Reloaded Tigers Advance To State Again
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Dale [email protected]
A year after graduating three of its top five runners from a team that finished a program-best fourth at the state meet, including all-state runners Jake Poyner and Robert Murphy, Warsaw finished second at Saturday's New Prairie Semistate and advanced to state for the third-straight year.
“We lost three of our top five guys, had a handful of kids that were running in the 16-minute range not come out, and here we are going to state again,” said veteran Warsaw coach Jim Mills, whose team's resumé this season also includes Northern Lakes Conference, sectional and regional championships.
“I could't be happier for these guys,” continued Mills. “I can't say enough about this small group of runners. They've worked their tails off.”
The top six teams in the 20-team field, as well as the top 10 runners not on an advancing team, qualified for Saturday's state meet in Terre Haute.
The state meet is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at Wabash Valley Sports Center on the campus of Indiana State University.
There were six top-25 ranked teams in Saturday's 5K boys race.
Each qualified for state, as No. 4 West Lafayette won the team title with 89 points, followed by No. 9 Warsaw (108), No. 10 Valparaiso (128), No. 20 Crown Point (141), No. 24 Lake Central (161) and No. 17 Munster (181).
LaPorte finished seventh, just one point behind Munster for the final qualifying spot.
Lowell (248), Chesterton (248) and Hobart (265) rounded out the top 10 teams.
“Last year, with the talent we had, and we had three front runners with Jake, Robert and Ellis (Coon), it would have been a huge disappointment if we didn't get to state,” said Mills. “To make it back this year, three years in a row, that's a tribute to this group of guys. we've got a frontrunner, and we've got a group that does a good job staying together.”
A frontrunner, and a group of guys running together, that was exactly how the Tigers finished second as a team Saturday.
Senior Ellis Coon, who also won the indvidual title at the NLC Meet, sectional and regional, won the semistate on New Prairie's famed 5K course in 15:45.
Coon finished a second ahead of runner-up Anthony Didion, a senior from LaPorte. Sophomore Cooper Williams from West Lafayete finished third in a time of 15:50.
Manchester junior Matthew Fahs-Brown finished 10th in 16:12 and advanced to state as an individual.
“I parked myself by the two-mile mark,” said Mills. “I knew when Ellis got to the two-mile mark he was going to win. He had some good guys around him, but he wasn't working really hard, he had a lot left. I knew he was going to win.”
With their senior leader out front, the Tigers secured their second-place finish and trip to Terre Haute as senior Tyler Houevener (16:35), sophomore Owen Glogovsky (16:36) and junior Daniel Messenger (16:36) finished 26th, 28th and 29th, respectively, in the 179-person race.
Junior Nick Bergen, Warsaw's final scoring runner, finished 47th in 17:00, while sophomore Jonathan Beres (17:35) was 91st and junior Jacob DeBoest (17:48) finished 115th.
NEW PRAIRIE SEMISTATE
Note – top 6 teams, as well as top 10 individuals not on an advancing team, qualify for Saturday's state meet in Terre Haute.
Team standings – West Lafayette 89, Warsaw 108, Valparaiso 128, Crown Point 141, Lake Central 161, Munster 181, LaPorte 182, Lowell 248, Chesterton 248, Hobart 265, Portage 276, Frankfort 336, New Prairie 348, Western 349, Lafayette Jeff 375, McCutcheon 384, Kokomo 392, Winamac 410, Rochester 430, Twin Lakes 521
Top 10 individuals – 1. Ellis Coon (Warsaw) 15:45, 2. Anthony Didion (LaPorte) 15:46, 3. Cooper Williams (W. Lafayette) 15:50, 4. Ryan Kritzer (Munster) 15:55, 5. Brian Blaylock (15:57), 6. Ari Coulopoulos (Valparaiso) 16:02, 7. Robert Duke (Eastern) 16:09, 8. Matt Grider (Western) 16:11, 9. Tyler Gray (Crown Point) 16:12, 10. Matthew Fahs-Brown (Manchester) 16:12
Warsaw – 1. Ellis Coon (15:45), 26. Tyler Houvener 16:35, 28. Owen Glogovsky 16:36, 29. Daniel Messenger 16:36, 47. Nick Bergen 17:00, 91. Jonathan Beres 17:35, 115. Jacob DeBoest 17:48
Manchester – 10. Matthew Fahs-Brown 16:12[[In-content Ad]]
A year after graduating three of its top five runners from a team that finished a program-best fourth at the state meet, including all-state runners Jake Poyner and Robert Murphy, Warsaw finished second at Saturday's New Prairie Semistate and advanced to state for the third-straight year.
“We lost three of our top five guys, had a handful of kids that were running in the 16-minute range not come out, and here we are going to state again,” said veteran Warsaw coach Jim Mills, whose team's resumé this season also includes Northern Lakes Conference, sectional and regional championships.
“I could't be happier for these guys,” continued Mills. “I can't say enough about this small group of runners. They've worked their tails off.”
The top six teams in the 20-team field, as well as the top 10 runners not on an advancing team, qualified for Saturday's state meet in Terre Haute.
The state meet is scheduled to start at 1 p.m. at Wabash Valley Sports Center on the campus of Indiana State University.
There were six top-25 ranked teams in Saturday's 5K boys race.
Each qualified for state, as No. 4 West Lafayette won the team title with 89 points, followed by No. 9 Warsaw (108), No. 10 Valparaiso (128), No. 20 Crown Point (141), No. 24 Lake Central (161) and No. 17 Munster (181).
LaPorte finished seventh, just one point behind Munster for the final qualifying spot.
Lowell (248), Chesterton (248) and Hobart (265) rounded out the top 10 teams.
“Last year, with the talent we had, and we had three front runners with Jake, Robert and Ellis (Coon), it would have been a huge disappointment if we didn't get to state,” said Mills. “To make it back this year, three years in a row, that's a tribute to this group of guys. we've got a frontrunner, and we've got a group that does a good job staying together.”
A frontrunner, and a group of guys running together, that was exactly how the Tigers finished second as a team Saturday.
Senior Ellis Coon, who also won the indvidual title at the NLC Meet, sectional and regional, won the semistate on New Prairie's famed 5K course in 15:45.
Coon finished a second ahead of runner-up Anthony Didion, a senior from LaPorte. Sophomore Cooper Williams from West Lafayete finished third in a time of 15:50.
Manchester junior Matthew Fahs-Brown finished 10th in 16:12 and advanced to state as an individual.
“I parked myself by the two-mile mark,” said Mills. “I knew when Ellis got to the two-mile mark he was going to win. He had some good guys around him, but he wasn't working really hard, he had a lot left. I knew he was going to win.”
With their senior leader out front, the Tigers secured their second-place finish and trip to Terre Haute as senior Tyler Houevener (16:35), sophomore Owen Glogovsky (16:36) and junior Daniel Messenger (16:36) finished 26th, 28th and 29th, respectively, in the 179-person race.
Junior Nick Bergen, Warsaw's final scoring runner, finished 47th in 17:00, while sophomore Jonathan Beres (17:35) was 91st and junior Jacob DeBoest (17:48) finished 115th.
NEW PRAIRIE SEMISTATE
Note – top 6 teams, as well as top 10 individuals not on an advancing team, qualify for Saturday's state meet in Terre Haute.
Team standings – West Lafayette 89, Warsaw 108, Valparaiso 128, Crown Point 141, Lake Central 161, Munster 181, LaPorte 182, Lowell 248, Chesterton 248, Hobart 265, Portage 276, Frankfort 336, New Prairie 348, Western 349, Lafayette Jeff 375, McCutcheon 384, Kokomo 392, Winamac 410, Rochester 430, Twin Lakes 521
Top 10 individuals – 1. Ellis Coon (Warsaw) 15:45, 2. Anthony Didion (LaPorte) 15:46, 3. Cooper Williams (W. Lafayette) 15:50, 4. Ryan Kritzer (Munster) 15:55, 5. Brian Blaylock (15:57), 6. Ari Coulopoulos (Valparaiso) 16:02, 7. Robert Duke (Eastern) 16:09, 8. Matt Grider (Western) 16:11, 9. Tyler Gray (Crown Point) 16:12, 10. Matthew Fahs-Brown (Manchester) 16:12
Warsaw – 1. Ellis Coon (15:45), 26. Tyler Houvener 16:35, 28. Owen Glogovsky 16:36, 29. Daniel Messenger 16:36, 47. Nick Bergen 17:00, 91. Jonathan Beres 17:35, 115. Jacob DeBoest 17:48
Manchester – 10. Matthew Fahs-Brown 16:12[[In-content Ad]]
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