One Step Gives Warsaw Win
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
GOSHEN -ÊThe course was four kilometers long and wound through a park and a woods, but one step decided this cross country race.
The deciding step occurred at the finish line. Goshen's No. 5 runner, Kristen Miller, and Warsaw No. 5 runner Melonie Albert were side by side down the home stretch, but Albert beat Miller to the finish line by a step to give the Tigers the one-point win in Tuesday's cross country meet at Shanklin Park.
Albert finished the race in 17:15 and Miller in 17:16. Goshen and Warsaw each placed four runners in the top 10. Albert finished 11th and Miller 12th.
"It came down to one person deciding the meet," Warsaw coach Paul Sibray said. "You don't see that very often."
Warsaw beat Goshen 27-28 and beat NorthWood 18-40. Goshen beat NorthWood 18-39.
No, and by one point or 40 points, Warsaw needed the win. Last week Northridge, a team that graduated several key harriers but also a team that annually cranks out talented cross country teams, upset Warsaw. Warsaw entered the Goshen meet with one Northern Lakes Conference loss while Goshen had none
"We felt like we were gonna win," Goshen coach Doug Yoder said. "I felt we should have won. We had some letdowns, but when it comes down to one point, you can't point at one particular person.
"I'm disappointed. We hoped to set ourselves up for the conference meet by going in undefeated."
Goshen and Warsaw left their Tuesday meet with identical 4-1 records. NorthWood fell to 1-3 in the NLC.
Sibray said afterward he believed Goshen was favored entering the meet.
"I would have to say you would have had to give Goshen the nod because their pack has been closer than ours," he said, "and they were running on their home course.
"A very scenic course like this that's flat, the challenge is not to fall asleep, because it's such a fast course. The race can be over before you know it."
Warsaw senior Hillary Barlow again dominated. At the first flag she and Goshen's Josie Caton were tied. As they entered the woods later on the course, Barlow led by several feet. By the time they left the woods, Barlow had separated herself from second place by a wide margin. Barlow finished first with a time of 15:23, 39 seconds ahead of the second-place Caton.
"Hillary is just a hard worker," Sibray said. "We felt she would be pushed tonight by the Caton girl, but she pulled away from her in the woods. If you are gonna beat Hillary, you have to have a lot more skill, because she will beat you on determination alone."
Rachel Rondeau, Jennifer Finch and Jessica Wehrly also finished in the top 10 for Warsaw. Rondeau took third (16:07), Finch sixth (16:25) and Wehrley ninth (16:59).
Goshen's Lynn Gruenewald placed fourth (16:15), Jenna Rozelle fifth (16:23) and Kristina Treka eighth (16:40).
"Our top three, we know where they will be," Sibray said. "The four, five and six runners are very key for us."
As they were on this night.
"Jessica got the girl in front of her, and Melanie outkicked her girl at the end," Sibray said.
Sibray stressed to his fourth through sixth runners they would need good performances as Goshen often packs its girls in races. The Redskins have five runners who have finished within a minute of each other at previous races.
NorthWood was hampered as Cort Sandy, one of its best runners, was out with a foot injury.
Warsaw, a team that went to the state finals last year and entered this season ranked in the top 20, still must beat Plymouth then have scores fall in place at the NLC Tournament to win the conference title outright. Northridge has two losses and Plymouth one.
"We kind of got bushwacked last week by Northridge at Ox Bow," Sibray said. "Now we had to come in here to Goshen on their home course. We knew we had to have an exceptional race. Tonight proved we have to have five or six good runners."
Warsaw Boys Win
Warsaw's boys team fared as well as the girls did, albeit against weaker competition. Warsaw beat Goshen 15-50 and beat NorthWood 19-44. NorthWood downed Goshen 15-50.
Warsaw improved to 3-2 in the NLC, while NorthWood fell to 1-3 and Goshen to 0-5.
Warsaw took six of the top seven places. The Tigers' Jake Sweatland won the race with a time of 17:57, and teammates Matt Krallman, Rob Peters, Zach Woodward, Ryan Holbrook and Michael Jenks placed third through seventh. NorthWood's Andy Yoder placed second.
"The times don't show it, but our boys ran a good race," Warsaw coach Jim Mills said. "It was hotter today, and they had a hard practice (Monday) night. We're just trying to get better for the end of the season. We practiced hard the night before, but we thought we still had a good chance to win both races.
"Our top six or seven guys had a good group tonight. Jake was in control. He ran his usual good race."
BOYS: Warsaw 15, Goshen 50; NorthWood 15, Goshen 50; Warsaw 19, NorthWood 44
Top 10 individual results - 1. Jake Sweatland (WAR) 17:57, 2. Andy Yoder (NW) 18:08, 3. Matt Krallman (WAR) 18:32, 4. Rob Peters (WAR) 18:55, 5. Zach Woodward (WAR) 18:59, 6. Ryan Holbrook (WAR) 19:01, 7. Michael Jenks (WAR) 19:04, 8. Travis Kessler (GOS) 19:15, 9. Matt Lankford (WAR) 19:22, 10. Jody Sarber (NW) 19:25
Other NorthWood/Warsaw results -Ê12. Cory Gackenheimer (WAR) 19:44, 13. Blain McDowell (NW) 19:47, 14. Jon Lechlitner (NW) 19:49, 15. Landon Geiger (WAR) 20:00, 16. Darrin Fawley (WAR) 20:01, 17. James Geleske (NW) 20:08, 18. Craig Davison (WAR) 20:16, 19. Melvin Freels (WAR) 20:18, 20. Peter Mansfield (WAR) 20:21, 21. Sean Mochocki (WAR) 20:37, 22. Brent Paulus (NW) 20:40, 24. John Robertson (WAR) 21:07, 25. Matt Cleveland (NW) 21:10, 26. Cary Reeves (WAR) 21:47, 27. Micah Siesennop (WAR) 22:02, 28. Jake Gall (WAR) 22:08, 30. Ryan Lozier (WAR) 22:42, 31. Ian Harrold (WAR) 23:15, 32. Tim Eshleman (WAR) 23:31, 33. Aaron Tumerick (NW) 23:44, 34. Dave Sumpter (WAR) 24:57, 35. Mark Nichols (WAR) 26:18
GIRLS: Warsaw 27, Goshen 28; Goshen 18, NorthWood 39; Warsaw 18, NorthWood 40
Top 10 individual results -Ê1. Hillary Barlow (WAR) 15:23, 2. Josie Caton (GOS) 16:02, 3. Rachel Rondeau (WAR) 16:07, 4. Lynn Gruenewald (GOS) 16:15, 5. Jenna Rozelle (GOS) 16:23, 6. Jennifer Finch (WAR) 16:25, 7. Kara Huff (NW) 16:36, 8. Kristina Treka (GOS) 16:40, 9. Jessica Wehrly (WAR) 16:59, 10. Nina Bearss (NW) 17:07
Other Warsaw/NorthWood results -Ê11. Melonie Albert (WAR) 17:15, 13. Amy Robertson (WAR) 17:23, 14. Heidi Schneider (NW) 17:27, 16. Andrea Jenkins (NW) 17:50, 17. Teri Schuller (NW) 17:52, 18. Leslie Hawkins (NW) 17:55, 19. Heidi Bowers (WAR) 17:57, 21. Jill Wehrley (WAR) 18:00, 23. Kim Yoder (NW) 18:17, 24. Dawn Huff (NW) 18:22, 25. Amy Stump (NW) 18:26, 26. Melissa Sparkman (WAR) 18:33, 27. Kristen Brown (WAR) 18:42, 28. Holly Hershberger (NW) 18:52, 30. Kim Love (WAR) 19:08, 34. Cassie Noble (WAR) 19:32, 35. Sylvie Marandet (WAR) 19:36, 36. Yvonne Bienas (WAR) 19:38, 39. Laurel Jenks (WAR) 20:26, 40. Katie Carl (NW) 21:04, *41. Winston (WAR) 21:41, *42. Davidhizar (NW) 21:52, 43. Julie Kennedy (WAR) 24:15, *45. Winston (WAR) 26:00
*first names not available [[In-content Ad]]
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GOSHEN -ÊThe course was four kilometers long and wound through a park and a woods, but one step decided this cross country race.
The deciding step occurred at the finish line. Goshen's No. 5 runner, Kristen Miller, and Warsaw No. 5 runner Melonie Albert were side by side down the home stretch, but Albert beat Miller to the finish line by a step to give the Tigers the one-point win in Tuesday's cross country meet at Shanklin Park.
Albert finished the race in 17:15 and Miller in 17:16. Goshen and Warsaw each placed four runners in the top 10. Albert finished 11th and Miller 12th.
"It came down to one person deciding the meet," Warsaw coach Paul Sibray said. "You don't see that very often."
Warsaw beat Goshen 27-28 and beat NorthWood 18-40. Goshen beat NorthWood 18-39.
No, and by one point or 40 points, Warsaw needed the win. Last week Northridge, a team that graduated several key harriers but also a team that annually cranks out talented cross country teams, upset Warsaw. Warsaw entered the Goshen meet with one Northern Lakes Conference loss while Goshen had none
"We felt like we were gonna win," Goshen coach Doug Yoder said. "I felt we should have won. We had some letdowns, but when it comes down to one point, you can't point at one particular person.
"I'm disappointed. We hoped to set ourselves up for the conference meet by going in undefeated."
Goshen and Warsaw left their Tuesday meet with identical 4-1 records. NorthWood fell to 1-3 in the NLC.
Sibray said afterward he believed Goshen was favored entering the meet.
"I would have to say you would have had to give Goshen the nod because their pack has been closer than ours," he said, "and they were running on their home course.
"A very scenic course like this that's flat, the challenge is not to fall asleep, because it's such a fast course. The race can be over before you know it."
Warsaw senior Hillary Barlow again dominated. At the first flag she and Goshen's Josie Caton were tied. As they entered the woods later on the course, Barlow led by several feet. By the time they left the woods, Barlow had separated herself from second place by a wide margin. Barlow finished first with a time of 15:23, 39 seconds ahead of the second-place Caton.
"Hillary is just a hard worker," Sibray said. "We felt she would be pushed tonight by the Caton girl, but she pulled away from her in the woods. If you are gonna beat Hillary, you have to have a lot more skill, because she will beat you on determination alone."
Rachel Rondeau, Jennifer Finch and Jessica Wehrly also finished in the top 10 for Warsaw. Rondeau took third (16:07), Finch sixth (16:25) and Wehrley ninth (16:59).
Goshen's Lynn Gruenewald placed fourth (16:15), Jenna Rozelle fifth (16:23) and Kristina Treka eighth (16:40).
"Our top three, we know where they will be," Sibray said. "The four, five and six runners are very key for us."
As they were on this night.
"Jessica got the girl in front of her, and Melanie outkicked her girl at the end," Sibray said.
Sibray stressed to his fourth through sixth runners they would need good performances as Goshen often packs its girls in races. The Redskins have five runners who have finished within a minute of each other at previous races.
NorthWood was hampered as Cort Sandy, one of its best runners, was out with a foot injury.
Warsaw, a team that went to the state finals last year and entered this season ranked in the top 20, still must beat Plymouth then have scores fall in place at the NLC Tournament to win the conference title outright. Northridge has two losses and Plymouth one.
"We kind of got bushwacked last week by Northridge at Ox Bow," Sibray said. "Now we had to come in here to Goshen on their home course. We knew we had to have an exceptional race. Tonight proved we have to have five or six good runners."
Warsaw Boys Win
Warsaw's boys team fared as well as the girls did, albeit against weaker competition. Warsaw beat Goshen 15-50 and beat NorthWood 19-44. NorthWood downed Goshen 15-50.
Warsaw improved to 3-2 in the NLC, while NorthWood fell to 1-3 and Goshen to 0-5.
Warsaw took six of the top seven places. The Tigers' Jake Sweatland won the race with a time of 17:57, and teammates Matt Krallman, Rob Peters, Zach Woodward, Ryan Holbrook and Michael Jenks placed third through seventh. NorthWood's Andy Yoder placed second.
"The times don't show it, but our boys ran a good race," Warsaw coach Jim Mills said. "It was hotter today, and they had a hard practice (Monday) night. We're just trying to get better for the end of the season. We practiced hard the night before, but we thought we still had a good chance to win both races.
"Our top six or seven guys had a good group tonight. Jake was in control. He ran his usual good race."
BOYS: Warsaw 15, Goshen 50; NorthWood 15, Goshen 50; Warsaw 19, NorthWood 44
Top 10 individual results - 1. Jake Sweatland (WAR) 17:57, 2. Andy Yoder (NW) 18:08, 3. Matt Krallman (WAR) 18:32, 4. Rob Peters (WAR) 18:55, 5. Zach Woodward (WAR) 18:59, 6. Ryan Holbrook (WAR) 19:01, 7. Michael Jenks (WAR) 19:04, 8. Travis Kessler (GOS) 19:15, 9. Matt Lankford (WAR) 19:22, 10. Jody Sarber (NW) 19:25
Other NorthWood/Warsaw results -Ê12. Cory Gackenheimer (WAR) 19:44, 13. Blain McDowell (NW) 19:47, 14. Jon Lechlitner (NW) 19:49, 15. Landon Geiger (WAR) 20:00, 16. Darrin Fawley (WAR) 20:01, 17. James Geleske (NW) 20:08, 18. Craig Davison (WAR) 20:16, 19. Melvin Freels (WAR) 20:18, 20. Peter Mansfield (WAR) 20:21, 21. Sean Mochocki (WAR) 20:37, 22. Brent Paulus (NW) 20:40, 24. John Robertson (WAR) 21:07, 25. Matt Cleveland (NW) 21:10, 26. Cary Reeves (WAR) 21:47, 27. Micah Siesennop (WAR) 22:02, 28. Jake Gall (WAR) 22:08, 30. Ryan Lozier (WAR) 22:42, 31. Ian Harrold (WAR) 23:15, 32. Tim Eshleman (WAR) 23:31, 33. Aaron Tumerick (NW) 23:44, 34. Dave Sumpter (WAR) 24:57, 35. Mark Nichols (WAR) 26:18
GIRLS: Warsaw 27, Goshen 28; Goshen 18, NorthWood 39; Warsaw 18, NorthWood 40
Top 10 individual results -Ê1. Hillary Barlow (WAR) 15:23, 2. Josie Caton (GOS) 16:02, 3. Rachel Rondeau (WAR) 16:07, 4. Lynn Gruenewald (GOS) 16:15, 5. Jenna Rozelle (GOS) 16:23, 6. Jennifer Finch (WAR) 16:25, 7. Kara Huff (NW) 16:36, 8. Kristina Treka (GOS) 16:40, 9. Jessica Wehrly (WAR) 16:59, 10. Nina Bearss (NW) 17:07
Other Warsaw/NorthWood results -Ê11. Melonie Albert (WAR) 17:15, 13. Amy Robertson (WAR) 17:23, 14. Heidi Schneider (NW) 17:27, 16. Andrea Jenkins (NW) 17:50, 17. Teri Schuller (NW) 17:52, 18. Leslie Hawkins (NW) 17:55, 19. Heidi Bowers (WAR) 17:57, 21. Jill Wehrley (WAR) 18:00, 23. Kim Yoder (NW) 18:17, 24. Dawn Huff (NW) 18:22, 25. Amy Stump (NW) 18:26, 26. Melissa Sparkman (WAR) 18:33, 27. Kristen Brown (WAR) 18:42, 28. Holly Hershberger (NW) 18:52, 30. Kim Love (WAR) 19:08, 34. Cassie Noble (WAR) 19:32, 35. Sylvie Marandet (WAR) 19:36, 36. Yvonne Bienas (WAR) 19:38, 39. Laurel Jenks (WAR) 20:26, 40. Katie Carl (NW) 21:04, *41. Winston (WAR) 21:41, *42. Davidhizar (NW) 21:52, 43. Julie Kennedy (WAR) 24:15, *45. Winston (WAR) 26:00
*first names not available [[In-content Ad]]