cruel and unusual punishment for an offense as minor as drinking only a half can of beer.

The suit asks the court to reinstate Cromer in school athletics, to keep the school corporation from enforcing the code and for attorne's fees.

April 4, 1977 -- One of the shortest competitors proved to be mighty tall when it came time to tally the points at the Indiana High School Athletic Association girls' gymnastics tournament in Indianapolis Saturday.

Wawasee freshman Tracy Rinker, standing barely 4-11, enthralled an estimated 2,500 fans at North Central High School by completing an unprecedented coup --sweeping gold medals in vaulting, uneven parallel bars, balance beam and floor exercise, then topping it off with the No. 1 spot in the all-around competition.

Never in the five-year history of the tourney has one individual so dominated the competition as Rinker becomes the second Wawasee all-around champion Ð joining Jenny Cox, who won in the 1973 tourney inaugural.

April 12, 1977 -- Steve Reed, one of the most sought after basketball guards in Warsaw High School history, will attend Indiana State University, Terre Haute, on a basketball scholarship next fall.

The official announcement won't come until 4 p.m. Wednesday when Reed, in the presence of his parents Max and June Reed and Bill Hodges, head recruiter for ISU, signs a national letter of intent at his home on Yarnelle Point.

May 26, 1977 -- James C. Kessler, who returned to his alma mater two years ago, has been named head basketball coach and athletic director at Grace College, it was announced today.

He has been the assistant basketball coach, field event coach in track and an instructor in physical education at Grace since 1975. The 28-year-old Kessler succeeds Phil Hoskims, who resigned last week.

June 2, 1977 -- The Warsaw Community High School baseball team used its basic "win-a-sectional" recipe here Wednesday, but was missing one ingredient.

Head coach Hugh Ressler, who molded the team into a cohesive, hard-working unit, was unable to watch the Tigers win their first-ever sectional title because of the death of his mother. But he will have a chance to return to the Columbia City Joint High School diamond June 11 when Warsaw battles either Fort Wayne Wayne or Fort Wayne Harding in the regional.

Warsaw baseball team members are Dave Johnston, Brent Grubbs, Steve Sittler, Jeff Hohman, Aaron Rovenstine, Randy Sarber, Steve Bradford, Tim Howard, Roger Pryor, acting assistant coach Bob Huffman, manager Alan Barnes, Randy Reneker, Tim Wilson, Sam Hartle, Phil DeGaetano, Stacy Thomas, Jeff Pound, Scott Charlton, Jim Coplen, Al Denney and acting head coach Jim Miller.

June 4, 1977 -- When defending champion Lorene Spearman and Olympian Rhonda Brady met for a pair of long-awaited sprint races at the girls' state track meet here Friday, it was nothing new.

"I raced against her a lot when I was younger," Spearman said. "She'd win some and I'd win some."

It worked out the same way at the fourth annual girls' state track meet ... only this time there were only two races so Spearman and Brady could each only win one. As a result, the Wawasee star has a three-year winning streak in the state 220-yard dash, but has to settle for runner-up in the 100.

Brady, a graduated senior from Calumet High School, dove ahead of a slow-starting Spearman at the tape of the 100 for a :10.8 victory, but Wawasee's junior speedster came back some 75 minutes later to roar to a record-tying :23.9 220, some six-tenths of a second quicker than runner-up Brady.

June 8, 1977 -- For the first time since 1972, a Warsaw Community High School golfer will be competing in the state tournament.

Scott Sebo, a junior who has been playing in the No. 1 position all year for Warsaw, fired a five over par 75 at the tough Erskine Golf Club to finish third individually and earn a trip to Indianapolis next week.

Nov. 12, 1977 -- The real flakes didn't come until the closing minutes of the game, but it didnÕt take long for the Tippecanoe Valley High School football team to pull its own snow job here Friday night.

Rolling to 428 total yards, while yielding only 33 to District 9 champion Seeger, the Vikes proved there's more than just dreaming when it comes to making a long-awaited trip to Indianapolis.

The 30-0 rout of the Patriots before a frigid full house of some 3,000 fans enables second-rated Valley to pull within one small step of accomplishing a dream started four years ago when a bunch of freshmen started practicing football at Mentone School.

The only thing that stands in the way now is Indianapolis Ritter, which demolished Paoli, 48-0, last night to earn the right of meeting the Vikings at Lawrence Central High School next Friday night for the Indiana Class A football state championship.

Nov. 19, 1977 -- The dream came to an end for the Tippecanoe Valley High School football team in Indianapolis Friday night, but it wasn't any nightmare.

Playing against an Indianapolis Ritter squad that looked every bit as good as its No. 1 rating, the Vikings' season-long quest for a Class A state championship fell ever so short of becoming a reality, 15-6.

Dec. 13, 1977 -- The game itself was hardly memorable, but for Warsaw Community High School girls basketball coach Janice Soyez, the 73-33 rout of Plymouth Monday night was a milestone in her coaching career.

The nine-year Warsaw coach saw her 100th career victory through smiling eyes as her Tigers romped to a 10-0 lead en route to the easy win. Along the way she followed the progress of girls hoop play from the GAA level through extra-mural play and then the formation of the IHSAA tournament.

Feb. 17, 1978 -- Everything went as expected in the first round of the high school sectional swim meet in Elkhart Thursday night and for Warsaw fans, that means three records were broken.

It was a sensational effort for coach Robin Boyer's gang, but a lack of depth took its toll as only four others qualified for the consolidation rounds (seventh through 12th).

Perhaps the most phenomenal of the Tiger efforts was the 200 medley realy, which was by far the top qualifier, shattering Warsaw's sectional record set last year with a 1:43:43. Steve Clark, Melvin Hawkins, Blair Zykan and Brendt Smith put together an effort that was a full 3.5 seconds quicker than No. 2 qualifier Elkhart Central. It also blitzed their own school record of 1:44:9.

Clark, Smith and Zykan also are figured to be favorites in individual events.

Clark, the oldest of three brothers on the team, coasted to a :58:479 sectional record in the 100 backstroke, which was still off his season best of :57.4.

Smith was nothing short of spectacular, zipping to a :22.381 sectional record in the 50 freestyle, nudging the :22:92 standard Warsaw's Steve Franklin established in 1975. He is still a tenth of a second shy of Franklin's school record, however.

The 50 was Warsaw's brightest moment as Alan Barnes was third quickest qualifier at :23.47 and Hawkins the fifth best at :23.793.

Feb. 20, 1978 -- The city of Warsaw literally "belonged" to the Warsaw Tigers girlsÕ basketball team today.

Refusing to say "die," the girls ran their unbeaten record to 20 consecutive games last Saturday by upending favored and undefeated East Chicago Roosevelt in a 46-45 spine-tingler, then edged Michigan City Rogers 61-58 in overtime to capture the Benton Central semi-state title and earn a berth in the state finals at Indianapolis next Saturday for the second time in three years.

Feb. 27, 1978 -- There's no school in Warsaw today, but for a change it has absolutely nothing to do with weather or energy.

It's merely part of an ongoing celebration that started two years ago, took a 12-month sabbatical, and is now in full swing again.

And it all has to do with a dozen or so young women, who have upended several top teams and their own doubting-Thomases along the way to win the second state basketball championship in three years for Warsaw Community High School.

After ripping past Heritage, 61-38 in Indianapolis Saturday afternoon, and then storming by Jac-Cen-Del, 75-60 for the state tile; it was almost as if a quick-burning fuse had been ignited in the lower sediments beneath Warsaw.

March 16, 1978 -- It's a dream team for many, but for area high school basketball fans, there's at least some disappointment as only Wawasee's Bryan Smith could crack the first-team all-Northern Lakes Conference squad selected here Wednesday night.

Smith, a second-team selection last year, averaged 14.3 points per game to lead the Warriors to a 14-8 record Ð their best since the 1971-72 team went 17-5.

March 21, 1978 -- It's been nearly a month since they wowed 12,000 cheering fans and a statewide television audience, but Northern Lakes Conference girls' basketball coaches remember Chanda Kline and Anita Folk quite well ... and it's not just from state tourney competition.

The league's coaches, meeting at Warsaw Community High School Monday night, made Kline and Folk of the state champion Warsaw Tigers unanimous selections to the all-NLC first-team.

May 9, 1978 -- There's just the smallest bit of concern for seven Northern Lakes Conference coaches when they talk about Warsaw's Randy Heisler.

It's bad enough they don't have the conference's No. 1 discus thrower in their own stables, but when they learn he is only a sophomore, the fidgeting starts in earnest.

Heisler turned up for Thursday's NLC meet at Plymouth by blasting his own school record by more than 5 feet with a 163-7 heave, but it wasn't enough to keep the Tigers from falling to third place in final regular season conference standings.

June 3, 1978 -- The party may be over for Lorene Spearman, but nobody's blowing out any candles yet.

The shining star of Wawasee High School track is still burning bright today. In spite of somewhat disappointing second-place finishes in the 100- and 220-yard dashes at the state high school girls' track meet in Indianapolis Friday, the graduated senior can boast one of Indiana's highest prizes: the state Mental Attitude Award.

June 16, 1978 -- Kosciusko County All-Stars are all smiles as they prepare for Saturday's clash in Louisville against Kentucky's finest. Tippecanoe Valley's Cathy Welch and Warsaw's Chanda Kline and Anita Folk are part of the 11-member Indiana squad and will return to the Hoosier state next week to take on the Bluegrass gals at the Indianapolis Market Square Arena.

Aug. 15, 1978 -- Warsaw may lose one of its best referees, but the local high school now has a new athletic director.

By a 6-1 vote Monday night, Warsaw School Board appointed Gene Butts to succeed Bob Huffman as athletic director at Warsaw Community High School. Howere, there were two stipulations: he must cancel all officiating contracts and must develop a functioning intramural program at all age levels.

Nov. 14, 1978 -- The only thing missing from the Tippecanoe Valley High School football season is one more game.

Tight end Charles Secrist and linebacker Allen Utter today capped off a stellar Viking year by being named to the first team of the UPI Indiana high school football coachesÕ All-State squad, while fullback Tim Alspaugh joined five other area players as honorable mention.

But any of the three would probably be glad to trade their individual honors if the Vikings were playing this Friday night against Lawrenceburg for the state championship. A 27-21 playoff loss at Franklin Central last Friday ended that dream.

Jan. 10, 1979 -- The first-ever Warsaw girls' Tiger Tourney is set for Saturday, Jan. 13, at Warsaw Community High School. The defending state champions will host Jimtown, Penn and John Glenn.

Jan. 29, 1979 -- Call them the Cinderella Tigers. The Warsaw Community High School wrestling team, who seemingly make a living of winning on the final match, did it again in Nappanee Saturday afternoon, only this one was for all the marbles.

Tiger heavyweight Phil DeGaetano came up with a revenge-minded 6-4 victory over Bremen's Wade Hall in the last match of the day to send the Northern Lakes Conference trophy back to Warsaw for the first time since 1976.

DeGaetano's triumph was enough to lift the Tigers barely past host NorthWood, 172-1/2 to 171-1/2. The Warsaw heavyweight was one of five Tigers who made the final round, all of whom were champions. Wawasee was a distant third with 145 points, followed by Goshen's 127, Bremen's 124-1/2, Concord's 123, Plymouth's 96-1/2 and Rochester's 74.

Feb. 23, 1979 -- They don't have anything to do with hitting, kicking or shooting balls, but nine area high school athletes will take center stage this weekend.

Often finding themselves in the background of basketball, football and baseball types, swimmers and wrestlers from Kosciusko County area are heading south for state match-ups.

From Warsaw, wrestlers Henry Ford and Scott Hutcherson will join NorthWood's Don Miller and Stacy Carter at the state mat bash at Indianapolis Southport High School, while Tiger tanker Melvin Hawkins will be with Wawasee's Steve Rosenkranz, Tracy Bartow, Scott Arnold and Greg Carpenter at the state meet in Muncie tonight and Saturday.

In swimming, the area quintet could be hard-pressed for top honors, but all of them -- especially Hawkins --could place high.

Hawkins will be swimming the 50 freestyle after finishing second in sectional at :22.8. He has churned a :22.4 earlier this year, which puts him among the tops in the state.

Feb. 26, 1979 -- Just when Warsaw thought it was going to have to go without a late February state championship celebration, Henry Ford and Scott Hutcherson came along.

The two Warsaw Community High School sophomores picked up where the Tiger girls left off last year, and today, the town finds itself in a tizzy about two more state champs --this time, in wrestling.

May 25, 1979 -- Randy Heisler of Warsaw Community High School set a Kokomo Regional shot put record as he qualified for the state track meet in two events and teammate Jim Coon qualified in the mile run in Kokomo Thursday night.

As a team, the Tigers placed ninth with 22 points.

Heisler, only a junior, won the shot put with a heave of 58-7-1/2, breaking the previous regional mark of 58-4 as well as his old Warsaw record of 57-10. He also placed fourth in the discus with a toss of 166-2, putting him in the state finals in both events.

July 12, 1979 -- The United States Cheerleader's Association has announced that the Warsaw Varsity Cheerleaders were awarded a first place team trophy at the recent session of USCA Camps All-American held at Indiana University.

As an award winner, the Warsaw Varsity is eligible to compete in the 21st annual National Grand Championships, sponsored and directed by the United States Cheerleader's Association. This event will be held Aug. 23-25 at the Civic Center, Lansing, Mich.

The WCHS varsity cheerleaders are Lori Glant, Kim Miller, Tina Baker, Sue Thallener, Sherri Busenburger and Shannon Stearley.

Nov. 5, 1979 -- As expected, Warsaw Community High School dominated the Northern Lakes Conference girls' swimming meet here Saturday, led by senior Diane Williams' outstanding performance.

Williams won three first places --one on a relay team --and each included a record performance as the Tigers outscored runnerup Goshen 306 to 234. Wawasee was third with 184 points.

Records seem to follow Williams wherever and whenever she swims and Saturday was no exception.

First, she teamed with Chris Timmons, Linda Newcomer and Sarah Roberts to win the 200 medley relay in the school and conference record time of 1:58.96. The old NLC mark was 2:00.5 set last year by the same foursome.

Then Williams simply shattered the NLC 200 individual medley record by winning with the time of 2:16.56, four seconds faster than her old mark of 2:20.5. The performance was also a WCHS record, eclipsing her previous standard of 2:16.83, set earlier this season.

As an encore, Williams won the 100 freestyle in NLC and school record time. She was clocked in :55.22, bettering her previous conference and school time of :55.27, set during the conference preliminaries Thursday night.

Nov. 10, 1979 -- As is their habit, Tippecanoe Valley's Vikings left no suspense for their fans but nobody on the Valley side was heard complaining Friday night as the Vikings earned their second trip to the state football playoff finals in three years.

The Vikings --equally devastating by land or by air --routed North Judson 63-6 in one of those "Death Valley" massacres that are quite familiar to Viking Field regulars. The Blue Jays become the 28th straight victim of Valley on its home turf.

The one-sided triumph sends the Vikings against unbeaten Hamilton Southeastern next Friday night at Lawrence Central in Indianapolis, where a first-time Class A champion is assured.

Nov. 17, 1979 -- Maybe they should move up a class. Or even two classes.

Or better yet, follow David Rhodes' suggestion and form their own college football team and call it Tippecanoe Valley University.

Whatever, one thing's certain, the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings found no match in Class A this season as they steamrolled 13 straight opponents en route to the state championship, capped with the 44-14 smothering of Hamilton Southeastern at Lawrence Central High School in Indianapolis Friday night. The one-sided triumph provided Kosciusko County with its first ever boys' state championship team.

Dec. 29, 1979 -- Playing on a basketball floor where historic events are commonplace, Warsaw Community High School's "Iron Five" stamped its name in the history books Friday with a performance overloaded with stamina, poise and heart.

Playing in their final South Bend Holiday Tourney, the Tigers left a lasting impression by becoming the first non-South Bend team to win the tourney championship in its 14-year history. A title game triumph over unbeaten Clay Friday night --the Tigers' third win in 24 hours at Notre Dame's ACC --sent the trophy out of St. Joseph County for the first time.

The 50-48 win over Clay in the finals also ended 11 years of holiday tourney frustration for the Tigers. Their last holiday tourney championship was in 1968 at Greencastle. It was their first tourney title of any kind since winning the regional in 1976.

Jan. 2, 1980 -- Tippecanoe Valley High School has been placed on a one-year athletic probation by the Indiana High School Athletic Association for "inappropriate actions" by certain members of the school's football team prior to their state championship victory last Nov. 16.

The action by the IHSAA, in effect, is nothing more than a slap on the hand. The school's athletic teams will resume their regular schedules and participate in tournaments as usual but the school must file a written report to the IHSAA listing measures to be taken to alleviate the problem.

The IHSAA did not specify the team's wrongdoings. Members of the football coaching staff were also censured "for knowingly permitting such action."

Although IHSAA and TVHS officials refused to elaborate, reliable sources reported that the school was reprimanded because some of the team members, participating in a pregame good luck ceremony, urinated at the corners of the football field. The act reportedly occurred long before game time when the stands were empty.

The probation period will expire Nov. 16 of this year.

Feb. 4, 1980 -- Winning its third sectional tournament was mere child's play for the top-ranked Warsaw Community High School girls basketball team last week. Indeed, the Tigers' 37-point average winning margin must be some sort of record.

The Tigers climaxed the week of fun and games with a title-clinching 63-22 rout of Argos in Saturday night's finale of the first WCHS girls sectional. Earlier massacres were 66-34 over Wawasee and 71-34 over Tippecanoe Valley.

March 7, 1980 -- Wawasee unseated South Bend Adams as the girls gymnastis sectional champion in Syracuse Thursday evening as the Warriors' Tracy Rinker dominated the concluding events in the optional portion of the two-day meet.

April 1, 1980 -- Monday afternoon, the Indianapolis Star and Blind Fund charities announced Warsaw's Claudia Kreicker had been named to the Indiana All-Star girls basketball team.

Kreicker, a 6-1 center, becomes the fourth Warsaw all-star in the brief five-year history of the team.

May 3, 1980 -- In a culmination of a very successful basketball season, Franklin College's Gordy Clemens has been chosen along with 18 other NAIA players to participate in the American-Australian Summer Basketball program.

The only NAIA player from the state selected for the program, Clemens, a Warsaw native, calls the honor "the biggest thrill in basketball for me. I'm very excited and looking forward to meeting people from different cultures and countries."

June 2, 1980 -- They didn't realize their highest expectations, but the Warsaw Tigers left a definite impression in two particular areas in the 77th annual state boys track and held championships at North Central Saturday night.

For one, Randy Heisler proved to be the second best all-around weight man in the state, picking up a pair of thirds in the discus and shot put, including a Warsaw Community High School record in the latter event. The only individual better in both events was Hammond's Mark Murakowski, a double winner.

Secondly, the Tigers' 1,600-meter relay team cracked the magic 3:20 barrier with ease, and for what it's worth, proved to be the fastest caucasian team on the premises. The foursome of Troy Furnival, Jeff Nock, Eric Sebo and Dave Harman placed fifth in a superb field with a school record clocking of 3:18.1.

July 2, 1980 -- Trying his hardest not to sound like Rodney Dangerfield, Ralph Reiff believes there's a shortage of respect for the athletic trainers of the world.

"When you tell some people that you're an athletic trainer they say, 'Well, do you coach?' or 'Do you train boxers?' laughs Reiff, the former Wawasee High School and Indiana Central University football player. "A lot of people just don't know what a trainer does."

Spending a good portion of his just completed undergraduate college days working as a certified trainer, Reiff has become quite familiar with the duties of a trainer. His most extensive and certainly most interesting training experience has been with the Indiana Pacers the past two years. But he also has worked as a trainer on the amateur level, with the ICU basketball team and at Lawrence North High School.

Sept. 16, 1980 -- The defense continued its superb play and the offense more than carried its share of the load for the Warsaw Community High School junior varsity football team as the Tigers remained unbeaten with a 22-0 victory over Concord Monday.

It was Concord's first loss after three wins, while Warsaw is now 4-0.

The Tigers' defense recorded its third shutout of the season. A fierce pass rush keyed the effort as the Tigers sacked quarterback Blair Kennedy six times and intercepted him once. Mark McCrill had three sacks among his eight solo tackles and Kevin Burner numbered two sacks among his six solos before suffering a concussion in the third quarter.

Also, Brooks Huffer had five solos and Gary Puckett had an interception for Coach Bob Turner's Tigers.

Oct. 4, 1980 -- St. Joseph's perfect record and fourth ranking in the state's Class AAA poll have been viewed skeptically by some who consider the Indians' schedule suspect at best. But the Warsaw Tigers and their homecoming crowd witnessed a convincing performance by the South Bend visitors here Friday night.

Moving the ball equally well through the air or on the ground, and completely shutting off the Warsaw offense, the Indians ripped the Tigers 36-12 on a cold and wet night at Tiger Field.

Nov. 1, 1980 -- If ever there was a time for the NorthWood football team to panic, it was after the first 2-1/2 minutes of Friday night's Class AA playoff game.

With 9:34 remaining in the first quarter, New Haven had stunned the Panthers with a pair of touchdowns and owned a 12-0 lead. This outburst was against a NorthWood defense that isn't accustomed to allowing touchdowns for entire games, much less two in three minutes.

But displaying the character that Coach Jim Andrews has come expect, the host Panthers regrouped --fast. Over the next 45 minutes, NorthWood limited New Haven to only a field goal while unleashing its most potent offensive onslaught of the season to record a 21-15 first-round victory at Memorial Field.

The triumph earns NorthWood, 10-1, a regional playoff game next Friday at unbeaten Norwell, which toppled defending state champion Blackford 26-14 at the loserÕs field last night.

Dec. 1, 1980 -- After three years of waiting, the Grace College basketball team won its seventh Turkey Classic championship Saturday night, defeating Anderson College 83-80. Not since 1977 when they defeated Bethel College in the finals had the Lancers captured the Turkey Tourney title.

Last year Grace was runner-up to Biola College.

Grace, avenging a 102-89 loss to Anderson on Nov. 21, placed four players in double figures in the finale, led by guards Kevin Willour, the tourney's most valuable player, and Kent Denlinger with 18 points each. Freshman John Boal added 14 and senior Kimpy Sanders, who earned all-tourney team selection, tallied 10.

Jan. 16, 1981 -- Warsaw Community High School remained unbeaten and Tippecanoe Valley won its second straight swimming meet, but both had close calls on Thursday. And in somewhat of an upset, Concord defeated visiting Wawasee 95-77.

The Tigers lifted their record to 9-0 with an 89-82 victory at Bellmont. The WCHS tankers needed a win in the final event, the 400 freestyle relay, to keep their perfect record intact.

Feb. 2, 1981 -- Wawasee's girls basketball team claimed its third sectional title Saturday night with a 47-33 win over Tippecanoe Valley. Next, the Warriors will meet Rochester in the Warsaw Regional.

March 2, 1981 -- Everything seemed to be going against Whitko entering the fourth period of the sectional final here against Manchester. The Wildcats had just lost an eight-point lead to the Squires and four of their starters were in disastrous foul trouble with four fouls each.

But when the pressure was on, Whitko rose to the challenge. In an exciting last period in which the lead changed hands 13 times, it was guard Brett Patrick's two foul shots with eight seconds left that clinched the Wildcats' 52-51 championship win, its fourth in the school's history and the first since two seasons ago when Whitko destroyed Columbia City 74-50 in the title game.

March 16, 1981 - Some 15,000 people in the Warsaw community woke up Sunday morning and realized the whole thing --as unbelievable as it may once have seemed --was not a dream. No dream could be so beautiful for followers of the Warsaw Tigers.

Indeed, the Tigers are in the Final Four for the first time ever and are only eight quarters of basketball away from a state championship that would send the city into a frenzy from which it would probably never recover.

But for now, a semistate championship will do just fine for the Tigers, a never-say-die group that like several other high school and college teams over the weekend defied the oddsmakers with a poised and courageous effort that landed them victories over more heralded teams.

The Tigers spent most of Saturday on the bottom half of the score. But when it really mattered, the Memorial Coliseum scoreboard showed that Warsaw was a 64-60 winner over third-ranked Marion in the semistate finale and a 45-42 victor over Fort Wayne Wayne in the day's opener.

May 8, 1981 -- The team competition was everything one could have wanted. Plymouth and Concord were at each other's necks throughout the night, with Plymouth finally prevailing by one point.

But, individually, it was a one-man show as Warsaw's Troy Furnivall turned the Northern Lakes Conference track and field meet into his own personal stage Thursday night at Wawasee.

On a night when no one else won more than one individual event, Furnivall collected three first places --one in record fashion --to finish as the meet's high point individual with 30. The slim junior scampered to firsts in the 100- and 200-meter dashes and successfully defended his 300-meter low hurdles title, breaking his own meet record.

June 1, 1981 -- Kosciusko County area individuals were one for nine when it came to placing in the 78th annual IHSAA boys state track and field meet Saturday night.

The lone area individual to put a point on the scoreboard for his team was Warsaw's Troy Furnival, who was sixth in the 400-meter dash. That single point left Warsaw tied with five other schools for 33rd place in a meet that was won for a fifth straight year by a Gary school.

June 4, 1981 -- Colorful Ron Hutcherson, who practically has become a coaching institution at Warsaw Community High School, has decided to step down as the school's head wrestling coach.

Hutcherson, who built the Tigers' mat program into one of the finest in northern Indiana during his 11-year tenure as coach, today submitted a letter of resignation to Athletic Director Gene Butts. He plans to remain a physical education teacher here.

July 2, 1981 -- Tim Poe will become the third Warsaw Community High School golfer to play at Ball State University when he enrolls at the Muncie school this fall.

The spring WCHS graduate, who as a senior compiled a list of accomplishments as long as his driver, signed a national letter of intent to attend Ball State. He will receive a partial athletic scholarship.

Poe caught BSU coach Earl Yestingsmeier's attention this past season as he finished at or near the top of the individual list in several major events and earned second-team all-state honors. Previous WCHS golfers to play at BSU on scholarship were Doug Neville (1968) and Denny Hepler (1973).

Sept. 1, 1981 -- Bill Nay Furniture won both the Class A regular season and post-season City Softball tournament. Team members are Mark Sumpter, Brian Holderman, Aaron Rovenstine, Tony Sumpter, Rob Adams, Al Utter, sponsor Bill Nay, Doug Moore, Jim Coplen, Kelly Fields, Pete Smith, Gary Sponseller, coach Frank Copeland, Rick and Randy Roberts, Barry Kline and Phil DeGaetano.

Oct. 1, 1981 -- Tipecanoe Valley placed second in the Valley Invitational while Warsaw was blanked 5-0 at Penn as both tennis teams concluded the regular season Wednesday. Both squads will now prepare for the Peru Sectional this Saturday.

Culver placed first in both the No. 2 and No. 3 singles matches as it won the Valley tourney with 38 points. The host Vikings, winning the No. 2 doubles, were second with 35, while Whitko only came in third with 32 points, despite winning both the No. 1 singles and doubles. Triton was last with 10 points.

Tippecanoe Valley's only champion was the doubles team of Scott Miller and Keith Haney, which downed Whitko's Dan Houston and Scott Freds 6-1, 6-1.

At Osceola, only Warsaw's No. 2 doubles team of Dave Snider and Dan Kent took their Kingsmen opponents into three set matches, with Bob Plenenen and Dave Weninger winning 6-0, 6-7 (2-7) and 7-5. The other Tiger netters lost in straight sets and won no more than three games in any set.

Nov. 2, 1981 -- Not to be outdone by their female schoolmates, who won the cross country sectional last week, the Wawasee girls volleyball team took home a sectional champion trophy of their own from the Lakeland tournament Saturday night.

The Warriors unseated defending champion Bethany Christian, 9-11, 15-10, 15-7 in the semifinals and then ousted West Noble, 15-11, 15-13 in the final match. It is the second volleyball sectional title in Wawasee's history.

Dec. 1, 1981 -- The beat goes on with the Wawasee High School girls basketball team ...

The Warriors rolled to their fifth straight victory Monday night, clobbering visiting Rochester 62-39 with their usual style -- tough defense and plenty of depth.

Now 5-0 overall and 2-0 in the Northern Lakes Conference, Wawasee improved its average winning margin to 25.6 points per game. The unbeaten Warriors are averaging 56.1 points and allowing only 26 per game.

"The girls have worked hard on defense and we've used a lot of girls in each game and each one contributes," said Wawasee coach Dale Brannock, explaining his team's success. "We're not doing anything special, but for the most part, we've played well so far."

Jan. 11, 1982 -- Jeff Grose finally made his debut, becoming the first freshman to play for the Warsaw Community High School varsity basketball team in 19 years.

But it was a pair of Grose's older teammates -- juniors John Snyder and Herb Bailey -- who ignited a fourth-quarter comeback that carried the Tigers to a 51-40 homecourt victory over Columbia City Saturday night.

Feb. 1, 1982 -- All the excitement of a high school wrestling sectional was there, but Warsaw, Tippecanoe Valley and Triton were left out of the real thrill: the sectional championship, which went to Plymouth.

The Rockies won the Warsaw Sectional held at Warsaw Middle School Saturday with a team score of 178.5. Warsaw, which has won the sectional the last three years, followed with a score of 157.5, Valley was third with 108 and Triton followed with a score of 106.

But for certain matmen the excitement was even greater. The Vikings were the only team that didn't come up with an individual champion. Triton had three and both Plymouth and Warsaw had five champions.

March 3, 1982 -- The Warsaw Community High School top swimming award winners were Steve Doyle and Chris Marriott, co-most valuable, and Tony Kraus, most improved. The team's awards banquet was Monday night.

April 3, 1982 -- Any discussion of the Warsaw Community High School boys track and field team naturally begins with the name Troy Furnivall.

The thin WCHS senior has just completed a sensational indoor season in the sprints and middle distance events and all indications are that his outdoor campaign can be even better. But if Warsaw is deserving of the No. 10 ranking it attained in the state preseason poll, there will have to be more than Furnivall to the Tigers.

And head coach Larry Heisler is confident there is.

May 3, 1982 -- When it comes to the 400-meter dash, the only place that Troy Furnivall runs second is in his own mind.

Such was the case Saturday and despite running behind an imaginary foe in the 400-meter race --or perhaps because of it, Furnivall cranked out the fourth best time in the nation this season in winning that event.

The Warsaw Community High School senior ran a blistering 47.4 400-dash for one of his two victories in the first Tiger Invitational at the WCHS track. He also won the 200 meters going away and placed second in a photo-finish 100-meter dash.

June 8, 1982 -- Approximately 40 enthusiastic canoe and kayak paddlers from the area entered the first Warsaw Optimist Canoe/Kayak Race held Saturday in Warsaw.

Father and son team Billy Hudson and Tim Hudson, Warsaw, won honors in the open class with the fastest time overall Ð 47 minutes, 40 seconds.

Gene Haskins, Warsaw, was the winner in the kayak class with a time of 59:23. Danny Boggs and Dave Moyer, also of Warsaw, won the novice class (53:33).

July 7, 1982 -- It will be 11 days old and will have traveled across three states by the time it reaches Warsaw. But the Olympic flame will still be burning bright July 15 when eight local runners meet the entourage carrying the symbolic torch on the outskirts of the city and help it along its way to its destination --the National Sports Festival in Indianapolis.

Warsaw will greet the flame with pomp and circumstance, including a relay of eight runners, who will bring the flame downtown at 10 a.m. Troy Furnivall, Warsaw Community High School's state champion sprinter, will lead the group, which includes WCHS hurdler Tracy Long; NCAA division II discus champion and former WCHS track star Randy Heisler; former WCHS sprinter Dave Harman; local running enthusiasts Dick Katte and Pam Shriver; and Ashley and Kerry White.

Aug. 5, 1982 -- Bill Nay Furniture, hoping to continue its torrid hitting from the semistate tournament two weeks ago, will travel to Crawfordsville this weekend for state ASA Class A slow pitch softball finals.

The Warsaw team swept through the semistate at Nappanee with four straight victories, outscoring its opponents 72-30 and belting 24 home runs in the process. It was the first semistate championship for Bill Nay.

Team members of the 52-12 record team are Ron Faas, Barry Kline, Rick Roberts, Tony Sumpter, Gary Sponseller, Roger Boggs, sponsor Bill Nay, Doug Moore, Kelly Fields, Aaron Rovenstine, Jim Coplen, Randy Roberts, Jeff Rostachak, Rob Adams and Rex Durham.

Sept. 1, 1982 -- Sporting a 39-10 season record and a sparkling .426 team batting average, Arby's of Warsaw will battle nine other women's fast pitch softball teams for the state ASA Class C title this weekend in Gary.

Members of the Arby's fast pitch softball team are Coach Bryon Weinstein, Pat Ward, Amy Schrock, Deana Moren, Amy Gunterman, assistant coach Rob Adams, Kim Ransbottom, Linda Stouder, Cathy Conrad, Val Weinstein, Robin Johnston, Karen Smith, Teresa Bennitt, Angie Pate, Pam Busenburg, Kim Heuer and Deb Nice.

Oct. 5, 1982 -- Warsaw Community High School's Mary Parke will advance to regional play next Monday at Huntington, but only after a bizarre series of circumstances in the Carroll girls golf sectional in Fort Wayne Monday at the Colonial Oaks course.

As a team, the Tigers finished sixth and Wawasee seventh. Fort Wayne Northrop finished first ahead of favored Carroll, the four-time defending champion.

Nov. 1, 1982 -- The Wawasee High School girls cross country team finished second in Saturday's Fort Wayne Regional meet and will make a second straight appearance in the state meet, to be held this Saturday at Indianapolis.

Two area boys teams were not as fortunate, as Warsaw and Wawasee each failed to place in the top four in the semistate race held at the same Shoaff Park course. For these two squads a successful season comes to a close.

Dec. 1, 1982 -- It was a night for celebrating for the Warsaw Community High School girls basketball team Tuesday as it overcame a spectacular individual scoring effort to win its first game of the year, 60-52 over Triton.

"I think the first one is the hardest one," said delighted Warsaw coach Mary Hurley. "When you don't win you get down and start criticizing yourself. It was a good one to win."

Indeed it was. Triton went into the game 2-0, carried along on the shirttail of Lorea Feldman, a 6-0 junior who last year averaged 21.4 points a game. Warsaw failed to stop Feldman, who scored 31 points and grabbed 17 rebounds, but the Tigers effectively shut down the rest of the Trojans offense.

Jan. 4, 1983 - Playing in the Elkhart Regional Basketball Tournament has been an every-other-year proposition for the Whitko and Manchester high school basketball teams in recent years.

That will change this year. It's not that the Wildcats and Squires will no longer rule the Columbia City Sectional --they will again be co-favorites when the tourney rolls around this March. But the IHSAA Monday made official what had been rumored for some time: The Columbia City Sectional winner will be routed to Fort Wayne instead of Elkhart for the regional.

Feb. 2, 1983 -- If his family has its way, Grace College Coach Jim Kessler will have to start pricing garage door openers.

Kessler's Lancers brightened their record to a dazzling 20-2 Tuesday evening on their home court, beating the Huntington Foresters 78-63. The win placed the Lancers in a tie for the Mid-Central Conference lead with Bethel College, and placed Kessler in a new situation.

"Four years ago," Kessler reflected, "I told my family that if we won 20 games in a season, we'd get a new garage door opener. For three years now we have been stuck at 19 at the end of the season.

"For four years my family has been keeping track of our wins. This is the first time I have ever coached a team that has won 20 games. I guess if we win 10 more I'll buy the button to open the garage door."

March 4, 1983 -- Grace College will play Purdue-Calumet after all. And, according to at least one observer, it will be a game that could propel the Lancers to Kansas City and the NAIA finals.

In beating IUPUI 94-74 Thursday night at Grace for their first NAIA tournament win ever, the Lancers advanced to a third round district playoff game next Monday with Purdue-Calumet.

April 8, 1983 -- Two of the finest athletes Warsaw Community High School has produced in recent years will be among a throng of track and field individuals at the prestigious Dogwood Relays at the University of Tennessee in Knoxville this weekend.

Randy Heisler, a junior at Indiana Central University, and Troy Furnivall, a Purdue freshman, will compete in the same meet for the first time in their collegiate careers.

This, of course, will be Furnivall's first appearance in the annual meet, but Heisler has been there twice --both times with huge successes. Heisler has won the shot put competiton in the Dogwood's small college division each of the past two years.

May 2, 1983 -- The weather was miserable and the 5-0 loss here Saturday didn't help the spirits, but coach Terry Hopkins felt the Warsaw Soccer Club's first experience in the McGuire Cup finals was a pleasant one.

"It was a real good time. The kids learned a heck of a lot and they got a lot of experience," said Hopkins, following Warsaw's 5-0 setback to Evansville United, a team composed of high school players as well as Evansville University players still under 19 years of age.

May 3, 1983 -- Warsaw's Michelle Sand shattered her former school discus record of 118 feet with a 123-2-1/2 effort and the Tigers captured 10 of 13 events in defeating visiting Whitko 63-41 in a girls dual track meet Monday.

June 3, 1983 -- Herb Bailey and Steve Doyle have announced their decision to enroll at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and play football for the "Fightin' Engineers," according to Rose-Hulman head football coach Bob Thompson.

Bailey played tight end and defensive tackle and Doyle offensive and defensive tackle for coach Kevin Westover's Warsaw Tigers. Bailey, recruited as a tight end, won two varsity letters, was named all-Northern Lakes Conference and Academic All-State this past season. Doyle earned two varsity letters in football, as well as being named most valuable in swimming.

July 7, 1983 -- The Warsaw Community High School baseball team exploded for 19 hits in a 22-1 blitzing of Triton in a five-inning game at the Grace College diamond Wednesday.

The hitting attack made things easy for Tiger hurler Mike Norris to raise his summer record to 3-1. He yielded only two hits and a pair of walks, with both bases on balls and one of the hits coming in the fourth inning when Triton scored its only tally on Jeff Wanemacher's ground out to score Gary Flenar.

Aug. 2, 1983 -- Nine area water skiers have qualified for the U.S. National meet, with seven earning a nationals berth in last weekend's Midwest Regional water ski tournament at Decatur, Ill.

Among those who advanced are Russ Clifford and Anita Folk, both of Warsaw. Clifford, manager of the Ski Hut, won the men's I slalom competiton with a score of 3-1/2 buoys at 32 feet off line at 36 mph.

Folk placed fourth in women's I slalom with 1/2 buoy at 28 feet at 34 mph.

Jan Karr of Syracuse totaled 2,800 points in women's II tricks to advance to the nationals, to be held Aug. 18-21 in DuQuoin, Ill.

Five Camelot Lake skiers --from two families --also advanced. Todd, Brad and Paula Smith each qualified with Todd earning a spot in boys jumping, Brad in junior boys jumping and Paula in girls jump and tricks. Also, Jill and Jane Tally advanced in all-events, Jill in women's competiton and Jane in girls.

Kris Golden of Milford did not place in the regionals, but had already qualified for the nationals in tricks by virtue of her E.P. rating.

Another area skier who barely missed earning a spot in the national tournament was Kim Contos, who was two buoys short in men's I slalom.

Sept. 3, 1983 -- The jump from the Northern Lakes Conference to Cluster 5 was painful as well as embarassing for the Warsaw Community High School football team Friday night.

The Tigers' 49-3 loss to fifth-ranked Penn in their cluster opener was hard enough to swallow but the handful of injuries that went with it made matters even more unbearable for Coach Kevin Westover, whose team has another cluster date next Friday night at Elkhart Memorial.

Oct. 1, 1983 -- You can change the playoff format, but you can't change Tippecanoe Valley's postseason habits.

Behind tailback Lee Swihart's 149 yards rushing and a superb defensive effort, the Vikings clinched their fifth state playoff berth in seven years with a 13-7 victory over NorthWood here Friday night.

The triumph, coupled with Whitko's 20-9 conquest of Rochester, gives Valley the realigned Class AA's Cluster 34 championship with only two cluster wins. The only teams that can match Valley in the cluster are NorthWood and Whitko, but because Valley has beaten both, it would get the nod in case of a tie.

"It feels just great --I can't describe it," said first-year Valley Coach Phil See after learning his team was playoff bound. "The kids went out and did the job; what can you say?"

Nov. 2, 1983 -- With rare exceptions such as this, there is no danger they will be pushing Lee Swihart and Shad McConkey out of the headlines. But as Steve Salmons, Chris Griffis, Eric McKee, Scott Teel and Billy Kelly go, so goes the Tippecanoe Valley football team.

Those five seniors comprise the starting interior offensive line for the Vikins and --along with reserves Chris Cook and Dennis Jamison --are entitled to a fair share of credit for Swihart's some 1,500 yards rushing as well as Valley's 10 wins in 11 games.

Dec. 2, 1983 -- Warsaw Community High School's girls basketball team "took out some frustrations" Thursday night, and the result was the Tigers' highest-scoring game since the 1979-80 season.

The Tigers blasted Culver 75-37 in the Cavaliers' gymnasium to even their record at 2-2.

Jan. 4, 1984 -- Marty Lehman will miss at least the next two Warsaw Community High School basketball games after his right wrist was placed in a hard cast Tuesday. Originally diagnosed as only a sprain, Lehman's wrist was re-examined Tuesday and a crack in the growth plate was discovered.

The 6-7 Lehman, averaging 18.8 points and some 11 rebounds per game, has been slowed considerably by the ailing wrist since injuring it when he missed a slam dunk against Tippcanoe Valley on Dec. 17.

Feb. 1, 1984 -- The Grace Lancers defeated upset-minded Marion 76-69 at Grace Gym Tuesday evening to preserve their perfect record in the Mid Central Conference.

The Lancers' John Boal scored a game-high 27 points and pulled in 10 rebounds despite a broken big toe suffered against Bethel last Saturday. Worth Packer tallied 16 points and Neal Frantz added 14 to lead the Lancers.

Pete Frank scored 20 points and older brother Perry Frank scored 18 to lead the Titan scoring.

The victory gives the MCC-leading Lancers a 4-0 conference record. The loss dropped the Titans to 1-3 in the conference.

March 26, 1984 -- Words will not be able to adequately describe the feelings, excitement, joy, celebration and wonder that continued to shake this city and area today after Saturday night's triumph by the Warsaw Tigers for the state high school basketball title.

For all who had even a small part in it will take with them that small piece of hysteria and plant it in a part of their memory that will never be erased, for the Warsaw team did for the community what no other single event could ever do.

The Warsaw community has a wide boundary. After the celebration, tiger tails hung in trees going all the way from Market Square Arena to the high school grounds in Warsaw. And even beyond that the sharing went.

Shortly after the Tigers had won the state title Saturday night, downtown Warsaw turned into a scene of joyous pandemonium.

April 9, 1984 -- Warsaw Community High School baseball coach Jim Dermody was given his first child and his first victory of the season all in the same day Saturday.

While the Tiger nine was getting ready to battle Fort Wayne Bishop Luers in a 12:30 p.m. doubleheader at the high school field, Dermody's wife, Judie, was in Kosciusko Community Hospital giving birth to the couple's first child, a son named Matt, at 11:57 a.m.

May 2, 1984 -- Warsaw Community High School's boys track team clinched its third straight round-robin Northern Lakes Conference title in a big way Tuesday.

The Tigers piled up 113 points to more than double the combined scores of host Rochester (27 points) and Bremen (19 points), as Warsaw won all but one event.

Taking two events for the Tigers were Matt Rhodes in the 800 and 1600 meters, Jon Maurer in the 100 and 200 meters and Karl Ottersberg in the discus and shot put.

One first place each was recorded by Kevin Farrington in the 400, Tracy Furnivall in the 300 low hurdles, Sean Rhodes in the 3200, Mike Shaw in the high jump, Rich Seitz in the pole vault and Terry Wood in the long jump.

Both Tiger relay teams in the 400 and 1600 also came in first.

June 2, 1984 -- Tracy Furnivall and Jeff Peters will be side-by-side on the track today just as they were the past week -- only this time it will be the state finals and not a workout at Warsaw Community High School.

Both Peters of Whitko and Furnivall of Warsaw Friday night qualified for the finals in the 300-meter low hurdles in today's 81st Annual IHSAA boys state track and field championships. And they will line up in lanes one and two, respectively.

July 6, 1984 -- Jeff Reid, a three-sport star at Whitko High School, has decided to attend Huntington Collge to play both basketball and track.

Reid played those two sports, as well as starting at end and defensive back in football, at Whitko. In his three years of varsity basketball he finished fifth on the Wildcast career scoring list with 862 points.

Aug. 2, 1984 -- For the second time in three years, Bill Nay Furniture of Warsaw will be competing in the ASA Class A state slow pitch softball tournament.

The only area team to qualify for the tourney at Crawfordsville, Bill Nay will begin play at 10 p.m. Friday against L.J. Stockyards. The double elimination event continues through Sunday on four Crawfordsville diamonds.

Members of the team are Barry Kline, Rob Adams, Don Faas, batboy Willie Faas, Ron Faas, Rick Roberts, Tony Sumpter, Doug Moore, Aaron Rovenstine, Kelly Fields, Rex Durham, Randy Roberts, Jim Coplen and Rocky Goshert.

Sept. 4, 1984 -- DeWayne Barker and Randy Woodling were crowned track champions and Denny England, Randy Woodling and Bill Nichols found themselves taking home first place trophies for their featured victories Saturday night in the season championship at the Warsaw Speedway.

England, in his Terry's Automotive-Car Tunes special sprint car, showed that a wet track is his track as he won his third feature this year. The early leader of the 40-lap feature was Barker, who was started from the pole position.

But as the race began to unfold, England started to close the gap between himself and the lead. England's car, which was set up for a wet track, passed Barker and took the lead and maintained it. The track worked in his favor as it stayed moist.

Promising driver Dave Darland came in second and Barker, involved in a yellow flag situation near the end of the race, ended up third.

Oct. 2, 1984 -- Warsaw will get another shot to erase years of tennis disappointments against Marion Wednesday, and, for at least one member of the Tiger contingent, the chances of Warsaw getting past the regional round have never looked better.

"This is the best chance we've ever had right here," Brian Scott told Coach Joe Beeson, after the Tigers garnered another Peru Tennis Sectional trophy, Beeson's third in as many seasons as boys' tennis coach.

Nov. 2, 1984 -- The pressure is off for Sean Rhodes, Warsaw's only entrant in Saturday's Indiana High School Athletic Association cross country state finals.

Or at least he says the pressure is off.

"I think it's going to be fun," said Rhodes after a workout Thursday. "There's not as much pressure as last week (when he finished eighth in the Fort Wayne semistate at Shoaff Park). The season's over now. You're there, you run, you do the best you can, then you're done."

Jan. 2, 1985 -- Wawasee, the area's only undefeated girls basketball team, moved up one notch from fourth to third in the latest basketball poll by the Indiana Coaches Of Girls Sports Association.

The 9-0 Warriors were placed behind unbeaten Benton Central and once-beaten Warren Central in the coaches' poll, the highest placing for Wawasee this season.

Feb. 4, 1985 -- "They told me when the going got tough, they would go the limit," said Wawasee girls basketball coach Dale Brannock of his third-ranked Warriors.

And when the going got tough for Wawasee, the starters went the distance to pull out a 39-35 win over host Warsaw and survive the first round of the Indiana High School Athletic AssociationÕs month-long state tournament series to be the 1985 Warsaw Sectional Champions.

Feb. 11, 1985 -- It's not with a bang or a whimper, but instead with confidence and class that Wawasee returns to the girls basketball semistate next weekend.

Feb. 11, 1985 -- In the 14-year history of Whitko High School, the men's varsity basketball program has never had a losing season, nor has it ever lost more than five games in a row.

After Saturday's match-up with Concord, the Wildcats may have escaped from putting both statistics in the record books.

The Cats hit key free throws down the stretch to deal the visiting Minutemen a 49-46 defeat in the first meeting ever between the teams.

In addition to breaking a five-game losing streak, Whitko head coach Bill Patrick finally reached his 300th career victory.

March 4, 1985 -- When asked if the hardest part of the tournament process is over, Warsaw coach Al Rhodes said no, then hedged a bit.

"Every stage is about the same," said Rhodes after his Tigers completed the first stage by beating Wawasee 64-58, to take the Triton sectional title Saturday. "Our sectional is a real dogfight because of the other teams wanting to beat Warsaw. We know they're going to give us their best games."

April 9, 1985 -- The long-sought start for varsity soccer in the Warsaw Community Schools comes to fruition Wednesday evening when the Tigers play the first formal varsity contest against Columbia City on the Grace College Soccer Field.

The contest will mark the start of a 13-game varsity schedule for the Tigers, mostly against teams in the South Bend-The roster of WCHS' first varsity level soccer team includes Agustin Gonzalez, Chris Hansen, Landon Harman, Scott Helmick, Tim Lewis, Mark Miller, Eric Nesbitt, Chip Tanner, Greg Warner, Kep Crabb, Bill Hartman, Scott Perry, Allan Waggoner, Dodd Cunningham, Tom Egan, Scott Engelhardt, Chris Frazzetta, Steve Hoppas, Aaron Morrison, Greg Sausaman, Steve Haney and Danny Williams.

April 15, 1985 -- Warsaw's Jeff Grose today holds the title of "1985 Mr. Basketball," the highest individual honor an Indiana high school basketball player can receive.

The 6-foot, 2-inch 185-pound Warsaw Community High School senior was the overwhelming choice for the award in balloting of nearly 400 coaches, sports writers, radio and TV sports announcers throughout the state, conducted by The Indianapolis Star.

May 2, 1985 -- Steve Hollar is, in his words, "still going to be a Tiger," even though his playing days as a point guard for the Warsaw High School basketball program are over.

"I like it too much to change, I guess," he said Wednesday afternoon after announcing his intention to attend DePauw University in Greencastle in the fall.

Hollar, whose 235 assists this past season was a school record and among the state's best, will join one of the state's top small college basketball programs under Tiger coach Mike Steele.

June 1, 1985 -- Steve Grill, an original member of Grace College's soccer program when it was formed in 1966, has been tapped by school officials as the Lancers' next head coach.

Grill, chairman of the speech/communication department at Grace, will replace Dave Diehl in the post.

June 3, 1985 -- Even with a young group for this season, the Wawasee High School golf team is making a habit out of going to the state finals.

The Warriors qualified for a spot in next week's state meet at the Old Oakland Golf Course in Indianapolis with a 323 score that gave them fourth place in the LaPorte regional held Saturday at the par-72, 6,782-yard Beechwood Golf Course. Wawasee tied 19th-ranked Rensselaer for the 323 total, but the Warriors gained fourth place on the better fifth man total.

The top three individuals, other than those with qualifying teams, will also play in the state meet. Whitko's Jeff Shoemaker qualified with a score of 74, along with medalist Rick Danruther from North Newton with a 73, and Columbia CityÕs Steve Kreiger with a 74.

July 1, 1985 -- Warsaw racer Robert Wagner has just become the next best thing to being a professional motocross racer. The 22-year-old has been signed to Team Green Ð Kawasaki's national amateur motocross team --for the 1985 season.

Aug. 5, 1985 -- A dramatic evening of racing topped off the Kosciusko County Fair Saturday night as Tony Elliott sped his way to his third sprint feature victory.

Elliott, in addition to the win, picked up bonus money and a nice trophy, as did Rick Stone, who got his first victory of the year in the limited late model division. Meanwhile, Harvey Hayes continues to dominate the roadrunner class, winning his eighth feature of the season.

Sept. 10, 1985 -- Gerry Pifer and Aaron Rovenstine took individual awards for the Warsaw Men's Softball League A Division for 1985. Pifer was named the division's Most Valuable Player, while Rovenstine led A Division in home runs (22) and batting average (.728).

Kent Trobaugh and Rob Zurcher walked away with major awards in C Division play in the Warsaw Men's Softball League for 1985. Trobaugh led the division in batting with a .660 average, while Zurcher was the division's MVP.

Glen Ransbottom took B division honors for average, home runs and most valuable player.

Oct. 2, 1985 -- Warsaw golfer Denny Hepler has moved into position for a spot in the national PGA qualifier in Winter Haven, Fla., next month.

Hepler, the Indiana Open champion in late August, shot an opening round 73, five strokes off the pace, in the PGA Tour regional qualifier at the Golf Club of Indiana course in Lebanon.

Hepler is chasing 22-year-old John Riegger, a Lamar University graduate who shot a four-under par 68, one shot better than Trevor Dodds, John Sherman and Chuck Taylor.

Nov. 23, 1985 -- It was a time for Thanksgiving Friday night following Wawasee's amazing 7-6 win against Mississinewa.

Those Warriors did it again.

This time, they held back a foursome of setbacks destined to explode at any moment for their fifth straight football playoff win and the Class 3A semi-state championship.

The win clinched a trip to the Hoosier Dome in Indianapolis next Friday, where Wawasee will play the winner of today's game between No. 1-rated Indianapolis Roncalli and No. 7 Evansville Memorial.

Dec. 2, 1985 -- Wawasee captain Lance Lantz spoke for senior members of the Wawasee High School football team during welcome home ceremonies for the Class AAA runner-up squad Sunday afternoon at the high school. Team members received medallions during the special ceremonies, coming two days after the Warriors reached the football playoff finals for the first time in school history.

Jan. 6, 1986 -- Brenda Kachlik was a hit on the bittersweet side after Warsaw's girls basketball team upset No. 5 Valparaiso, 44-40 Saturday night to win the eighth annual Tiger Tourney Saturday night.

"I didn't score a single point," she pointed out to Tiger head coach Mary Hurley.

"But you did everything else," the coach replied.

She could say the same thing about the rest of the team, too. Entering the two-game, one-day shootout as the tourney's top offensive club, it was rebounding and defense that put Warsaw in the winners' circle for the fourth time, and the first since 1983.

Feb. 3, 1986 -- Grace College took a big step in its quest to secure a fifth consecutive Mid Central Conference college basketball title by defeating the Marion Titans 84-70 Saturday night at the Winona Lake gym. The Lancers took sole possession of first place with a 4-0 MCC mark while Marion falls to second with a 4-1 record.

The win improved Grace's record to 17-6 while the Titans fell to 15-8.

March 3, 1986 -- South Bend Riley got what it wanted here Saturday with a state high school boys swimming title, and in a sense, so did Warsaw, with its eighth-place performance.

Without a state champion, and with only five swimmers competing in six events, the Tigers did what head coach Steve Conder had expected --a place in the top 10, school-record performances in a number of areas and even a pleasant surprise in the form of a sub-3:14 clocking in the 400 freestyle relay preliminaries Friday night.

"These guys portrayed on the state level what the rest of the team showed at the sectional level --never say die," said Conder.

April 8, 1986 -- Warsaw High School's Jim Hester, flanked by his parents Pam and Morris Hester, has signed a letter of intent to attend Ball State University on a partial football scholarship. Hester, a two-sport letter winner in football and track for the Tigers, was an all-Northern Lakes Conference performer as a defensive lineman this past season.

May 1, 1986 -- Wawasee's Michelle Harter set a new school record in the shot put, but it was not enough to keep the Warriors from their first girls track defeat of the season against Whitko in Syracuse Wednesday night.

The undefeated Wildcats topped Wawasee, 78-31, winning all but two events in the process. One of those was the shot put, where the Warrior senior dominated with a winning toss of 37-4.

The only other Wawasee winner was Jeanine Gunn, who took the high jump with a leap of 5-0. Wawasee falls to 4-1 in dual meet action, while Whitko is 5-0.

June 2, 1986 -- Suzi Kintzel threw a pair of one-hitters here Saturday, leading Warsaw to its first girls softball sectional title in the process.

Kintzel's pitching, coupled with the only run of the game, scored by Kelly Poyser in the fifth inning, was enough for the Tigers in a 1-0 semifinal cliffhanger against Columbia City. In the finals Saturday night, Warsaw scored five times in the first inning, then played scoreless ball the rest of the way in a 5-0 win over Huntington North.

The wins put Warsaw at 18-5, and into this Saturday's regional, also scheduled for Morsches Park in Columbia City.

Aug. 2, 1986 -- They're still wrangling over whether Rick Fox will play basketball at Warsaw Community High School next season.

"They" are coaches, lawyers and members of the Indiana High School Athletic Association, whose executive committee in mid-June ruled the 6-7 senior-to-be ineligible for high school athletics for the 1986-87 school year.

The IHSAA decision, backing initial findings last September by Commissioner Gene Cato that Fox would be ineligible under the Association's eight-semester eligibility rule, gained statewide attention Friday when the Indianapolis News carried details of the decision, along with comments from the major participants.

The 6-foot-7 Fox has had two years of basketball playing time for Warsaw after coming to the United States in 1984 from the Bahamas. He averaged 21 points and a school record 11.8 rebounds last season in helping Warsaw compile a 21-4 record.

This spring, Fox was a state qualifier in track, reaching the finals in the high jump. He also competed for the Tigers in the discus, long jump and 1600 relay at times during the season.

Cato, after personally interviewing school officials, Grace College basketball coach Jim Kessler and Fox, ruled the student ineligible under organization bylaws that prohibit interscholastic participation for students who have been enrolled in high school for more than eight semesters. The decision was affirmed by the IHSAA executive committee in its June 13 meeting after Warsaw officials formally filed an appeal of the ruling.

Fox was enrolled at a private academy in the Bahamas before coming to Warsaw, where he has attended school for four semesters, or two years.

In appealing Cato's decision, Warsaw officials said Fox's final four semesters in the Bahamas weren't the equivalent of four semesters of academic work here. They contended he should be given another two semesters of athletic eligibility while completing the academic work needed for a high school diploma in Indiana.

Aug. 4, 1986 -- Four Warsaw area athletes took home gold medals in wrestling, swimming and track events at the White River Park State Games here during the weekend.

Warsaw Community High School athletes Dan Moon, Rory Callaghan and Michelle Berry were successful in their various events.

Berry won the 13-14 female age track high jump event. She also won a gold medal for a 16.6 time in the 100 hurdles.

Callaghan won two gold medals and one silver in the 11-12 boys age swimming division, as he claimed golds in the 200-meter freestyle and 400 individual medley and a silver in the 200 individual medley.

Moon took home a gold medal Sunday in the advanced division of the wrestling competition. Other wrestling club finishers include Nathan Conley, a silver medalist at 149.5 (advanced), and Matt Koontz, a bronze medalist in advanced competition at 105 pounds. Kelly Frank was a fourth place finisher in the elite division at 154 pounds.

Alsop participating was Vince Weirick in the intermediate division at 100 pounds.

Warsaw runner Dick Katte took firsts in two events Sunday as he won the 400 and 200 dashes in the 50-59 age group at the games.

Sept. 5, 1986 -- Members of the Bumblebees, minor league tourney champs in the Warsaw Girls Softball League this season, are Courtney Womack, Angie Wagoner, Dawn Curtis, Stephanie Hoppas, Amy Stephenson, Dawn Williams, coach Kay Parrett, Katrine Zimmerman, Shelly Slone, Jena Parrett, Christy Mock, Heather Glass, Michele Busch, coach George Parrett and Keri Weed.

Oct. 6, 1986 -- Warsaw became the first team to score on Wawasee's vaunted defensive unit here Saturday night, but don't sound the alarms for the Warriors just yet.

Picking off four passes, the final interception in the last two minutes, Wawasee garnered a share of the Northern Lakes Conference crown and kept its record perfect with a 14-7 win over the visiting Tigers.

Nov. 1, 1986 -- NorthWood came ready to play football in Nappanee Friday night, as the Panthers' Black Crunch defense made two first-quarter scores held up for a 14-0 win against rival Wawasee.

The victory avenged an earlier loss to the Warriors, who saw their unbeaten season and most likely their No. 1 rating in Class AAA both come to an end. The Panthers advanced to the third round of sectional 18, and will host Norwell next week.

Nov. 6, 1986 -- Whitko's High School football team may be undefeated and headed for glory, but the school and team suffered a loss of another kind that won't soon be forgotten.

The life of Ryan L. Huff, a student leader and football player at Whitko, was snuffed out without reason in an auto accident last Saturday at a time when life's greatest pleasures were beginning to blossom before him.

The football team, rated second in the state in Class 2A, will reach new levels of achievement Friday when it squares off against Tippecanoe Valley for the sectional championship. Huff's death has cast a shadow on the game. His physical presence will be missed at the game, but players insist his spirit will prevail.

Nov. 10, 1986 -- Warsaw's Ryan Weihler and Manchester's Eric Underwood ended their high school cross country careers in outstanding fashion here in Saturday's Indiana High School Athletic Association State Cross Country Championships.

Weihler finished ninth with a time of 15:40, not only a personal best but also a school record as well. His ninth-place finish was the best finish by a Warsaw runner since Max Truex won the event in 1953.

Underwood, finishing in a time of 15:45, was just ticks off a new school standard. His 13th-place finish, however, was the highest placing ever by a Manchester runner.

Nov. 11, 1986 -- Rich tradition and a "track record of the program" that may be second to none will put Rick Fox and the University of North Carolina together, starting with the 1987-88 school term.

Fox, a senior at Warsaw Community High School, announced today his verbal commitment to be a part of the Tar Heel basketball program beginning next fall.

Nov. 11, 1986 -- There will be a Tippecanoe Valley High School girls softball team this year, if all goes well. Members of the school board Monday night voted unanimously in favor of forming a team.

Nov. 15, 1986 -- Incredible. That's the only way to describe the gritty, determined team of Whitko Wildcats that miraculously pulled out a 21-20 victory here Friday night over Shenandoah in the Class 2A football regional round.

The Wildcats, having fought tragedy the last two weeks and the loss of several key players, made a comeback against two opponents --the visiting Raiders and the time clock.

Entering the start of the last period, Shenandoah was ahead 20-0 and things seemed bleak after the Raiders scored on a pass interception near the end of the third stanza to go up by two touchdowns.

The undefeated and now 12-0 Wildcats had not been in that type of position before. Indeed, they had trailed only in two games this season, none since September when Whitko was behind Oak Hill at halftime and trailed by a touchdown entering the last period against Southwood.

Nothing like a 20-0 deficit with 12:52 left to play.

In a lightning-like fashion, the Wildcats made their first strides back when quarterback Mike Kline tossed a screen pass to fullback Jeff Larson, who broke through a pack of tacklers and then burst free down the right sidelines for an 80-yard score. The first of Jim Juillerat's three PATÕs put Whitko behind 20-7 with 11:35 left.

"It lit a fire under us," said Whitko coach Bryan Sprunger.

Nov. 21, 1986 -- "Everything had been so neat up until now, but this leaves a sour taste in my mouth."

That was the reaction today of Steve Hollar after the former Warsaw Community High School basketball standout and three other college players were declared ineligible by their schools because they were paid for appearances in the movie "Hoosiers."

In addition to Hollar, now a freshman at DePauw University in Greencastle, they are junior Griff Mills, also at DePauw; Jim Rayl Jr., a freshman at Indiana-Purdue in Fort Wayne; and Greg Eckstein of Rollins (Fla.) College, who prepped at Anderson High School.

The suspensions are indefinite pending a National Collegiate Athletic Association investigation.

Nov. 22, 1986 -- The king is dead. Long live the king.

Whitko guaranteed a new state football champion in Class AA play next week, belting defending champ Fort Wayne Bishop Luers into submission with a 26-7 victory in South Whitley Friday night.

The win was the 13th in as many outings for the unbeaten and No. 2-ranked Wildcats, and puts Whitko into the state championship game at the Indianapolis Hoosier Dome Friday afternoon.

Nov. 29, 1986 -- It's what's up front that counts, and what was up front made Whitko a state football champion at the Hoosier Dome Friday evening.

Wildcat coach Bryan Sprunger and his players gave the offensive and defensive lines the credit for their 26-0 shutout of Tell City in the Class 2A state championship contest.

"I know the line dominated the line of scrimmage," said running back Jeff Larson, who scored two touchdowns in the first half. "That's the reason we won. That's the reason we won. They dominated all night long."

Dec. 6, 1986 -- Warsaw professional golfer Denny Hepler fired a 66 Friday to take a giant stride toward retaining his PGA Tour card. Hepler, who shot 76 and 73 the first two days of the 1986 PGA Tour Qualifying Tournament, jumped 81 places in the tournament with his round Friday.

Hepler's outstanding score came on the difficult Tournament Players Course at PGA West, site of the rich Skins Game last weekend when Fuzzy Zoeller won $370,000. It was the best score of the day at PGA West.

Jan. 5, 1987 -- When the Tiger Tourney championship was on the line here Saturday night, Warsaw's girls basketball team got in line, to the line and scored down the line.

The result was a fifth Tiger Tourney championship in nine years for Warsaw, and the victim was 15th-ranked Mishawaka, falling for the first time in nine tries in a 63-60 cliffhanger.

Feb. 2, 1987 -- It's not perfect. It's not even a sectional championship, but Warsaw coach Dave Baumgartner will take the prospect of sending 11 Tiger wrestlers to the regional at Goshen next Saturday.

"That's the most since we've been here," said Baumgartner. "The young kids are coming through and the rest will follow."

Warsaw had to settle for four first-place performances, with the remaining champion spot going to Tippecanoe Valley's Jerry Rose.

March 4, 1987 -- Grace College's Joe Graham was named Monday night as Mid-Central Conference Player of the Year for the third straight season. The basketball selections for the top award and all MCC team were named at the conference meeting held in Goshen.

Graham averaged 18.4 points and 8.2 rebounds per contest and was second on the team in assists. Teammate Paul Zeltwanger joined Graham on the first team as the Lancers won their sixth consecutive MCC title. Zeltwanger netted 10.8 points per game and led the team in steals and assists.

Grace College head coach Jim Kessler was voted Coach of the Year in the MCC.

April 3, 1987 -- Six months after the rest of the high school basketball world started its season, Warsaw Community High School all-American Rick Fox got his first taste of prep competition here Thursday night.

The 6-7 senior senior scored seven points, grabbed six rebounds and dished off four assists in 16 minutes of work as his United States All-Star teammates defeated the Capital All-Stars, 100-88, in the annual McDonaldÕs Capital Classic.

A crowd of 10,794 watched the two all-star squads in the Capital Centre, the home of the NBA's Washington Bullets.

May 1, 1987 -- Three Warsaw Community High School Lady Tigers cross country runners have been recognized by Scholastic Magazine as members of their Circle of Excellence. The three athletes --senior Sondra Groves and sophomores Elizabeth Irvine and Beckie Weihler, earned the award on the basis of their performances in the 1986 cross country season.

June 2, 1987 -- It wasn't pretty, but when it's a sectional championship, not many people connected with Warsaw High School girls softball are going to complain.

In completing the Columbia City sectional championship game against Huntington North, suspended by rain in the bottom of the fourth inning, the Vikings outscored Warsaw 2-0 Monday.

But Warsaw's 6-0 lead garnered in Saturday's play held up under Huntington North's comeback attempt, and the Tigers walked out of Morsches Park a sectional winner for the second year in a row with a 6-2 decision.

July 2, 1987 -- Mike Kline, a three-sport athlete at Whitko High School whose exploits on the basketball court earned him Times-Union Area Player of the Year honors this season, has signed a letter of intent to attend Olney Central Junior College on a basketball scholarship.

Kline is expected to be playing basketball only at the junior college level, even though the Whitko grad was a three-sport letter winner in football and track, in addition to basketball.

Aug. 4, 1987-- Warsaw swimmers Craig Briner and Ivy Reed were high finishers in the USS State Age Group Swim Meet in Columbus July 24-26. Briner was first in the 100 freestyle, second in the 200 and 400 freestyle and fourth in the 100 butterfly and 200 medley for boys age 11-12. Reed, in the girls 13-14 division, was eighth in the 400 medley, 10th in the 200 backstroke, 12th in the 100 backstroke, 13th in the 200 breaststroke and 14th in the 200 medley.

Sept. 4, 1987 -- Warsaw's girls' volleyball team captured two more wins Thursday night as it beat Lakeland and Tippecanoe Valley in a three-way match at the Tiger gym.

In the first match of the night Lakeland beat Tippecanoe Valley 15-7, 15-9. Then the Tigers disposed of Lakeland to impressive fashion, beating them 15-0, 15-13. The final match of the night saw Warsaw down Tippecanoe Valley 15-11, 15-12.

Oct. 2, 1987 -- Warsaw's girls' swim team posted another victory to raise its record to 5-2 for the season and 3-0 in its new pool as the Tigers beat South Bend St. Joseph's 89-78 Thursday evening.

The squad had several very good performances and the team performed very well overall, according to coach Steve Franklin.

Nov. 3, 1987 -- Warsaw's girls' swim team ended the regular season on anything but a happy note Monday as the Tigers were soundly beaten by visiting South Bend Riley 100-70 at the Tiger pool.

In the process, the Tigers recorded just three first-place finishes.

Earning first places for the Tigers were Kara Hoskins in the 200-yard freestyle and 500 free; and Katie McCaffrey, who took top honors in the 100 free.

Dec. 2, 1987 -- Saturday, Nov. 7, was an exciting day for six outstanding Kosciusko County soccer players who traveled to South Bend to compete for positions on the Junior Olympic Soccer Development Team for the northern Indiana region. The region is composed of 27 counties including Allen and St. Joseph.

All six earned positions on the team in several age divisions: Derek Cunningham, under 17.5; Robbie Dirico, under 16.5; Eric Kissinger and Chris Fancil, under 15.5; and Darin Cunningham and Kermit Imler, under 14.5. Dirico, Kissinger, Fancil, Darin Cunningham and Imler were team members on this season's Optimists U-16 travel team.

Jan. 4, 1988 -- Warsaw Community High School girls' basketball won its third straight Tiger Tourney title by beating West Lafayette in the championship game 51-44.

The Tigers' streak of three straight titles set a record for the first time any team has won more than two championships in succession.

Feb. 1, 1988 -- Warsaw Community High School's wrestling team broke a three-year stranglehold on the Warsaw sectional title by Plymouth, as the Tigers walked away with the sectional team title Saturday afternoon.

The Warsaw victory not only snapped the three-year domination by Pilgrims, but it enabled the team to win its first outright title since the 1980-81 sectional, the first sectional hosted by Warsaw. The Tigers shared the title with the Pilgrims in 1984.

March 2, 1988 -- Warsaw Community High School and NorthWood girls' basketball teams each placed three girls on the All-Northern Lakes Conference basketball team in voting done by the conference coaches.

The Tigers, who won the league title with a perfect 7-0 record, and NorthWood were the only teams to place three players on the first team.

Those Warsaw players selected were juniors Ginnette Dunwell and Nicole Ryman and sophomore Angie Johnson. NorthWood was represented by senior Christy Wesolek and juniors Deena Jones and Joanne Millers.

April 1, 1988 -- A list of local all-stars have been selected to battle the Big 10 All-Star team at Warsaw Community High School Apri 13 at 8 p.m. Selected are Pete Smith, Hal Gunter, Doug Ogle, Scott Long, Marty Lehman, Gordy Clemens, Phil Wendel, Jack Carpenter, Doug Underwood, Ben Teske, Paul Zeltwanger and Darrel Gudeman.

May 3, 1988 -- Under ideal conditions, the annual Wawasee Invitational provided fans with plenty of excitement throughout the night Monday as six of the area's track teams competed in the event.

NorthWood ended up walking away with the first-place team trophy as it scored 92.5 points on the night.

June 1, 1988 -- Warsaw Community High School's golf team looked like a squad ready to defend its No. 1 ranking in the state as the Tigers ran away from the field in the first-ever Warsaw golf sectional at Rozella Ford Golf Course Tuesday.

The Tigers, who won their first sectional since 1983, fired a school record 295. The round broke the record set in 1967, set by the team of Randy Denny, Dan Wildman, Tim Johnson and Lex Dalton who had a 296.

The Tigers were led by its No. 4 player, Beau Bricker. The junior fired a one-under-par 69 on the tough Rozella Ford course to take individual honors.

June 20, 1988 -- Warsaw Community High School's baseball team had one goal in mind when it traveled to the South Bend Clay Semistate Saturday and that was to extend its season one more week. The Tigers were able to accomplish that goal as the team won its first semistate title by winning a pair of pressure-packed games over Chesterton and Elkhart Central.

The Tigers defeated Elkhart Central in the championship game with a two-run rally in the bottom of the sixth inning to score a 2-1 win over the Blue Blazers. Warsaw had earned the right to play Elkhart Central in the final game by beating Chesterton 6-2 in eight innings in the first round. Elkhart Central advanced with a 15-4 romp over Gary Roosevelt.

July 1, 1988 -- Former Warsaw Community High School standout and Mr. Basketball Jeff Grose has continued to earn honors as he recently was awarded the Waldo Fisher Memorial Scholarship award at Northwestern University.

Grose, who will be entering his senior year at Northwestern this year, was one of two recipients of the award.

Aug. 2, 1988 -- The Giants won the regular season and the tourney in the Senior Pony League division. Team members were Chris Fager, Kevin Tennant, Travis Bradford, Linc Howard, Eric Shipp, Jeff Lackey, coach Keele, coach Light, Doug Light, Brook Allen, Gregg Keele and Rodney Jackson.

Winning the Junior Pony League Championship was the Mets. Team members were Brian Davis, Matt Smith, Brian Swanson, Ryan Winter, Stu Neiswonger, Coach Larry Long, Jeremy Gasner, Ryan Long, Ray Reed, Joey Holloway, Ben Schroeder, Coach Randy Swanson and coach Rex Reed.

Sept. 2, 1988 -- Warsaw Community High School's girls cross country team opened its season with a 25-32 win over visiting Huntington North.

The meet, which was ran on the Grace College course, was won by Warsaw senior Elizabeth Irvine. The Tiger runner toured the course in 16:22, which was 19 seconds ahead of the second-place finisher.

Oct. 1, 1988 -- Keplen C. Crabb, Rt. 7, Box 278, Warsaw, and Kenton C. Crabb, Rt. 2, Box 110J, Warsaw, are members of the 1988 Taylor University men's tennis team. They are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Lawrence Crabb.

Nov. 2, 1988 -- The Warsaw Wings under-14 soccer team won two games and lost one over the weekend to place third in an eight-team under-15 tournament held in Peru. Although the Warsaw squad was younger than the other teams, their ball control carried them to within one goal of the championship game.

Warsaw Wings team members are Jeff Montgomery, Jamie May, Joel Hostetler, Jon Bolles, Josh Gsell, Stu Neiswonger, Steve Gerber, Barry Andrew, Brant Burns, Mike Haines, Tim Hicks, Ryan Hively, Jason Simmons, Josh Simpson, Joe Till and Jay Winchester.

Dec. 6, 1988 -- Senior Jeff Grose scored 32 points, including 26 in the second half, to lead Northwestern to a 75-69 victory over Rutgers Monday night in a game that saw a total of 44 turnovers --31 of them in the first half.

Jan. 4, 1989 -- The success story continues for the Warsaw Community High School girls' basketball team as the Lady Tigers have been ranked No. 12 in USA Today's Top 25 girls' teams in the country.

Feb. 1, 1989 -- It wasn't nearly as close as it was last year, but the result was the same as the Warsaw Community High School Tigers' boys' swim team remained undefeated by defeating arch-rival Wawasee 96.5-75.5 in a Northern Lakes Conference showdown at the Tiger Pool Tuesday night.

March 1, 1989 -- Grace College's men's season came to an abrupt end in the NAIA District 21 playoffs Tuesday night as the Lancers lost to Tri-State in the first round 91-81.

April 6, 1989 -- Grace College's men's basketball team has landed a big recruit for the upcoming season as Oregon-Davis' 6-foot-8 Matt Joseph has signed a letter of intent to play for coach Jim Kessler.

April 6, 1989 -- Once a much-heralded athlete has made a mark in sports, one of the greatest honors that can be bestowed upon him is being inducted into a hall of fame. Now, an area-recognized tennis sharp-shooter, 76-year-old Homer Shoop, has been honored in such a way.

Key Biscayne's International Tennis Center inducted the former North Webster banker into the Dade County, Florida Tennis Hall of Fame in the midst of the 1989 Lipton International Tennis Championships on March 25.

May 8, 1989 -- The Warsaw Community High tennis team added another tournament championship to its shelf Saturday, scoring 51 points and winning four of the five matches in the Angola Invitational.

June 1, 1989 -- Jerry Nolin, owner of Dairy Queen in Winona Lake, presented a ring to 1989 Warsaw graduate Aaron Bruce for his runner-up placing in the IHSAA state wrestling tournament in the 152-pound weight class. Bruce finished this year 44-1, 122-12 for his high school career, and led the Tigers to seven major championships in the past two years.

July 3, 1989 -- Winners of the Flotilla Road Races, in which a total of 279 people participated, include: Penny Grandstaff, Robin Walker, who tied for first in the women's 8-mile run; Luann Van Dyne, women's 3.3-mile run winner; Matt Jones, men's 8-mile winner; and Brian Shepherd, men's 3.3-mile winner.

Sept. 1, 1989 -- Warsaw Community High School's volleyball team ran its record to an impressive 6-0 Thursday night as it opened the Northern Lakes Conference play with a 15-8, 15-13 win over visiting Goshen.

The 6-0 start is one of the best ever for the team.

The Lad Tigers and new head coach Penny Salm used a strong defense to post the victory Thursday night. Leading the defense in blocking were Liza Reed and Angie Johnson, as each girl picked up six blocks.

Oct. 2, 1989 -- Warsaw Community High School sophomore Jay Hicks set a new school record in finishing second overall at the 41-team Manchester Cross Country Invitational Saturday.

Hicks was clocked in at 15:39, eclipsing by one second Ryan Weihler's mark set at the 1986 state finals.

Oct. 3, 1989 -- The Warsaw Lady Tigers volleyball team won Saturday's Wawasee Invitational by earning two more victories and broke the school record for wins in a season in the process.

In the record-breaker, the Lady Tigers met the NorthWood Panthers in a rematch of last week's match, and the result was the same, as the Tigers beat the Panthers 15-11, 15-7 to move their record to 19-3.

In the first game of the match, Dana Creighton led the Warsaw attack as she was responsible for nine straight points, including two service aces. In the second game, it was Kris Whitehead's turn to step into the spotlight as she scored seven straight points, also including two service aces, to pace the Tigers. For the match, Creighton was credited with seven kills and junior teammate Liza Reed added six.

Nov. 6, 1989 -- Warsaw Tiger sophomore Jay Hicks capped an outstanding season by finishing a strong sixth at the state cross country meet at the South Grove Golf Course Saturday.

Dec. 1, 1989 -- It didn't take the Warsaw Lady Tigers' basketball team long to dispose of Elkhart Central Thursday night, as the state's No. 1 ranked team destroyed the Blue Blazers 86-34.

Warsaw opened up a 25-8 lead after the first eight minutes of action and never looked back in its first game since being moved into the No. 1 ranking in the state.

Warsaw, now 4-0, cruised to its 33rd straight regular season victory and its seventh straight against the Blue Blazers.

Jan. 3, 1990 -- At the halfway point of the 1989-90 high school basketball season, Warsaw Community High School is perfect since the boys and girls teams are both undefeated. The girls are 11-0 and ranked No. 2 in the state. The boys are 10-0 and ranked No. 4.

Feb. 5, 1990 -- As expected, the Warsaw Lady Tigers walked to their fourth straight sectional title with a record-setting 81-31 victory over Wawasee in the Warsaw Sectional championship Saturday night.

Feb. 24, 1990 -- The Tiger Den hosted its last high school basketball game Friday night as the Tigers boasted an 87-48 victory over Elkhart Central. The new Warsaw 5,000-seat gymnasium will be open by the 1990-91 season.

March 3, 1990 -- One of the highest honors that can be bestowed upon a college player has been earned by Grace College's Brooks Koble.

The lifelong resident of Kosciusko County, a 1985 graduate of Wawasee High School, has earned a spot on the NAIA All-District 21 team selected by coaches throughout the district.

April 9, 1990 -- With a state championship in his back pocket, Damon Bailey finally was able to admit that being Indiana's Mr. Basketball was one of his lifelong goals.

"Mr. Basketball was a goal in my mind, but I didn't want to get Mr. Basketball averaging 40 or 45 points or whatever and not win the state championship," the Bedford North Lawrence senior said. Of course, he got both.

May 5, 1990 -- A former Tippecanoe Valley standout now has the task of leading the Viking football team into the 1990s. The Tippecanoe Valley school board hired Scott Bibler as its head coach Friday afternoon.

June 4, 1990 -- It was a day of mixed emotions for the Warsaw Lady Tigers tennis team Saturday, as the team ended up taking third place in the state.

While losing to eventual state champion Carmel by a 4-1 count in the semifinal, Warsaw was able to place third by nipping Penn 3-2. In addition to the team honor, Warsaw No. 1 singles player Tamra Payne was awarded the Mental Attitude Award.

July 2, 1990 -- Mike Lambert accomplished two of bowling's greatest feats in one evening at Warsaw's Holiday Bowl recently.

On June 25th, Lambert became the first person ever to roll an 800 series at Holiday Bowl as he completed the night by bowling an 802. On his way to accomplishing that feat, he also rolled a 300.

Aug. 3, 1990 -- Warsaw's Denny Hepler won after the final round of the Indiana Open at the Lafayette Country Club. He ended the 72-hole tourney with a 9-under 279, good enough for one-stroke win.

Sept. 4, 1990 -- Warsaw's volleyball team took a big step toward gaining statewide recognition Saturday when it won the Mishawaka Invitational.

The event is one of the biggest volleyball tourneys in the northern part of the state every year. The Lady Tigers defeated Prairie Heights to claim the school's first-ever Mishawaka title.

Nov. 2,1990 -- People say it is better to be lucky than good. It is best to be lucky AND good.

The Grace College soccer team put that combination together Thursday afternoon, scratching out a 2-1 win over visiting Goshen in the NAIA District 21 semifinal match.

Dec. 5, 1990 -- Grace College sophomore Corey Rose has been named to the first-team soccer All-American squad by the National Christian College Athletic Association.

Rose, a 5-11 forward from Winona Lake and Lakeland Christian Academy, led Grace with 17 goals and a total of 39 points.

Jan. 14, 1991 -- Whitko's Bill Patrick became only the 39th coach in Indiana high school basketball history to win 400 games as his Wildcats rolled to an easy 83-58 victory over Bluffton in a non-conference matchup Saturday night.

Another claim which Patrick has earned is 24 winning seasons in a row.

Feb. 25, 1991 -- Top-ranked Bedford North Lawrence proved that speed can kill, and ended the Warsaw Lady Tigers' hopes of claiming a state title by winning the state championship game at Market Square Arena Saturday night by a 52-44 score.

The loss snapped a 19-game winning streak for the Lady Tigers (22-4), who were trying to become the first team in the state to win a third girls title.

March 11, 1991 -- Ten seconds. That's how long it took for the Whitko High School players, coaches and fans to go from agony to ecstasy during the Fort Wayne boys basketball regional championship Saturday night.

Chad Ousley's layup off a pass from Rodney Thomas with four seconds left gave the Wildcats a thrilling 73-72 victory over a never-say-die group of New Haven Bulldogs at the Memorial Coliseum.

May 3, 1991 -- The Warsaw Lady Tigers really threw their weight around Thursday night in a Northern Lakes Conference track meet against Concord and host Northridge.

Led by record-setter Cathy McGurn, Warsaw captured 19 of a possible 22 points in the two weight events, helping the Lady Tigers complete a perfect 12-0 regular season. The final was Warsaw 65-1/2, Northridge 55-1/2 and Concord 27.

June 3, 1991 -- Warsaw's Kerry White became the school's first female individual winner at the state girls track meet as she won the 800-meter race Saturday.

In addition, Triton's long distance sophomore sensation Justina Reichert placed third in the 1,600 run.

July 1, 1991 -- Former Warsaw Community High School basketball star Rick Fox has signed a multi-year contract with the Boston Celtics, the club announced Sunday night.

The Celtics drafted Fox out of North Carolina in the first round of last week's NBA draft.

Sept. 18, 1991 -- Kelly Loughlin and Ryan Long crushed existing course records as they led Warsaw's boys and girls cross country teams to victories over Northern Lakes Conference foe Goshen at Warsaw Community High School.

Loughlin ran a career best and course record 15:56 to lead the Lady Tigers to a 21-37 win over the Lady Redskins, and Long destroyed Oak Hill's Brent Grogan's record of 17:04 by touring the course in a time of 16:32 to lead the Tigers to a 26-35 victory over Goshen.

Nov. 4, 1991 -- On to Indianapolis is the next step for Warsaw swimmer Cathy Lundin after she captured a sectional championship Saturday in the Warsaw Community Pool.

With her sectional title in the 100 backstroke race, Lundin earned the right to compete in the IHSAA State Swimming and Diving Finals at the IU Natatorium in Indianapolis.

Dec. 10, 1991 -- In a season that has been marked by high scoring contests and record-setting streaks, the Grace College men's basketball team received a major vote of confidence as they made their debut ranked No. 9 in the NAIA Division II national coaches poll.

This accomplishment marks the first time in Grace College basketball history that the Lancers have received a national rating by the NAIA.

Jan. 14, 1992 -- Pouring in a school-record total of 44 points, senior Mindy Metzger led the Tippecanoe Valley girls' basketball team past Oak Hill 69-54 in a Three Rivers Conference contest Monday night.

Metzger, a 5-foot, 6-inch guard, connected on 13-22 from the field, including 4-5 from 3-point range. She also hit 14-17 from the free throw line, including a 11-14 effort in the fourth quarter.

Feb. 19, 1992 -- Grace College head basketball coach Jim Kessler entered the ranks of the nation's coaching elite Saturday night as he earned his 300th career victory with a 82-73 win at Indiana Wesleyan.

Kessler, currently in his 15th season as head coach at Grace, is perhaps enjoying his finest season. The Lancers have notched a 22-4 record and the school's first national rating, which currently stands at No. 5 in the NAIA.

March 2, 1992 -- If early results are any indication, Boston Celtic rookie Rick Fox plans to lead a long and prosperous life in the NBA.

Fox, a 1987 graduate of Warsaw Community High School, returned to the Hoosier state last Sunday as an integral member of the famed green and white of the Celtics.

March 21, 1992 -- A trio of area cagers have been selected to the 1992 Top 100 senior boys basketball player list announced by Hoosier Basketball Magazine.

Seniors Dan Elliott and Jason McKenzie of Warsaw, along with Scott Johnson of Tippecanoe Valley High School, were chosen to the list, compiled by Garry Donna, publisher of Hoosier Basketball Magazine.

March 23, 1992 -- After struggling all game to find his shooting eye, Warsaw senior Jason McKenzie found perfect 20/20 vision when he needed it most.

McKenzie rifled in a bullet from three-point range with two seconds left, giving the Tigers a heart-stopping 46-44 semistate championship win over Kokomo and propelling his team into the Final Four.

The Tigers, 26-1, advance to the state finals in the Hoosier Dome Saturday and will face Lafayette Jeff (24-2) in the second game.

The Tiger players include Dan Elliott, Jason McKenzie, Clay Johnson, Jeff Polk, Eric Knisely, Ray Reed, Matt Horin, Brian Swanson, Jeramy Sumpter, Blaine Conley, Jeremy Marsh and Brody Ewert.

April 1, 1992 -- Don't cure that hoop fever just yet.

Although the scoreboard has flashed the final time for prep players across the state in regular season action, the "fun" is just beginning in the form of area All-Star contests.

Six area cagers will be very busy this weekend as they showcase their skills in a pair of All-Star events.

Prep stars Dan Elliott and Jason McKenzie of Warsaw, along with standout performer Scott Johnson of Tippecanoe Valley, will play in the Sunburst Classic All-Star game Friday in South Bend and then take part in the East-West All-Star Classic Sunday in the Tiger Den.

For the girls, seniors Sheryl Fitzgerald of Warsaw, Mindy Metzger of Tippecanoe Valley and Sharon Patterson of Triton will showcase their skills in each of the contests.

April 6, 1992 -- The Warsaw Tigers soccer squad opened the 1992 season with a pair of 1-0 victories and their second straight Warsaw Tigers Soccer Tourney championship Saturday.

The Tigers played host to teams from Concordia, Trinity Lutheran and Homestead high schools in the four-team tournament contested at Fisher Field and the Grace College soccer field.

June 2, 1992 -- According to Dawn Curtis, it all started about five years ago with a young teenage girl and her grandpa.

A half-decade later, the Warsaw Lady Tigers senior is converting those hours of instruction into strikes.

Curtis likes to credit her grandfather with her pitching talents, but all focus Monday was on her when she fanned 11 Wawasee Lady Warriors and one-hit at the Northern Lakes Conference rivals for a 15-0 sectional championship.

June 8, 1992 -- It's the stuff that dreams are made of.

The scene on Saturday could easily have been out of a movie script instead of the real-life drama that unfolded on Tiger Field in the prep baseball sectional title game.

With his team trailing 5-3 and just one out away from extinction in the 1992 tournament trail, Wawasee junior Brandon Lozano stepped to the plate and proceeded to crush a fastball from reliever Scott Moore over the left center field fence for a 6-5 Warrior win.

"This is the best thing that's ever happened to me," said Lozano, his eyes still bulging some 10 minutes after clouting the 400-foot missile that propelled the Warriors to their second straight sectional title and into this Saturday's regional round of the state tournament at Plymouth.

June 8, 1992 -- Kerry White knew what she was doing.

So, when she wasn't announced the leader of the 800 meter dash right away on Friday at the state track finals, it didn't matter. It would be her name announced as the winner and she would be the one standing on the top block to receive her second state championship in as many years.

July 2, 1992 -- Jamie Phillips, 22, a 1988 Warsaw Community High School graduate, has signed a contract with the Chicago Cubs organization and left today for Huntington, W.Va., where he will begin playing minor league baseball.

Phillips was a three-year letterman and a member of the 1988 Warsaw Tigers that advanced to the Final Four. He moved on to play for four years at Goshen College before being spotted by pro scouts.

Aug. 6, 1992 -- The Neff's Short Stop Reds recently were crowned champions of the Senior League Major division in the Warsaw Little League. The Reds finished the season with a record of 17-4 and advanced to the final four of the District 14 Tournament. Members of the championship team include coach Jim Walmer, Nathan O'Connell, Eric Heckaman, Jim Moryl, Travis Harman, Matt Vosberg, coach Patrick O'Connell, coach Tom Krizmanich, Dean Heckaman, Jeremy Harter, Jason Young, Chris Walmer and Scott Miller.

Sept. 2, 1992 -- Triton's volleyball coach Gayle Perry wanted a test for her previously unbeaten Lady Trojans.

And she got a big one.

By the time Warsaw's Chelsea Bishop and Chandra Hopkins got through beating kill shots into Triton's end of the court, the Lady Trojans had learned a lesson more valuable than any 100-question written examination.

"You can't simulate that kind of game situation in practice," said Perry. "We need to see more like that."

Oct. 2, 1992 -- Bob Turner and the Warsaw Lady Tigers have their work cut out for them.

With four of the nine teams in Saturday's LaPorte Girls Golf Regional boasting state rankings, the 14-7 Warsaw squad might have to play out of its collective mind to advance to the state finals.

"If we shoot around 400," said Tuner, "we could be in the running. If the other teams shoot below 400, then they are deserving to advance."

Nov. 2, 1992 -- In a town (Huntington) most noted for its vice president (Dan Quayle), the Warsaw Lady Tigers were crowned queens of the volleyball court Saturday night.

Refusing to be denied the first-ever regional championship in WCHS history, coach Penny Salm's squad stunned No. 5 Bellmont 15-5, 8-15, 17-15 to advance to the Sweet 16 of the state tournament.

The 30-7 Lady Tigers will meet a familiar foe this Saturday in the Delta Semistate as the orange and black will be paired with the No. 3 Fort Wayne Snider (37-2) in the second match.

Nov. 2, 1992 -- For a pair of Lady Tiger swimmers and one Lady Squire diver, the biggest treat of the Halloween season came Saturday in the form of a berth in the state finals.

Warsaw senior Rebecca Nichols and sophomore Cathy Lundin, and Manchester senior Mandy Goodrich, all earned a spot in Indianapolis this Friday and Saturday at the IU Natatorium with strong showings in the Warsaw Sectional.

Nov. 2, 1992 -- On a day filled with tricks and treats, Warsaw cross country standout Kelly Loughlin was simply "spooktacular" Saturday.

The WCHS senior became the first Lady Tiger to earn a berth in the cross country state finals after posting an eighth-place finish in the Manchester Semistate.

Nov. 2, 1992 -- Triton senior Justina Reichert is still battling a bug in her head that tilts her mental equilibrium every time she gets truly tested in a cross country race.

On Saturday in the Culver Military Semistate, Reichert fought off this pest long enough to sprint ahead of two runners and qualify for the state race with a 10th place finish (15:15).

Dec. 5, 1992 -- With his face pressed to the gymnasium floor under a pile of Wawasee fans, Kyle Newcomer probably felt a little pressure.

But even the weight of hundreds of jubilant spectators couldn't have matched the burden he had on his shoulders a few seconds earlier.

Newcomer launched himself skyward and tipped the winning shot into the hole with no time remaining to give the Warriors a 48-47 win over Northern Lakes Conference rival Concord Friday night.

1996 -- The brightest story of the year belonged to Kevin Ault, Warsaw Community High School's standout basketball player who was named Indiana's Mr. Basketball and helped carry the team to the IHSAA Final Four.

Ault, now attending Southwest Missouri State University, joins Jeff Grose as the other graduate of Warsaw to be named Mr. Basketball.

2000 -- Triton Trojans Girls Varsity Basketball Team won the Class A state title by beating No. 4 Rising Sun 57-54 in overtime at Hinkle Fieldhouse in March.

Their title championship was the first ever in school history of any sport for either boys or girls.

Missy Nifong won the mental attitude award.

2001 - Triton Girls Basketball team captured its second Class A state title in two years after defeating White River Valley 55-38 in March.

2002 -- Shanna Zolman scored her 2,870th career point to become the greatest scorer in Indiana High School girls basketball history. The historic moment came Jan. 12 in a game against Elkhart Memorial. Zolman later was named Indiana's Miss Basketball.

March 8, 2004 -- Though its players, coaches and fans would like to forget the first quarter and the outcome of Saturday's Class 4A state championship game, Warsaw's varsity girls' basketball team had a season to remember.

The second-ranked Tigers' dream season ended Saturday at Conseco Fieldhouse in Indianapolis with a nightmarish 53-38 loss to fifth-ranked North Central, but it will go down as one of the best in school history.

En route to their state runner-up finish, the Tigers set school records for most games played in a season (29) and games won in a season (26), and won seven various team championships.

Warsaw was ranked preseason No. 1 by Hoosier Basketball Magazine and the coaches association and never appeared lower than ninth in the polls at any point during the season.

Warsaw Times-Union July 3, 2004

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