Warsaw Boys Get Past Wawasee
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
With the Northern Lakes Conference in an upheaval, Warsaw and Wawasee had a chance to take control of second place on Tuesday in boys cross country.
Unbeaten Goshen sits alone at the top, but that stool has lost a leg or two. Goshen's top runner may be out for the year with a broken collarbone. That only made this meet larger because the Redskins seem to be ripe for the picking, and it was on the mind of the coaches.
"Goshen is the team to beat," Warsaw head coach Jeff Grose said. "We know their top runner is out and there are rumors about some of the other guys whether they are in the best condition they can be in. I really think we have a chance to compete with them."
"Somebody out there is capable of knocking them off," Wawasee coach Dave Stookey said. "They're an excellent team, but no team can afford to lose their No. 1 runner."
With that in mind, Wawasee went to Warsaw with one thing in mind - victory. After winning only one conference meet last year, the Warriors could use this meet as a gauge as to how far the program had come in one short year.
However, Warsaw's depth flexed its muscle in a 24-32 victory.
Both Stookey and Grose expected Warsaw's David Hoffert to place first and he did. Nothing unusual there. But Stookey was hoping that his team could control second and third place. He didn't figure on Will Woodward stepping up and displaying the leadership that a senior should. That was the problem. Woodward took that coveted second-place finish to help the Tigers get by Wawasee.
"Will hasn't been around for a couple of weeks because of sickness," Grose said. "He ran with us over the weekend. We could see that he was getting stronger, and we knew that he could do some damage and help us. I didn't know that he could finish second. I saw him coming off the turnaround and I was hoping that he could hold them off, because early in the year, he was having trouble finishing. It was a really big score for us."
Pete Melendez, Jeff Moerchen and Dusty Lytle took the next three spots for Wawasee, but Jerid Stoffel, who usually runs equal with those three, slipped to ninth place. Greg Patrick, Justin Rice and Don Kennedy broke up Wawasee's top four runners with sixth through eighth place.
"It was a big meet for us," Grose said. "We knew it was going to be close. I'm really happy for the kids. We knew that we could take second if we continue to run well."
"I told the guys if we could get by Warsaw today then we'd only have one loss," Stookey said. "Then, if by miracle of miracles, we could happen to beat Goshen, then we could tie them in the conference. Maybe that weighed too heavily on their minds. We beat 20th-ranked Warren Central on Saturday. Maybe Warsaw ought to be ranked?"
A frustrated and confused Stookey decided that his team needed to go back to what his team was doing before.
"We're going to have more morning practices," Stookey said. "We need more emphasis on what we were doing before. Not that we changed much of anything, but we need to go back to the basics. I've never been able to tell whether these kids are mentally ready to run a race. Maybe, I got them too pumped. I keep thinking that we need to ease up with these young guys. But, we'll be back. I think we'll run stronger in the conference and the sectional."
On the girls side, Summer Boyd continued to impress for Warsaw, taking first place overall. However, Wawasee came up with the next six spots to run over the Tigers 20-39. Both Boyd and Katie McCauley were looking forward to the chance to run against each other and Boyd came out on top this time.
"(McCauley) is capable of catching her if she stays on top of it," Wawasee head coach Betsy Hoffman said. "She wanted to beat (Boyd) tonight, but she didn't quite get it all together."
"Summer really wanted this win," Warsaw coach Paul Sibray said. "She was nervous about it. I hope this sets her up for conference."
Warsaw and Wawasee will be at the Manchester Invitational on Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m.
BOYS: WARSAW 24, WAWASEE 32
Results - 1. Hoffert (War) 16:56, 2. Woodward (War) 17:15, 3. Melendez (Waw) 17:18, 4. Moerchen (Waw) 17:25, 5. Lytle (Waw) 17:31, 6. Patrick (War) 17:35, 7. Rice (War) 17:38, 8. Kennedy (War) 17:42, 9. Stoffel (Waw) 18:11, 10. Gackenheimer (War) 18:20, 11. Chalfant (Waw) 18:33, 12. Jenks (War) 18:35, 13. Young (Waw) 18:37, 14. Granger (War) 18:39, 15. Sibray (War) 18:46, 16. McIntosh (Waw) 18:47, 17. Robertson (War) 18:56, 18. Wagoner (Waw) 19:07, 19. Krallman (War) 19:13, 20. Sweatland (War) 19:16, 21. Shoemaker (War) 19:18, 22. Conley (War) 19:35, 23. Fussle (War) 19:37, 24. Coquillard (Waw) 19:46, 25. Miller (War) 20:05, 26. Riderman (War) 20:15, 27. Gackenheimer (War) 20:24, 28. Zellers (War) 20:28, 29. Peters (War) 20:32, 30. Forney (War) 20:35, 31. Popenfoose (Waw) 21:44, 32. Waugh (Waw) 21:54, 33. Germeaux (War) 22:03, 34. Moore (War) 22:08
GIRLS: WAWASEE 20, WARSAW 39
Results - 1. Boyd (War) 16:39, 2. McCauley (Waw) 17:00, 3. Henderson (Waw) 17:18, 4. Hoffman (Waw) 17:37, 5. Wong (Waw) 17:50, 6. Lundin (Waw) 18:00, 7. Bestul (Waw) 18:12, 8. Robertson (War) 18:17, 9. Cullison (War) 18:26, 10. Love (War) 18:47, 11. Bassford (War) 18:48, 12. Fluke (War) 19:06, 13. Cockburn (Waw) 19:29, 14. Blue (War) 19:50, 15. Blakeslee (Waw) 19:56, 16. Wilhite (War) 20:17, 17. Winston (War) 20:54, 18. Cupp (War) 21:24, 19. Harrold (War) 21:28, 20. Ellison (War) 22:14, 21. Hake (War) 22:56, 22. Mog (War) 25:33 [[In-content Ad]]
With the Northern Lakes Conference in an upheaval, Warsaw and Wawasee had a chance to take control of second place on Tuesday in boys cross country.
Unbeaten Goshen sits alone at the top, but that stool has lost a leg or two. Goshen's top runner may be out for the year with a broken collarbone. That only made this meet larger because the Redskins seem to be ripe for the picking, and it was on the mind of the coaches.
"Goshen is the team to beat," Warsaw head coach Jeff Grose said. "We know their top runner is out and there are rumors about some of the other guys whether they are in the best condition they can be in. I really think we have a chance to compete with them."
"Somebody out there is capable of knocking them off," Wawasee coach Dave Stookey said. "They're an excellent team, but no team can afford to lose their No. 1 runner."
With that in mind, Wawasee went to Warsaw with one thing in mind - victory. After winning only one conference meet last year, the Warriors could use this meet as a gauge as to how far the program had come in one short year.
However, Warsaw's depth flexed its muscle in a 24-32 victory.
Both Stookey and Grose expected Warsaw's David Hoffert to place first and he did. Nothing unusual there. But Stookey was hoping that his team could control second and third place. He didn't figure on Will Woodward stepping up and displaying the leadership that a senior should. That was the problem. Woodward took that coveted second-place finish to help the Tigers get by Wawasee.
"Will hasn't been around for a couple of weeks because of sickness," Grose said. "He ran with us over the weekend. We could see that he was getting stronger, and we knew that he could do some damage and help us. I didn't know that he could finish second. I saw him coming off the turnaround and I was hoping that he could hold them off, because early in the year, he was having trouble finishing. It was a really big score for us."
Pete Melendez, Jeff Moerchen and Dusty Lytle took the next three spots for Wawasee, but Jerid Stoffel, who usually runs equal with those three, slipped to ninth place. Greg Patrick, Justin Rice and Don Kennedy broke up Wawasee's top four runners with sixth through eighth place.
"It was a big meet for us," Grose said. "We knew it was going to be close. I'm really happy for the kids. We knew that we could take second if we continue to run well."
"I told the guys if we could get by Warsaw today then we'd only have one loss," Stookey said. "Then, if by miracle of miracles, we could happen to beat Goshen, then we could tie them in the conference. Maybe that weighed too heavily on their minds. We beat 20th-ranked Warren Central on Saturday. Maybe Warsaw ought to be ranked?"
A frustrated and confused Stookey decided that his team needed to go back to what his team was doing before.
"We're going to have more morning practices," Stookey said. "We need more emphasis on what we were doing before. Not that we changed much of anything, but we need to go back to the basics. I've never been able to tell whether these kids are mentally ready to run a race. Maybe, I got them too pumped. I keep thinking that we need to ease up with these young guys. But, we'll be back. I think we'll run stronger in the conference and the sectional."
On the girls side, Summer Boyd continued to impress for Warsaw, taking first place overall. However, Wawasee came up with the next six spots to run over the Tigers 20-39. Both Boyd and Katie McCauley were looking forward to the chance to run against each other and Boyd came out on top this time.
"(McCauley) is capable of catching her if she stays on top of it," Wawasee head coach Betsy Hoffman said. "She wanted to beat (Boyd) tonight, but she didn't quite get it all together."
"Summer really wanted this win," Warsaw coach Paul Sibray said. "She was nervous about it. I hope this sets her up for conference."
Warsaw and Wawasee will be at the Manchester Invitational on Saturday beginning at 9:30 a.m.
BOYS: WARSAW 24, WAWASEE 32
Results - 1. Hoffert (War) 16:56, 2. Woodward (War) 17:15, 3. Melendez (Waw) 17:18, 4. Moerchen (Waw) 17:25, 5. Lytle (Waw) 17:31, 6. Patrick (War) 17:35, 7. Rice (War) 17:38, 8. Kennedy (War) 17:42, 9. Stoffel (Waw) 18:11, 10. Gackenheimer (War) 18:20, 11. Chalfant (Waw) 18:33, 12. Jenks (War) 18:35, 13. Young (Waw) 18:37, 14. Granger (War) 18:39, 15. Sibray (War) 18:46, 16. McIntosh (Waw) 18:47, 17. Robertson (War) 18:56, 18. Wagoner (Waw) 19:07, 19. Krallman (War) 19:13, 20. Sweatland (War) 19:16, 21. Shoemaker (War) 19:18, 22. Conley (War) 19:35, 23. Fussle (War) 19:37, 24. Coquillard (Waw) 19:46, 25. Miller (War) 20:05, 26. Riderman (War) 20:15, 27. Gackenheimer (War) 20:24, 28. Zellers (War) 20:28, 29. Peters (War) 20:32, 30. Forney (War) 20:35, 31. Popenfoose (Waw) 21:44, 32. Waugh (Waw) 21:54, 33. Germeaux (War) 22:03, 34. Moore (War) 22:08
GIRLS: WAWASEE 20, WARSAW 39
Results - 1. Boyd (War) 16:39, 2. McCauley (Waw) 17:00, 3. Henderson (Waw) 17:18, 4. Hoffman (Waw) 17:37, 5. Wong (Waw) 17:50, 6. Lundin (Waw) 18:00, 7. Bestul (Waw) 18:12, 8. Robertson (War) 18:17, 9. Cullison (War) 18:26, 10. Love (War) 18:47, 11. Bassford (War) 18:48, 12. Fluke (War) 19:06, 13. Cockburn (Waw) 19:29, 14. Blue (War) 19:50, 15. Blakeslee (Waw) 19:56, 16. Wilhite (War) 20:17, 17. Winston (War) 20:54, 18. Cupp (War) 21:24, 19. Harrold (War) 21:28, 20. Ellison (War) 22:14, 21. Hake (War) 22:56, 22. Mog (War) 25:33 [[In-content Ad]]