es Fairfield qualified one guaranteed spot to the regional round of the IHSAA girls track state tournament, and had several callbacks after completing the Warsaw Girls Track Sectional.
Madelyn Culp finished at 16.35 in the 100 hurdles, placing third overall to land within the top three guaranteed positions to regional advancement. The Lady Falcons had two fourth-place and two fifth-place finishes, just outside the ring, but all four were picked up with at-large times or heights. Natalee Lambright was fourth in the 3,200 run, her 12:01.15 several paces off third but was picked up for the regional round at Kokomo this Tuesday. Shelby Miller reached 9-6 on the pole vault and Jalyn Stofleth cleared 9-0 to place fourth and fifth, and both got callbacks to continue competing. Emma Walter recovered from a nasty spill at the finish line of the 100 prelims to finish fifth in the 100 finals at 12.88, her time picked up for another week of work.
On the boys track side, the Falcons are waiting on phone calls as none of its contingent finished in the top three at Thursday’s Goshen Boys Track Sectional. Nick Hofer is on the outside despite a 51-0 shot put toss, and Jaydon Riegsecker cleared 12-6 in pole vault, but both were in fourth place after matters were settled in Goshen. All placing sixth were Hofer in discus, Ethan Hochstetler in shot put and Evan Correll in the two-mile. Waylon Herschberger was seventh in the 200 dash.
Girls tennis made a statement in its opener, rushing past Goshen, 5-0, to open play at the NorthWood Tennis Sectional. The Falcons gave up just eight points to the RedHawks in, with sweeps coming from Addie Mast at No. 1 singles and from Amanda McGuire and Elise Schwartz at No. 1 doubles. Both doubles courts and Mast all looked strong, giving up just three combined games to Bremen in Fairfield’s 3-2 win to advance to the finals.
Mast moves on in the individual tournament, but the Fairfield team was bounced from the state tournament after a 3-2 loss to NorthWood in the sectional final. Mast beat Britton Jesse to move to 3-0 in the tournament while the two doubles team of Eva Herbert and Lacy Stoltzfus finished off their year with a win. Fairfield finishes its season 12-3 overall and NECC regular season champs.
It was a championship for the ages for Fairfield boys golf, setting a program record with a 302 to dominate Saturday’s Northeast Corner Conference Championships. The 302 is the lowest 18-hole championship score in Fairfield boys golf history according to head coach John Kauffman, and NECC medalist Brayden Miller also shot a school NECC tournament record 67, his round featuring four birdies and no bogeys. Impressive as it was at the top, Miles Nine shot his best score ever at the NECC, shooting 73 to finish third overall, and Jake Elliott also finished with his best ever tourney performance, placing sixth with an 80. Jasper Carl was just two back of Elliott at 82, landing tied for 12th overall. All four were named All-NECC for their performance in the tournament, as well as play during an undefeated regular season. Fairfield’s 302 was 34 shots better than runner-up Angola, playing on its home course, with Fremont in third at 337.
Miller fired a 34 and Nine a 37 as Fairfield steered clear of Garrett, 158-167, and West Noble chiming in at 223 in the NECC trio at Meadow Valley. Medalist honors for the evening went to Garrett’s Carter Demsey, who shot a sparkling 33. Carl had a 43 and both Elliott and Ben Kio had matching 44s. JV honors went to both Lincoln Wogoman and Jayce Smith, shooting 45 each to help Fairfield to a 189-221 win over Garrett.
Fairfield concluded the NECC regular season with two wins, shooting 154 to beat Fremont (167) and Eastside (179). The wins wrap up a 9-0 NECC regular season, the third consecutive season Fairfield has run the table to win the regular season title. Miller and Nine again shot 34 and 37, respectively, to lead the way. Smith shot a 43 to lead the JV to a three-stroke victory, 185-188, against Fremont.
Softball wrapped up its regular season this past week ahead of tonight’s Fairfield Softball Sectional opening up. Monday night, Angola used six runs in the bottom of the sixth to rally past Fairfield, 9-4. Jayslynn Hall and Lilly Yoder each drove in two runs for the Lady Falcons. Hall cranked her ninth homer of the season, doubled twice, and scored four runs as the Lady Falcons knocked off Westview, 14-5, Tuesday in Emma. Madison Jones added three hits and a pair of stolen bases in the victory. West Noble gave Fairfield everything it could handle in the sectional preview, but an RBI single from Faith Berkey pushed the Lady Falcons to a 2-1 win Thursday night in Ligonier. Berkey also got the pitching win, striking out six in a great duel with Charger ace Riley Krider, who struck out 10. JV got in a little more work, outscoring West Noble 11-6 in limited action. Kinslyn Pressler had a triple and Grace Liechty drove in a pair.
Westview forced itself into the NECC baseball championship picture with a stunning 13-3 win over Fairfield Tuesday night. The loss was Fairfield’s first in conference, with both the Warriors and Falcons at 8-1 in conference play. Owen Garrison had a two-run single in Fairfield’s three-run third, but the Falcons left two on in the inning and couldn’t further figure out Westview ace Max Engle, who struck out 12 on the night. That momentum for the Warriors changed Thursday when Eastside upset Westview, opening the door for Fairfield to claim the NECC title outright for the second straight year after a 21-4 win at West Noble. Fairfield did its part by erupting for seven runs in the first, then adding matching crooked numbers in the third and fourth. Luke Mast and Keegan Miller each homered, the two combining for eight RBIs. Michael Slabaugh added two hits and three RBIs.
In a battle of two of the top teams in Class 3-A, South Bend St. Joe visited Fairfield Saturday night and held on for a 4-3 win. Eli Miller and Slabaugh each had two hits and a run scored, but a St. Joe run in the fifth was the difference. Landon Miller and Keegan Miller combined to hold the Huskies to just four hits. JV Baseball couldn’t solve Fort Wayne Carroll Knights on Monday, falling 14-1. Logan Miller had two hits and Hunter Kauffman had an RBI double. The junior mates picked up win number 15 after a 6-2 win over West Noble. Fairfield combined for five hits and four stolen bases in the three-inning contest. Concord got the best of Fairfield Friday night, winning 12-7, and Fairfield split its two games with Leo on Saturday, winning game one 6-3 and losing game two 11-7.
Middle school track wrapped up its season with a tremendous showing at the Indiana Middle School Track and Field Championships. Held Saturday at the famous LaVern Gibson Championship course in Terre Haute, Fairfield sent six events to compete and came away with five of them finishing in the top 15 in the state. Fairfield’s best finish was from its 4x4 mixed relay, where Oakley Stichter, Paxton Garner, Nora Thieszen and Jules Hinkle finished third overall with a time of 4:07.64. The girls sprint medley team of Hinkle, Thieszen, Amy Bechtel and Ellie Trejo were sixth overall at 2:01.67 and the boys sprint medley team of Custer, Stichter, Garner and Davian Stutzman were eighth at 1:49.82. Caden Harris was 11th in the 800, running 2:10.51, Casen Custer was 15th in pole vault at 8-6, Gavin Lash was 19th in shot put at 40-7.75. Congratulations to coaches Dunlap, Walbeck and Trejo and all of the athletes on a fantastic finish to their season!