Warsaw Girls CC Team Earns First Trip To State
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
NORTH MANCHESTER - Paul Sibray clapped his hands, raised his arms and let out a yell.
The coach had just watched his Warsaw girls cross country team run its best race of the season at Saturday's Manchester Semistate. The results were not official, but he believed they ran well enough to go to Saturday's state finals in Bloomington.
The Tigers did and will.
West Noble, ranked No. 5, won with a score of 91. Warsaw, ranked No. 19, took second with 113. The Tigers leapfrogged ranked teams like No. 12 Fort Wayne Northrop (fifth), No. 13 Northridge (seventh) and No. 18 DeKalb (eighth).
The trip to state as a team is the first for the Warsaw girls cross country program.
"We came in here thinking we were ranked seventh," Warsaw junior Hillary Barlow said. "We wanted to run as fast as we could, but we weren't expected to make it into the top five. We run better when we're chasing instead of being chased."
Barlow's personal-best time of 14:57 placed her seventh, but she was not the top Tiger. That honor went to sophomore Jennifer Finch, who finished fourth with her personal-best time of 14:48. New Castle's Katy Pryor won the girls race with a time of 14:28.
Also for Warsaw, Rachel Rondeau placed 15th, Summer Boyd 24th, Amy Robertson 63rd, Melonie Albert 96th and Cassie Noble 122nd.
"Rachel finished strong, Amy finished strong, Summer Boyd ... Hillary ran a good race," Sibray said. "Running is one of those things, if it's your day, it's your day. Today was Jennifer's day. Next week could be Rachel Rondeau's day.
"When you have three of the top 15 in this caliber of race, you're doing well."
Warsaw is not the only local school sending runners to the state finals. Wawasee junior Rob Chalfant, who finished 20th at last year's Manchester Semistate, placed 10th with a time of 16:08. Wabash's Curtis George won the boys race with a time of 15:25.
"I think I was about 10 seconds off the school record," Chalfant said. "If it was colder, I bet I could have done it. I like the course, but the thing I don't like is the sun. It was hot out today. At the regional, it was cold and rainy. That's my style."
Jason Douglas set Wawasee's record 10 years ago with a time of 15:56, also on the Manchester course.
Sibray knew Warsaw was doing well when he saw his harriers in front of Northridge's girls. Northridge had beaten Warsaw during the regular season meet, at the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament, at the Elkhart Sectional and at the Elkhart Regional.
"I saw some Northridge people behind our people, and we were ahead of West Noble for a little bit," Sibray said. "I knew we definitely had moved up."
After the 15-year-old Finch crossed the finish line and recorded her time, her family, including relatives who traveled from Ohio to watch her, hugged her.
"My goal coming in was to make it into the top 15," she said. "I was nervous about making it in."
#Not only did she make it in, she recorded her best time ever by about 30 seconds. Barlow recorded her best time ever by about 20 seconds.
Barlow has been battling hip troubles all season.
"It hurt at the beginning, and I was really worried because I had a bad start," she said. "Then it went away."
While both girls finished in the top 10, each had a different take on running styles and the course.
"This is my favorite course," Jennifer said. "I love flat courses. I go out fast and try to get up in the lead, because if I know I'm up in front and don't have to do any catching up, I run better."
Said Barlow: "This is my least favorite course. I love running on courses with hills. I get a map of the course during the week and plan how I'm going to run. I start out toward the back and pick people off."
The state finals take place Saturday at the Indiana University Golf Course in Bloomington. The girls begin at 1 p.m., and the boys race at 1:45 p.m.
MANCHESTER CROSS COUNTRY SEMISTATE
Girls (state rankings in parentheses)
Team results - 1. West Noble (No. 5) 91, 2. Warsaw (No. 19) 113, 3. Homestead (No. 10) 127, 4. Bellmont 134, 5. Fort Wayne Northrop (No. 12) 143, 6. New Castle 166, 7. Northridge (No. 13) 183, 8. DeKalb (No. 18) 186, 9. East Noble 254, 10. Richmond 254, 11. Delta 289, 12. Kokomo 348, 13. Northfield 383, 14. Marion 404, 15. Huntington North 408, 16. Southwood 408, 17. Muncie Central 432, 18. South Adams 436, 19. Yorktown 440, 20. Fort Wayne Snider 556
Top 15 times -Ê1. Katy Pryor (NC) 14:28, 2. Emily Harriman (WN) 14:34, 3. Natalie Shaffer (NC) 14:44, 4. Jennifer Finch (WAR) 14:48, 5. Amy Rodeghero (RICH) 14:52, 6. Aubrey Gaffer (FW NROP) 14:57, 7. Hillary Barlow (WAR) 14:57, 8. Susan Estep (WN) 14:58, 9. Stephanie Eilar (RICH) 15:00, 10. Darcy Flora (HOME) 15:02, 11. Christan Bahler (WESTERN) 15:03, 12. Alyson Reger (DEK) 15:04, 13. Margaret Reyling (BELL) 15:06, 14. Monica Spangle (NRIDGE) 15:07, 15. Megan Hardenbrooke (GARRETT) 15:08
Other Warsaw times (the first number indicates finish among all runners, including schools who sent individuals but no teams; the second number is the finish among schools that sent teams, excluding individuals) -Ê17. (15.) Rachel Rondeau 15:09, 26. (24.) Summer Boyd 15:29, 77. (63.) Amy Robertson 16:17, 114. (96.) Melonie Albert 16:56, 140. (122.) Cassie Noble 17:51
Other local results - 59. Lydia Flora (MANCHESTER) 16:02, 60. Angel Puckett (WHITKO) 16:02
Boys (state rankings in parentheses)
Team results - 1. Richmond (No. 7) 59, 2. Northfield (No. 11) 113, 3. Fort Wayne Northrop (No. 10) 119, 4. DeKalb (No. 14) 126, 5. Wabash (No. 17) 233, 6. East Noble 234, 7. Norwell 266, 8. Bellmont 270, 9. Elkhart Memorial 272, 10. Carroll (Allen) 273, 11. Fort Wayne North Side 273, 12. Elkhart Central 291, 13. Homestead 300, 14. Delta 309, 15. Kokomo 315, 16. Northridge 329, 17. Union City 394, 18. New Castle 395, 19. Muncie Central 444, 20. Marion 458
Top 15 times - 1. Kurtis George (WAB) 15:25, 2. Ryan Johnson (DEK) 15:49, 3. Ryan Johnson (RICH) 15:50, 4. Tom Wolfe (FAIRFIELD) 15:54, 5. Bret Grover (BLUFFTON) 16:01, 6. Sean Threewits (UNION CITY) 16:02, 7. Jon McKalips (GOSHEN) 16:05, 8. Scott Hardaway (FW NROP) 16:06, 9. Jon Paarson (WEST NOBLE) 16:07, 10. Rob Chalfant (WAWASEE) 16:08, 11. Jason Parks (NFLD) 16:09, 12. Kris Scholtes (RICH) 16:09, 13. Andrew McKalips (GOSHEN) 16:10, 14. Scott Borchelt (CONCORDIA) 16:16, 15. Brian Mills (RICH) 16:17
Other local results -Ê16. Aaron Hoover (NORTHWOOD) 16:18, 57. Mark Davidhizar (NORTHWOOD) 17:06, 110. Jerid Stoffel (WAWASEE) 17:47 [[In-content Ad]]
NORTH MANCHESTER - Paul Sibray clapped his hands, raised his arms and let out a yell.
The coach had just watched his Warsaw girls cross country team run its best race of the season at Saturday's Manchester Semistate. The results were not official, but he believed they ran well enough to go to Saturday's state finals in Bloomington.
The Tigers did and will.
West Noble, ranked No. 5, won with a score of 91. Warsaw, ranked No. 19, took second with 113. The Tigers leapfrogged ranked teams like No. 12 Fort Wayne Northrop (fifth), No. 13 Northridge (seventh) and No. 18 DeKalb (eighth).
The trip to state as a team is the first for the Warsaw girls cross country program.
"We came in here thinking we were ranked seventh," Warsaw junior Hillary Barlow said. "We wanted to run as fast as we could, but we weren't expected to make it into the top five. We run better when we're chasing instead of being chased."
Barlow's personal-best time of 14:57 placed her seventh, but she was not the top Tiger. That honor went to sophomore Jennifer Finch, who finished fourth with her personal-best time of 14:48. New Castle's Katy Pryor won the girls race with a time of 14:28.
Also for Warsaw, Rachel Rondeau placed 15th, Summer Boyd 24th, Amy Robertson 63rd, Melonie Albert 96th and Cassie Noble 122nd.
"Rachel finished strong, Amy finished strong, Summer Boyd ... Hillary ran a good race," Sibray said. "Running is one of those things, if it's your day, it's your day. Today was Jennifer's day. Next week could be Rachel Rondeau's day.
"When you have three of the top 15 in this caliber of race, you're doing well."
Warsaw is not the only local school sending runners to the state finals. Wawasee junior Rob Chalfant, who finished 20th at last year's Manchester Semistate, placed 10th with a time of 16:08. Wabash's Curtis George won the boys race with a time of 15:25.
"I think I was about 10 seconds off the school record," Chalfant said. "If it was colder, I bet I could have done it. I like the course, but the thing I don't like is the sun. It was hot out today. At the regional, it was cold and rainy. That's my style."
Jason Douglas set Wawasee's record 10 years ago with a time of 15:56, also on the Manchester course.
Sibray knew Warsaw was doing well when he saw his harriers in front of Northridge's girls. Northridge had beaten Warsaw during the regular season meet, at the Northern Lakes Conference Tournament, at the Elkhart Sectional and at the Elkhart Regional.
"I saw some Northridge people behind our people, and we were ahead of West Noble for a little bit," Sibray said. "I knew we definitely had moved up."
After the 15-year-old Finch crossed the finish line and recorded her time, her family, including relatives who traveled from Ohio to watch her, hugged her.
"My goal coming in was to make it into the top 15," she said. "I was nervous about making it in."
#Not only did she make it in, she recorded her best time ever by about 30 seconds. Barlow recorded her best time ever by about 20 seconds.
Barlow has been battling hip troubles all season.
"It hurt at the beginning, and I was really worried because I had a bad start," she said. "Then it went away."
While both girls finished in the top 10, each had a different take on running styles and the course.
"This is my favorite course," Jennifer said. "I love flat courses. I go out fast and try to get up in the lead, because if I know I'm up in front and don't have to do any catching up, I run better."
Said Barlow: "This is my least favorite course. I love running on courses with hills. I get a map of the course during the week and plan how I'm going to run. I start out toward the back and pick people off."
The state finals take place Saturday at the Indiana University Golf Course in Bloomington. The girls begin at 1 p.m., and the boys race at 1:45 p.m.
MANCHESTER CROSS COUNTRY SEMISTATE
Girls (state rankings in parentheses)
Team results - 1. West Noble (No. 5) 91, 2. Warsaw (No. 19) 113, 3. Homestead (No. 10) 127, 4. Bellmont 134, 5. Fort Wayne Northrop (No. 12) 143, 6. New Castle 166, 7. Northridge (No. 13) 183, 8. DeKalb (No. 18) 186, 9. East Noble 254, 10. Richmond 254, 11. Delta 289, 12. Kokomo 348, 13. Northfield 383, 14. Marion 404, 15. Huntington North 408, 16. Southwood 408, 17. Muncie Central 432, 18. South Adams 436, 19. Yorktown 440, 20. Fort Wayne Snider 556
Top 15 times -Ê1. Katy Pryor (NC) 14:28, 2. Emily Harriman (WN) 14:34, 3. Natalie Shaffer (NC) 14:44, 4. Jennifer Finch (WAR) 14:48, 5. Amy Rodeghero (RICH) 14:52, 6. Aubrey Gaffer (FW NROP) 14:57, 7. Hillary Barlow (WAR) 14:57, 8. Susan Estep (WN) 14:58, 9. Stephanie Eilar (RICH) 15:00, 10. Darcy Flora (HOME) 15:02, 11. Christan Bahler (WESTERN) 15:03, 12. Alyson Reger (DEK) 15:04, 13. Margaret Reyling (BELL) 15:06, 14. Monica Spangle (NRIDGE) 15:07, 15. Megan Hardenbrooke (GARRETT) 15:08
Other Warsaw times (the first number indicates finish among all runners, including schools who sent individuals but no teams; the second number is the finish among schools that sent teams, excluding individuals) -Ê17. (15.) Rachel Rondeau 15:09, 26. (24.) Summer Boyd 15:29, 77. (63.) Amy Robertson 16:17, 114. (96.) Melonie Albert 16:56, 140. (122.) Cassie Noble 17:51
Other local results - 59. Lydia Flora (MANCHESTER) 16:02, 60. Angel Puckett (WHITKO) 16:02
Boys (state rankings in parentheses)
Team results - 1. Richmond (No. 7) 59, 2. Northfield (No. 11) 113, 3. Fort Wayne Northrop (No. 10) 119, 4. DeKalb (No. 14) 126, 5. Wabash (No. 17) 233, 6. East Noble 234, 7. Norwell 266, 8. Bellmont 270, 9. Elkhart Memorial 272, 10. Carroll (Allen) 273, 11. Fort Wayne North Side 273, 12. Elkhart Central 291, 13. Homestead 300, 14. Delta 309, 15. Kokomo 315, 16. Northridge 329, 17. Union City 394, 18. New Castle 395, 19. Muncie Central 444, 20. Marion 458
Top 15 times - 1. Kurtis George (WAB) 15:25, 2. Ryan Johnson (DEK) 15:49, 3. Ryan Johnson (RICH) 15:50, 4. Tom Wolfe (FAIRFIELD) 15:54, 5. Bret Grover (BLUFFTON) 16:01, 6. Sean Threewits (UNION CITY) 16:02, 7. Jon McKalips (GOSHEN) 16:05, 8. Scott Hardaway (FW NROP) 16:06, 9. Jon Paarson (WEST NOBLE) 16:07, 10. Rob Chalfant (WAWASEE) 16:08, 11. Jason Parks (NFLD) 16:09, 12. Kris Scholtes (RICH) 16:09, 13. Andrew McKalips (GOSHEN) 16:10, 14. Scott Borchelt (CONCORDIA) 16:16, 15. Brian Mills (RICH) 16:17
Other local results -Ê16. Aaron Hoover (NORTHWOOD) 16:18, 57. Mark Davidhizar (NORTHWOOD) 17:06, 110. Jerid Stoffel (WAWASEE) 17:47 [[In-content Ad]]