Tiger Boys Harriers Sectional Runners-Up
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
ELKHART - All season long, David Hoffert has been Warsaw's No. 1 runner.
But Saturday at the sectional it was a chance for his Tiger teammates to shine.
Hoffert, the Northern Lakes Conference individual champion last week on the same Ox Bow Course, was a little under the weather and finished in 17th place overall and fifth on the team.
It worked out for the Tigers because they put four runners, Will Woodward, Justin Rice, Greg Patrick and Don Kennedy, in the top 15, and that was enough to finish second behind a tough Goshen team at the Elkhart Central Cross Country Sectional.
The Redskins, the NLC team champs, put their top four runners in the first six slots in running away from Warsaw 28-59 for the top spot.
"We have made so many improvements, but we are getting better," Warsaw coach Jeff Grose said. "It is nice to see Woodward, Rice, Kennedy and Patrick showing a lot of improvement. They really carried us today."
Woodward was 7th, Rice 8th, Patrick 12th and Kennedy 15th.
Grose needed those four runners to step up with Hoffert still suffering from a bug that he had battled all week. Hoffert would liked to have defended his NLC title against some of the same runners at the sectional, but Grose said it was just as important that he gutted it out and finished as high as he did.
"David won NLC last week, but he wasn't feeling that well this week," Grose said. "He was still able to come in 17th. As he gets healthier, who knows we may be able to get out of regional next week if things continue the way they are going.
"He said earlier in the week he wasn't feeling well, and you could see it today," he said. "He still had a great run. The time that won it today was very similar to last week's. He should have been right up there in the front, but you have to be full strength if you want to compete at the top."
The Tigers did this year what they basically did last year with the same group of runners in terms of running as a pack. The difference this year is that they just moved the pack up.
"It looks like we are in good shape," Grose said. "If things keep getting better and David gets healthy, we will be very competitive next week."
The Tigers finished in second place a commanding 41 points ahead of third-place Wawasee. The Warriors were paced by Pete Melendez's fourth-place finish.
"I am not unhappy with third place," Wawasee coach Dave Stookey said. "We just kind of wanted to have a chance at Warsaw, and that would have been second place.
"I was just a little concerned," he said. "Physically, I knew we were fine, but I didn't know where we were mentally. I couldn't have asked anymore out of them."
In the girls race, Wawasee finished third and NorthWood fourth as a team while Warsaw finished last but had Summer Boyd advance to the regional after finishing 12th.
Northridge dominated the sectional by winning its seventh straight title.
The top five teams and top 15 individuals advance to Saturday's regional at the same Ox Bow Course at 11 a.m.
Elkhart Central Cross Country Sectional
Girls
NORTHRIDGE 26, GOSHEN 85, WAWASEE 111, NORTHWOOD 113, ELHART MEMORIAL 137, CONCORD 158, ELKHART CENTRAL 161, FAIRFIELD 171, WARSAW 188
Top 15 - 1. Val Taft (NR) 15:41, 2. Joni Sheldon (G) 15:46, 3.Brooke Tobias (NW) 15:53, 4. Monica Spangle (NR) 15:55, 5. Mandy Hanje (NR) 15:56, 6. Tara Juntunen (NR) 15:57, 7. Kelli Lipps (EC) 15:58, 8. Julie Latzke (C) 16:00, 9. Katie McCauley (Waw) 16:10, 10. Erin Payne (NR) 16:13, 11. Heather Brown (F) 16:14, 12. Summer Boyd (War) 16:22, 13. Rashelle Simpson (EM) 16:25, 14. Carrie Kohlmeyer (F) 16:41, 15. Josie Caton (G) 16:42
Other Wawasee results - 21. Brenda Wong 17:04, 23. Megan Hoffman 17:09, 28. Laura Lundin 17:24, 30. Alisha Henderson 17:27, 33. Krista Bestul 17:42, 50. Mary Cockburn 18:42
Other NorthWood results - 19. Angela Callander 16:57, 20. Andee Morris 17:02, 34. Teresa Schuller 17:46, 41. Anne-Marie Zell 18:06, 46. Lindsay Carlin 18:32, 54. Stephanie Carner 18:48,
Other Warsaw results - 36. Rachel Cullison 17:57, 42. Kim Love 18:10, 45. Amy Robertson 18:20, 53, Julie Wilhite 18:47, 56. Kim Fluke 18:50, 60. Ashley Blue 19:52
Boys
GOSHEN 28, WARSAW 59, WAWASEE 100, ELKHART MEMORIAL 122, ELKHART CENTRAL 140, NORTHRIDGE 147, CONCORD 148, FAIRFIELD 177, NORTHWOOD 221, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 295, JIMTOWN 345
Top 15 - 1. Jeff Payne (G) 16:57, 2. James Myers (C) 16:59, 3. Andrew McKalips (G) 17:02, 4. Pete Melendez (Waw) 17:03, 5. Kris Allen (G) 17:13, 6. Jon McKalips (G) 17:14, 7. Will Woodward (War) 17:19, 8. Justin Rice (War) 17:25, 9. Brady Gibney (EM) 17:26, 10. Dusty Lytle (Waw) 17:32, 11. Aaron Hoover (NW), 12. Greg Patrick (War) 17:35, 13. Curt Martini (G) 17:36, 14. Eric Murto (G), 15. Don Kennedy (War) 17:38
Other Warsaw results - 17. David Hoffert 17:41, 45. Chris Gackenheimer 18:45, 49, Michael Jenks 18:54
Other Wawasee results - 16. Jeff Moerchen 17:38, 23. Jerid Stoffel 17:56, 47. Rob Chalfant 18:51, 50. Peter Wagoner 18:54, 52. Ken McIntosh 18:56
Other NorthWood results - 42. Mark Davidhizar 18:38, 53. Andrew Rummel 18:57, 55. Jason Meyers 19:27, 60. Jonathan Lechlitner 19:58, 69. Matthew Miller 21:26, 71. Jeremy Sarber 22:01 [[In-content Ad]]
ELKHART - All season long, David Hoffert has been Warsaw's No. 1 runner.
But Saturday at the sectional it was a chance for his Tiger teammates to shine.
Hoffert, the Northern Lakes Conference individual champion last week on the same Ox Bow Course, was a little under the weather and finished in 17th place overall and fifth on the team.
It worked out for the Tigers because they put four runners, Will Woodward, Justin Rice, Greg Patrick and Don Kennedy, in the top 15, and that was enough to finish second behind a tough Goshen team at the Elkhart Central Cross Country Sectional.
The Redskins, the NLC team champs, put their top four runners in the first six slots in running away from Warsaw 28-59 for the top spot.
"We have made so many improvements, but we are getting better," Warsaw coach Jeff Grose said. "It is nice to see Woodward, Rice, Kennedy and Patrick showing a lot of improvement. They really carried us today."
Woodward was 7th, Rice 8th, Patrick 12th and Kennedy 15th.
Grose needed those four runners to step up with Hoffert still suffering from a bug that he had battled all week. Hoffert would liked to have defended his NLC title against some of the same runners at the sectional, but Grose said it was just as important that he gutted it out and finished as high as he did.
"David won NLC last week, but he wasn't feeling that well this week," Grose said. "He was still able to come in 17th. As he gets healthier, who knows we may be able to get out of regional next week if things continue the way they are going.
"He said earlier in the week he wasn't feeling well, and you could see it today," he said. "He still had a great run. The time that won it today was very similar to last week's. He should have been right up there in the front, but you have to be full strength if you want to compete at the top."
The Tigers did this year what they basically did last year with the same group of runners in terms of running as a pack. The difference this year is that they just moved the pack up.
"It looks like we are in good shape," Grose said. "If things keep getting better and David gets healthy, we will be very competitive next week."
The Tigers finished in second place a commanding 41 points ahead of third-place Wawasee. The Warriors were paced by Pete Melendez's fourth-place finish.
"I am not unhappy with third place," Wawasee coach Dave Stookey said. "We just kind of wanted to have a chance at Warsaw, and that would have been second place.
"I was just a little concerned," he said. "Physically, I knew we were fine, but I didn't know where we were mentally. I couldn't have asked anymore out of them."
In the girls race, Wawasee finished third and NorthWood fourth as a team while Warsaw finished last but had Summer Boyd advance to the regional after finishing 12th.
Northridge dominated the sectional by winning its seventh straight title.
The top five teams and top 15 individuals advance to Saturday's regional at the same Ox Bow Course at 11 a.m.
Elkhart Central Cross Country Sectional
Girls
NORTHRIDGE 26, GOSHEN 85, WAWASEE 111, NORTHWOOD 113, ELHART MEMORIAL 137, CONCORD 158, ELKHART CENTRAL 161, FAIRFIELD 171, WARSAW 188
Top 15 - 1. Val Taft (NR) 15:41, 2. Joni Sheldon (G) 15:46, 3.Brooke Tobias (NW) 15:53, 4. Monica Spangle (NR) 15:55, 5. Mandy Hanje (NR) 15:56, 6. Tara Juntunen (NR) 15:57, 7. Kelli Lipps (EC) 15:58, 8. Julie Latzke (C) 16:00, 9. Katie McCauley (Waw) 16:10, 10. Erin Payne (NR) 16:13, 11. Heather Brown (F) 16:14, 12. Summer Boyd (War) 16:22, 13. Rashelle Simpson (EM) 16:25, 14. Carrie Kohlmeyer (F) 16:41, 15. Josie Caton (G) 16:42
Other Wawasee results - 21. Brenda Wong 17:04, 23. Megan Hoffman 17:09, 28. Laura Lundin 17:24, 30. Alisha Henderson 17:27, 33. Krista Bestul 17:42, 50. Mary Cockburn 18:42
Other NorthWood results - 19. Angela Callander 16:57, 20. Andee Morris 17:02, 34. Teresa Schuller 17:46, 41. Anne-Marie Zell 18:06, 46. Lindsay Carlin 18:32, 54. Stephanie Carner 18:48,
Other Warsaw results - 36. Rachel Cullison 17:57, 42. Kim Love 18:10, 45. Amy Robertson 18:20, 53, Julie Wilhite 18:47, 56. Kim Fluke 18:50, 60. Ashley Blue 19:52
Boys
GOSHEN 28, WARSAW 59, WAWASEE 100, ELKHART MEMORIAL 122, ELKHART CENTRAL 140, NORTHRIDGE 147, CONCORD 148, FAIRFIELD 177, NORTHWOOD 221, BETHANY CHRISTIAN 295, JIMTOWN 345
Top 15 - 1. Jeff Payne (G) 16:57, 2. James Myers (C) 16:59, 3. Andrew McKalips (G) 17:02, 4. Pete Melendez (Waw) 17:03, 5. Kris Allen (G) 17:13, 6. Jon McKalips (G) 17:14, 7. Will Woodward (War) 17:19, 8. Justin Rice (War) 17:25, 9. Brady Gibney (EM) 17:26, 10. Dusty Lytle (Waw) 17:32, 11. Aaron Hoover (NW), 12. Greg Patrick (War) 17:35, 13. Curt Martini (G) 17:36, 14. Eric Murto (G), 15. Don Kennedy (War) 17:38
Other Warsaw results - 17. David Hoffert 17:41, 45. Chris Gackenheimer 18:45, 49, Michael Jenks 18:54
Other Wawasee results - 16. Jeff Moerchen 17:38, 23. Jerid Stoffel 17:56, 47. Rob Chalfant 18:51, 50. Peter Wagoner 18:54, 52. Ken McIntosh 18:56
Other NorthWood results - 42. Mark Davidhizar 18:38, 53. Andrew Rummel 18:57, 55. Jason Meyers 19:27, 60. Jonathan Lechlitner 19:58, 69. Matthew Miller 21:26, 71. Jeremy Sarber 22:01 [[In-content Ad]]