BLOOMINGTON – Daniel Messenger spent much of his high school track career in the shadows of some very talented teammates.

The Warsaw senior stepped to the forefront Friday night though when it was his turn to shine on the state’s biggest stage.

Messenger earned his place on the podium at the IHSAA Track State Finals on the Indiana University campus.

Messenger notched an eighth-place finish in the 800 at the Robert C. Haugh Track & Field Complex.

His effort came on a muggy evening in which the 112th annual state meet was delayed for over an hour as a thunderstorm rolled through the area.

The wait was well worth it for Messenger, who was happy to see his high school career end with a medal around his neck for his effort.

“It means a lot to me and I’m proud of what I did today,” Messenger said. “It takes so much to place here. It’s also a pr to finish the season and I’m happy with that. It was a really fun race. A really close race, which I knew it was going to be.”

Messenger finished in eighth place in a time of 1:54.81. He came in seeded sixth in the event with a time of 1:55.77 after winning a regional title last week at South Bend St. Joseph.

Messenger has bided his time behind the likes of Spencer Rheinhardt, Jacob Poyner, Robert Murphy and Elis Coon in cross country and track the past three years.

“Daniel has been behind some great runners in our program in the past, but he did not get frustrated and he stuck to the plan,” said Warsaw coach Matt Thacker. “That’s a testament to his commitment.

“We’re extremely blessed to have solid young men like Daniel in our program. He’s an academic all-stater and now an all-stater on the track too. He has great focus. We (myself and coach Peters) were not worried about him with the delay. He ran a great race.”

“The race was a unique experience,” related Messenger. “I wanted to sit on them (the leaders) and then outkick them. Everybody kicked at the end and it was very close.”

Messenger, who plans to attend Purdue and walk-on to their track program, and said he learned plenty about himself the last few years.

“One think I take away is that in order to get better you don’t have to be the face of the program or the guy in the headlines,” said Messenger. “It helped me to be self-motivated to get better and not let pride get in the way of improving.”

Senior Andrew Scheidt placed 15th in the discus for the Tigers. His top throw was 147-04, which was just behind his seed distance of 147-11.

Warsaw junior Owen Glogovsky, who had been battling allergies, finished 23rd in the 1,600 with a time of 4:26.08.

Carmel claimed the team state championship Friday night with 49 points. Ben Davis was second with 36.75. Warren Central was third with 36 with Center Grove fourth with 33 and Hamilton Southeastern and Fort Wayne Northrop rounding out the top five with 27 points each.

Wawasee, led by state champion Clayton Cook in the 110 hurdles and state runner-up JJ Gilmer in the high jump, finished in 12th place in the final team standings with 20 points.