The Goshen Relays are this weekend. Here are some boys track athletes who expect to do well

The Penn and South Bend Saint Joseph boys track teams will defend their titles Saturday in the 79th edition of the Goshen Relays.

Last year, the Kingsmen won the Class A trophy, beating Northridge by half of a point to win for the first time since 2013.

Vince Nierzwicki helped Penn by winning the high jump with a leap of 6-4 and the 110-meter hurdles in 14.90. Christian Kaczynski, Josiah Williams, DJ White and Arnold Foos won heat No. 2 of the 4x200 relay (1:37.31).

Nierzwicki was also on the 4x400 winning team with Dillon Pottschmidt, Seth Jankowski and Tristian Mans (3:30.85).

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The Indians edged NorthWood, which had won four straight Class B titles.

Sean Gibson won the long jump for Saint Joseph (21-5.5 feet), and was on the 4x100 winning relay with Erwin Luu, Alex Ortiz and Asante Anglin (45.37), the 4x200 team with Anglin, Ollie Kaufhold and Liam Fuller (1:35.24) and the 4x400 winning team with Kaufhold, Declan Walsh and Nick Njuguna (3:39.95).

Luu was also on the 800-meter relay with Kaufhold, Fuller and Jonathan Liu (1:43.01).

Here are some more athletes to watch for in this weekend's event at Goshen High School:

Jaton Thomas, Concord

Thomas, who qualified for state last year as a junior, finished second behind Mishawaka's Davonn Parker in last year's Class A long jump (19-11.00), and finished 11th in the Class A 100-meter dash (11.93)

Tommie Hunt, South Bend Adams

As a sophomore, Hunt finished seventh in the Class A long jump (18-4.50). He also tied for second in the Class A high jump (5-10.00) and has the top returning score from last year's field. Hunt also finished 14th in the 100-meter dash (12.05) and was part of South Bend Adams' seventh-place 4x400 team (3:44.65), along with Alex Marchawaschwili, Bol Agwick and Ngor Agwick.

Zach Stearns, Mishawaka

Stearns tied for seventh in the Class A high jump (5-8) and was a part of Mishawaka's Class A distance medley team that finished 10th along with Mark Crooks, Levi Hall and Dakota Jozwiak (11:50.10).

Drew Hogan, Goshen

One of the top senior runners in this year's field, Hogan was part of Goshen's second place 4x800 team (8:22.90), along with Cole Johnston, Tommy Claxton and Kovan Drenth, Goshen's second place distance medley team (10:49.84), with the same group and finished second in the Class A 1,600-meter run (4:29.15) behind Northridge's Jaxon Miller (4:28.00), who will also be back in the field as a junior.

Gabe Speicher, Penn

Speicher will be part of a loaded Class A pole vault field that returns its top-four finishers from last year's event. Speicher finished tied for fourth with a jump of 10-6. Goshen's Eli Hochstedler will also be in this event after finishing tied for second last year with a score of 11-0.

Ty'Shaun Williams, Elkhart

Williams be one of the favorites in this year's Class A discus throw after finishing second (137-04) behind Northridge's Carter Bach (149-0) who graduated. South Bend Adams' River Thornsberry will also be a contender after finishing seventh last year (126-03). Williams could also compete in the Class A shot put field.

Mike Paquette, Penn

Paquette will be one of the top seniors in this year's field after finishing sixth in last year's Class A discus throw (127-10) and eighth in the Class A shot put (40-5.5).

Caleb Cullers, Bremen

Cullers will be one the top juniors in Class B after finishing eighth in last year's long jump (17-07.50). His teammate, Jese Wisler will also be one of the top contenders in that event. Cullers could also compete in the Class B high jump event.

Ollie Kaufhold, South Bend Saint Joseph

Kaufhold returns as one of the top seniors in the Class B field after helping the Indians win last year's event. Along with his championships, Kaufhold also finished tied for ninth in Class B pole vault (8-06.00) and will be a leader on most of Saint Joe's relay teams

Brevin Miller, NorthWood

Miller, now a senior, will be a contender in Class B discus throw after finishing third in the event last year (128-06). He also won last year's shot put with a score of 46-06.00.

Rodney Gates, Elkhart

Gates will be a strong piece of Elkhart's relays as he was last year as a sophomore. Gates was on Elkhart's winning 4x100 team (44.58) along with Micah Porter, now a senior, Jacon Holt and Derrick Woods, who both graduated.

Gates was also part of Elkhart's winning 800 sprint medley team with Holt, Woods and Rodrigo Moran.

Christian Kaczynski, Penn

Kaczynski was a breakout star as a freshman. Along with being on Penn's first place 4x200 team, he was part of Penn's second place 4x100 relay team (45.44) along with Josiah Williams, DJ White and Camden Anderson, who will all be back in this year's field.

Josiah Williams, Penn

Williams also had a great showing as a sophomore. Along with being on the 4x100 and 4x200 teams, Williams also finished second in the 100-meter dash (11.18) behind Elkhart's Derrick Woods, who graduated.

Alex Ortiz, South Bend Saint Joseph

Ortiz returns to the relays as a sophomore. Along with being on the Indians' 4x100 championship team, he also finished eighth in the 100-meter dash (12.24).

Damon Johnson, South Bend Washington

As a freshman, Johnson was part of Washington's sixth-place 4x200 team (1:52.15) along with Xavier Stewart, Jonah Glaser and Kenneth Steve II, who all return.

Johnson, Glaser and Steve II were on Washington's fifth-place 800 sprint relay (2:04.48) along with Braydon Hudson, who is also back, and also finished sixth in the 100-meter dash (12.06) and could be a contender in that event again.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn, South Bend Saint Joseph to defend Goshen Relays titles Saturday