Running against the best makes everyone better.

The Wawasee boys cross country squad and Warsaw's Erica Ridderman are proof of that.

Running in the Northern Lakes Conference against state-power Northridge, along with their own blood, sweat and tears, has earned eight area runners a spot in the state finals Saturday in Terre Haute at the Wabash Valley Sports Center.

"It helps a lot," said Warsaw girls cross country coach Jerry Gackenheimer. "You run against state-caliber runners all year and it makes you better."

Twenty teams for both boys and girls, along with 60 individuals on non-advancing teams, will vie for a state title.

And while the favorites are set, and its unrealistic for runners to make up huge amounts of time, there are solid goals and attainable times.

Wawasee advanced to the state finals with a fourth-place finish in the New Haven Semi-state on the campus of IPFW.

The Warriors were paced by Ryan Smythe and his time of 16:10. That time by Smythe was good for eighth overall.

As a team, Wawasee finished behind Northridge, Huntington North and Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger.

Doug Slabaugh ran a personal best of 16:55 for the Warriors.

Should fellow harriers Ross Stichter, Jose Mejia and Haven Hoffman run their best times and Smythe improves his time, Wawasee can make some noise in Terre Haute Saturday.

Those five runners' times were counted at the New Haven semistate.

Luke Blakeslee, Kyle Denten, Daniil Gardner, Scott Gingerich, Justin Krizman, Carl Senders and Jared Wurtzel also are listed on the state finals roster for Wawasee.

Wawasee coach Jerrid Stoffel was unavaible for comment as the team left for Terre Haute this morning.

After the Warriors' semistate performance Stoffel said, "The guys went out there and ran with desire and came away with a top-five finish and a position on the start line at the state meet."

Desire will be the mantra Saturday.

Smythe looks to close out his exceptional cross country career with a strong finish.

Smythe missed some time at the end of the season with illness and has battled to get back to the form he was at earlier in the season.

Northridge enters as one of the favorites for the boys finals. The Raiders finished sixth as a team last year.

If nothing else, Wawasee was given a proper sendoff on its way down south. The Warriors were greeted with fireworks and a performance by the Warrior percussion line and cheerleaders as the Warriors boarded the bus to Terre Haute.

As for Ridderman, the goal may not be to take home a state crown, at least not yet.

Ridderman, just a sophomore for Gackenheimer's squad, is looking to run her personal-best time and gain valuable experience for the next two years.

It also helps in the cycle of track and cross country for runners like Ridderman.

Ridderman went to state her first spring as a student at Warsaw Community High School on the girls track squad and played a big part in a succesful season.

That has helped her cross country season this year.

"Every little bit of experience helps," said Gackenheimer. "Her track season helped her cross country and this cross country season is going to help for track."

Gackenheimer was quick to praise Ridderman and is looking forward to the future of his program with Ridderman as the leader.

"She's a very strong runner," said Gackenheimer. "Her expectation is she will have her season's best and that her success will build for next year."

Ridderman is in lane 19 for the girls race.

The Warriors are lined up in the ninth lane for Saturday's race.

The girls race is set for 1 p.m. EST Saturday while the boys race is set for 1:45.

Results can be found Saturday afternoon at www.ihsaa.org [[In-content Ad]]