Northern Indiana Conference boys track: Here's who won MVP and coach of the year

Justin Frommer, South Bend Tribune
·3 min read
Alec Hardrict
Alec Hardrict

Alec Hardrict had extra motivation this track season. Last year, as a junior, Hardrict was never fully healthy for Penn's boys team due to an injury while playing for the Kingsmen Rugby squad. This year, as a senior, Hardrict was able to show his full potential, and it led to a big season.

Hardrict was named Northern Indiana Conference boys track MVP this week, while his coach, Chad Wetzel, was named NIC's Coach Of The Year. This comes off the heals of Penn's team league championship (191 pts), Edging out Elkhart by over 90 points, and sectional championship this week.

Hardrict was one of the stars during last week's meet, advancing to Thursday's regional meet at Goshen in the 100-meter dash, 200-meter dash and 4x100-meter relay, all of which he earned First-Team conference honors in.

Chad Wetzel
Chad Wetzel

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Penn's athletes had a big showing on the NIC first-team lists. Along with Hardrict, the Kingsmen's 4x800 team (Seth Jankowski, Hudson Kaser, Dylan DeDario, Carter Kaser, 8:09.53), Marion Retzloff (1,600-meter run, 4:27.64 and 3,200-meter run 9:51.04), Austin Wells (300-meter hurdles, 41.76) and Michael Paquette (Discus, 170-3) also earned first-team honors.

Joining Hardrict on the 4x100 team was DJ White, Jake Balis and Skjold Aallmann, while Jankowski also was first-team in the 800-meter run (1:59.93) and on the 4x400-meter relay team (Kohen Turner, Carter Kaser, Connor Hamilton, 3:30.01)

Around the league, South Bend Saint Joseph's Luke Kaufhold won first-team in the 110-meter hurdles (15.43), while South Bend Riley's Sam Taylor was first-team in the 400-meter dash (50.93). His teammates, Robert Nabieu (Long Jump, 22-1) and James Boyd (High Jump, 6-4) were also first-teamers.

New Prairie and Elkhart also had first-team honors in Daniel O'Laughlin (Pole Vault, 13-6) and Ty'Shaun Williams (Elkhart, 54-10).

Here are the NIC's second-team honorees and honorable mention athletes.

All-NIC Second Team

4x800-meter relay: Elkhart (Maxwell Malloy, Aaron Richter, Denis Kale, Teagen Rodriguez) 8:16.43;110-meter hurdles: Austin Wells, Penn (15.94); 100-meter dash: Ollie Kaufhold, South Bend Saint Joseph (11.19); 1,600-meter run: Carter Kaser, Penn (4:31.91); 4x100-meter relay: Elkhart (Zachary Anderson, Christopher Williams, Rodney Gates, Nathan Munson) 43.63; 400-meter run: Ayden Roberts, New Prairie (51.92); 300-meter hurdles: Derek Vondrak, South Bend Riley (41.86)

200-meter dash: Rodney Gates, Elkhart (22.78); 800-meter run: Hudson Kaser, Penn (2:01.98); 3,200-meter run: Ethan Walden, New Prairie (9:55.71); 4x400-meter relay: South Bend Riley (Robert Nabieu, Sam Taylor, Maleek Richardson, James Boyd) 3:31.43; High Jump: Ian Joyce, South Bend Saint Joseph (6-1); Discus: Ty;Shaun Williams, Elkhart (162-11); Pole Vault: Gabriel Speicher, Penn (13-0); Long Jump: Aalias Leonard, Elkhart (21-8); Shot Put: Rae'Kwon Lemons, Elkhart (47-8.50)

All-NIC Honorable Mention

4x800-meter relay: South Bend Adams (Grayson Wilson, Issac Howk, Bol Agwick, Jonas Larsen) 8:26.94; 110-meter hurdles: Nicholas Edwards, Elkhart (16.19); 100-meter dash: Robert Nabieu, South Bend Riley (11.20); 1,600-meter run: Ethan Walden, New Prairie (4:33.52); 4x100-meter relay: South Bend Saint Joseph (Gavin Sparke, Ollie Kaufhold, Hayden Miller, Bill Imanene) 44.60; 400-meter run: Bishop Williams, Jimtown (52.24)

300-meter hurdles: William Baldwin, Glenn (42.48); 200-meter dash: Julian McMahan, Glenn (23.24); 800-meter run: Teagen Rodriguez, Elkhart (2:02.44); 3,200-meter run: Maxwell Malloy, Elkhart (9:56.58); 4x400-meter relay: South Bend Saint Joseph (Lucas Miller, Danaiel Pries, Nick Njuguna, Luke Kaufhold) 3:31.84; High jump: Blake Barker, Penn (J6-1); Discus: Vishavjeet Turna, Penn (138-4); Pole Vault: Joey Rutten, Penn (J13-0); Long Jump: Tony Hardin, Bremen (20-8.50); Shot Put: Vishavjeet Turna, Penn (46-10)

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Northern Indiana Conference awards: Boys track MVP, coach of the year