Warriors Win 3rd Straight X-Country Title
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
DUNLAP - Another year, more repeat performances.
Like the last two years, Wawasee's boys cross country team won the Elkhart Sectional.
Like the last two years, Northridge's girls cross country team placed first and Warsaw second in the Elkhart Sectional.
Saturday's races at Ox Bow Park went the way Warsaw girls coach Paul Sibray and Wawasee boys coach Dave Stookey thought they would.
"We figured Northridge would win," Sibray said. "They beat us by 30 points last week, so we kind of figured it would be hard to get them, but we counted on running a good race. We just wanted to make sure we got out to regional."
The Wawasee boys, ranked No. 18, won their third straight sectional title but took a different route in getting to the championship. All season senior Rob Chalfant has been Wawasee's top runner, but he finished No. 2 for Wawasee and No. 4 overall. Wawasee's Flaco Perales finished third overall.
"Rob has not gone to practice, he's been sick on top of that, and he was in every Homecoming activity this week," Stookey said of Chalfant, who placed second in last year's sectional. "I thought it would be pressing him to win it. He did real well to finish fourth."
The top five teams and top 15 individuals advance to Saturday's regional, also at Ox Bow Park. Warsaw's boys team placed fifth to get past the sectional for the first time since 1997.
In the girls meet, the top five teams were Northridge (46), Warsaw (62), Goshen (75), Elkhart Memorial (120) and NorthWood (122).
The top five boys teams were No. 18 Wawasee (45), No. 20 Northridge (54), Elkhart Memorial (110), Elkhart Central (119) and Warsaw (152).
Fairfield did not advance to the regional, but Fairfield had the top runner in the boys race. Thomas Wolfe won with a time of 16:27. For first-place team Wawasee, Perales finished third in 16:36 and was followed by Chalfant (16:53, fourth), Luke Stoffel (17:18, ninth), Ryan Stichter (17:31, 13th) and Matt Dunithan (17:42, 16th).
"Flaco Perales definitely rose up," Stookey said. "Matt Dunithan had been running seven, eight or nine. He came out of nowhere to finish fifth for us.
"Those kind of things make the difference."
Northridge's Natalie Ewing won last week's Northern Lakes Conference race at this course, and she won Saturday's sectional with a record time of 15:12. Warsaw's Hilary Barlow finished 27 seconds behind for second place.
Also for Northridge, Brittany Fearnow placed eighth (16:08), Darlene Garman 10th (16:16), Tiffany Brenneman 12th and Missy Lantzer 15th (16:43).
For Warsaw, Jennifer Finch placed third (15:50), Rachel Rondeau fifth (16:01), Melonie Albert 25th (17:11) and Jessica Wehrly 27th (17:19).
The Northridge girls recently have had Warsaw's number, as the Raiders beat the Tigers in the regular-season meet, at last week's NLC Tournament and now at sectional. Warsaw has finished second to Northridge in the last three sectional meets.
"I thought we had a good race all the way down the line," Sibray said. "At this stage, it's important that your four, five and six girls run strong. We ran as good of a race as we could have. We were stronger this week, as Northridge beat us by 16 after beating us by 30 a week ago."
Warsaw's boys team arguably took the most unconventional route into the regional.
Warsaw's best finish was 24th place, but the Tigers still advanced as all of their scoring runners placed between 24th and 35th. Cross country coaches talk of running in packs, and Warsaw did that as Robert Peters placed 24th (18:12), Matt Krallman 29th (18:22), Jake Sweatland 30th (18:23), Zach Woodward 34th (18:31) and Michael Jenks 35th (18:35).
Jake Sweatland has been Warsaw's No. 1 runner and Robert Peters the No. 3 runner, but they switched roles in the sectional.
"Jake has had a bum leg," Warsaw coach Jim Mills said. "He's just had some nagging injuries. He didn't hardly run all week, and it showed. He ran No. 3 for us instead of No. 1.
"Robert Peters ran a tremendous race. He had never finished first for us, but he took charge and finished first for us today. Then we had Matt Krallman run two, Jake run three, Zach Woodward run four, Michael Jenks run five and Matt Lankford sixth. It made a difference because our guys finished in front of Jimtown's three, four and five guys.
"I thought we could have done as well as third or fourth, but we just wanted to get out. With Jake hurting, it made it tougher on us."
Jimtown finished 10 points behind Warsaw for sixth place. Jimtown's Ryan Woolwine placed 10th and Brad Newcomer 20th, but after that, no Jimtown runner placed higher than 38th.
While Stookey was thrilled Wawasee has won back-to-back-to-back titles, he also tempered his enthusiasm.
"We won sectional last year," he said, "but we didn't get out of regional."
The regional takes place at 11 a.m. Saturday at Ox Bow Park.
2000 ELKHART CENTRAL CROSS COUNTRY SECTIONAL
Saturday at Ox Bow Park in Dunlap
GIRLS -Ê1. Northridge 46, 2. Warsaw 62, 3. Goshen 75, 4. Elkhart Memorial 120, 5. NorthWood 122, 6. Wawasee 176, 7. Fairfield 210, 8. Elkhart Central 216, 9. Jimtown 242, 10. Concord 264, 11. Bethany Christian 277
Course length - 5K
Record - 15:12
*does not count toward team score
Top 15 individual results - 1. Natalie Ewing (NR) 15:12, 2. Hillary Barlow (WAR) 15:39, 3. Jennifer Finch (WAR) 15:50, 4. Josie Caton (GOS) 15:57, 5. Rachel Rondeau (WAR) 16:01, 6. Lynne Gruenewald (GOS) 16:05, 7. Sarah Thompson (BC) 17:06, 8. Brittany Fearnow (NR) 16:08, 9. Stacy Matteson (EM)
16:12, 10. Darlene Garman (NR) 16:16, 11. Rashelle Simpson (EM) 16:18, 12. Tiffany Brenneman (NR) 16:23, 13. Brittany Winchester (WAW) 16:24, 14. Jenna Rozelle (GOS) 16:28, 15. Missy Lantzer (NR) 16:43
Other local results - 17. Kara Huff (NW) 16:48, 21. Heide Schneider (NW) 17:00, 23. Nina Bearss (NW) 17:02, 25. Melonie Albert (WAR) 17:11, 26. Leslie Hawkins (NW) 17:18, 27. Jessica Wehrly (WAR) 17:19, 29. *Jill Wehrly (WAR) 17:22, 30. Jessica Lundgren (WAW) 17:26, 34. *Amy Robertson (WAR) 17:38, 35. Andrea Jenkins (NW) 17:39, 39. *Cortnie Sandy (NW) 18:03, 40. Kayla Auer (WAW) 18:08, 43. *Teresa Schuller (NW) 18:15, 45. Meghan Lantz (WAW) 18:18, 48. Shannon Mumma (WAW) 18:37, 52. *Mandie Sawyer (WAW) 18:43, 67. Crystal Fawley (WAW) 19:46
BOYS - 1. Wawasee 45. 2. Northridge 54, 3. Elkhart Memorial 110, 4. Elkhart Central 119, 5. Warsaw 152, 6. Jimtown 162, 7. Fairfield 168, 8. Concord 182, 9. Goshen 222, 10. NorthWood 235, 11. Bethany Christian 339
Course length - 8K
Record - 15:20
*does not count toward team score
Top 15 individual results - 1. Thomas Wolfe (FF) 16:27, 2. Matthew Cummins (EM) 16:28, 3. Paul Perales (WAW) 16:36, 4. Rob Chalfant (WAW) 16:53, 5. Ryan Nord (NR) 16:58, 6. Kevin Yoder (NR) 17:03, 7. David Owens (EC) 17:31, 8. Rob Whirledge (FF) 17:10, 9. Luke Stoffel (WAW) 17:18, 10. Ryan Woolwine (JIM) 17:21, 11. Luke Fisher (NR) 17:28, 12. Mike Pillow (CON) 17:29, 13. Ryan Stichter (WAW) 17:31, 14. Ryan Matteson (EM) 17:34, 15. Ryan Toth (NR) 17:35
Other local results - 16. Matt Dunithan (WAW) 17:42, 23. *Curtis Farrell (WAW) 18:12, 24. Robert Peters (WAR) 18:12, 27. Andrew Yoder (NW) 18:18, 29. Matt Krallman (WAR) 18:22, 30. Jake Sweatland (WAR) 18:23, 34. Zach Woodward (WAR) 18:31, 35. Michael Jenks (WAR) 18:35, 37. *Matt Lankford (WAR) 18:44, 47. *Landon Geiger (WAR) 19:11, 50. James Geleske (NW) 19:30, 51. Jonathan Lechlitner (NW) 19:31, 52. Blain McDowell (NW) 19:32, 53. *Eric Gingerich (WAW) 19:33, 55. Jody Sarber (NW) 19:46, 64. *Brent Paulus (NW) 20:31 [[In-content Ad]]
DUNLAP - Another year, more repeat performances.
Like the last two years, Wawasee's boys cross country team won the Elkhart Sectional.
Like the last two years, Northridge's girls cross country team placed first and Warsaw second in the Elkhart Sectional.
Saturday's races at Ox Bow Park went the way Warsaw girls coach Paul Sibray and Wawasee boys coach Dave Stookey thought they would.
"We figured Northridge would win," Sibray said. "They beat us by 30 points last week, so we kind of figured it would be hard to get them, but we counted on running a good race. We just wanted to make sure we got out to regional."
The Wawasee boys, ranked No. 18, won their third straight sectional title but took a different route in getting to the championship. All season senior Rob Chalfant has been Wawasee's top runner, but he finished No. 2 for Wawasee and No. 4 overall. Wawasee's Flaco Perales finished third overall.
"Rob has not gone to practice, he's been sick on top of that, and he was in every Homecoming activity this week," Stookey said of Chalfant, who placed second in last year's sectional. "I thought it would be pressing him to win it. He did real well to finish fourth."
The top five teams and top 15 individuals advance to Saturday's regional, also at Ox Bow Park. Warsaw's boys team placed fifth to get past the sectional for the first time since 1997.
In the girls meet, the top five teams were Northridge (46), Warsaw (62), Goshen (75), Elkhart Memorial (120) and NorthWood (122).
The top five boys teams were No. 18 Wawasee (45), No. 20 Northridge (54), Elkhart Memorial (110), Elkhart Central (119) and Warsaw (152).
Fairfield did not advance to the regional, but Fairfield had the top runner in the boys race. Thomas Wolfe won with a time of 16:27. For first-place team Wawasee, Perales finished third in 16:36 and was followed by Chalfant (16:53, fourth), Luke Stoffel (17:18, ninth), Ryan Stichter (17:31, 13th) and Matt Dunithan (17:42, 16th).
"Flaco Perales definitely rose up," Stookey said. "Matt Dunithan had been running seven, eight or nine. He came out of nowhere to finish fifth for us.
"Those kind of things make the difference."
Northridge's Natalie Ewing won last week's Northern Lakes Conference race at this course, and she won Saturday's sectional with a record time of 15:12. Warsaw's Hilary Barlow finished 27 seconds behind for second place.
Also for Northridge, Brittany Fearnow placed eighth (16:08), Darlene Garman 10th (16:16), Tiffany Brenneman 12th and Missy Lantzer 15th (16:43).
For Warsaw, Jennifer Finch placed third (15:50), Rachel Rondeau fifth (16:01), Melonie Albert 25th (17:11) and Jessica Wehrly 27th (17:19).
The Northridge girls recently have had Warsaw's number, as the Raiders beat the Tigers in the regular-season meet, at last week's NLC Tournament and now at sectional. Warsaw has finished second to Northridge in the last three sectional meets.
"I thought we had a good race all the way down the line," Sibray said. "At this stage, it's important that your four, five and six girls run strong. We ran as good of a race as we could have. We were stronger this week, as Northridge beat us by 16 after beating us by 30 a week ago."
Warsaw's boys team arguably took the most unconventional route into the regional.
Warsaw's best finish was 24th place, but the Tigers still advanced as all of their scoring runners placed between 24th and 35th. Cross country coaches talk of running in packs, and Warsaw did that as Robert Peters placed 24th (18:12), Matt Krallman 29th (18:22), Jake Sweatland 30th (18:23), Zach Woodward 34th (18:31) and Michael Jenks 35th (18:35).
Jake Sweatland has been Warsaw's No. 1 runner and Robert Peters the No. 3 runner, but they switched roles in the sectional.
"Jake has had a bum leg," Warsaw coach Jim Mills said. "He's just had some nagging injuries. He didn't hardly run all week, and it showed. He ran No. 3 for us instead of No. 1.
"Robert Peters ran a tremendous race. He had never finished first for us, but he took charge and finished first for us today. Then we had Matt Krallman run two, Jake run three, Zach Woodward run four, Michael Jenks run five and Matt Lankford sixth. It made a difference because our guys finished in front of Jimtown's three, four and five guys.
"I thought we could have done as well as third or fourth, but we just wanted to get out. With Jake hurting, it made it tougher on us."
Jimtown finished 10 points behind Warsaw for sixth place. Jimtown's Ryan Woolwine placed 10th and Brad Newcomer 20th, but after that, no Jimtown runner placed higher than 38th.
While Stookey was thrilled Wawasee has won back-to-back-to-back titles, he also tempered his enthusiasm.
"We won sectional last year," he said, "but we didn't get out of regional."
The regional takes place at 11 a.m. Saturday at Ox Bow Park.
2000 ELKHART CENTRAL CROSS COUNTRY SECTIONAL
Saturday at Ox Bow Park in Dunlap
GIRLS -Ê1. Northridge 46, 2. Warsaw 62, 3. Goshen 75, 4. Elkhart Memorial 120, 5. NorthWood 122, 6. Wawasee 176, 7. Fairfield 210, 8. Elkhart Central 216, 9. Jimtown 242, 10. Concord 264, 11. Bethany Christian 277
Course length - 5K
Record - 15:12
*does not count toward team score
Top 15 individual results - 1. Natalie Ewing (NR) 15:12, 2. Hillary Barlow (WAR) 15:39, 3. Jennifer Finch (WAR) 15:50, 4. Josie Caton (GOS) 15:57, 5. Rachel Rondeau (WAR) 16:01, 6. Lynne Gruenewald (GOS) 16:05, 7. Sarah Thompson (BC) 17:06, 8. Brittany Fearnow (NR) 16:08, 9. Stacy Matteson (EM)
16:12, 10. Darlene Garman (NR) 16:16, 11. Rashelle Simpson (EM) 16:18, 12. Tiffany Brenneman (NR) 16:23, 13. Brittany Winchester (WAW) 16:24, 14. Jenna Rozelle (GOS) 16:28, 15. Missy Lantzer (NR) 16:43
Other local results - 17. Kara Huff (NW) 16:48, 21. Heide Schneider (NW) 17:00, 23. Nina Bearss (NW) 17:02, 25. Melonie Albert (WAR) 17:11, 26. Leslie Hawkins (NW) 17:18, 27. Jessica Wehrly (WAR) 17:19, 29. *Jill Wehrly (WAR) 17:22, 30. Jessica Lundgren (WAW) 17:26, 34. *Amy Robertson (WAR) 17:38, 35. Andrea Jenkins (NW) 17:39, 39. *Cortnie Sandy (NW) 18:03, 40. Kayla Auer (WAW) 18:08, 43. *Teresa Schuller (NW) 18:15, 45. Meghan Lantz (WAW) 18:18, 48. Shannon Mumma (WAW) 18:37, 52. *Mandie Sawyer (WAW) 18:43, 67. Crystal Fawley (WAW) 19:46
BOYS - 1. Wawasee 45. 2. Northridge 54, 3. Elkhart Memorial 110, 4. Elkhart Central 119, 5. Warsaw 152, 6. Jimtown 162, 7. Fairfield 168, 8. Concord 182, 9. Goshen 222, 10. NorthWood 235, 11. Bethany Christian 339
Course length - 8K
Record - 15:20
*does not count toward team score
Top 15 individual results - 1. Thomas Wolfe (FF) 16:27, 2. Matthew Cummins (EM) 16:28, 3. Paul Perales (WAW) 16:36, 4. Rob Chalfant (WAW) 16:53, 5. Ryan Nord (NR) 16:58, 6. Kevin Yoder (NR) 17:03, 7. David Owens (EC) 17:31, 8. Rob Whirledge (FF) 17:10, 9. Luke Stoffel (WAW) 17:18, 10. Ryan Woolwine (JIM) 17:21, 11. Luke Fisher (NR) 17:28, 12. Mike Pillow (CON) 17:29, 13. Ryan Stichter (WAW) 17:31, 14. Ryan Matteson (EM) 17:34, 15. Ryan Toth (NR) 17:35
Other local results - 16. Matt Dunithan (WAW) 17:42, 23. *Curtis Farrell (WAW) 18:12, 24. Robert Peters (WAR) 18:12, 27. Andrew Yoder (NW) 18:18, 29. Matt Krallman (WAR) 18:22, 30. Jake Sweatland (WAR) 18:23, 34. Zach Woodward (WAR) 18:31, 35. Michael Jenks (WAR) 18:35, 37. *Matt Lankford (WAR) 18:44, 47. *Landon Geiger (WAR) 19:11, 50. James Geleske (NW) 19:30, 51. Jonathan Lechlitner (NW) 19:31, 52. Blain McDowell (NW) 19:32, 53. *Eric Gingerich (WAW) 19:33, 55. Jody Sarber (NW) 19:46, 64. *Brent Paulus (NW) 20:31 [[In-content Ad]]