Warsaw Harriers Aim For Top-Five Finish
July 28, 2016 at 4:25 p.m.
By Anthony [email protected]
“It's definitely attainable,” Warsaw junior Ellis Coon said about competing in Saturday’s 1:45 p.m. state finals meet at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute. “We have three guys that could finish in the top 20, which is really respectable. So, having two more guys where they should be, it could put us right in the top five.”
During this year’s postseason, including the Northern Lakes Conference, the trio has finished in the top five all four times, excluding the sectional when senior Jake Poyner sat out.
“With all three of us coming in the top five, it’s been pretty sweet from the hype side of it,” Poyner said. “But we know if we get two more guys to step up – and we have to step up too – but if we get five of us to step up, we can do great things at the (state) meet.”
Poyner has been Warsaw’s No. 1 runner this season, but Coon and senior Robert Murphy have been right there with him.
At the NLC meet, Coon finished first, followed by Murphy in second and Poyner in third.
A week later, with Poyner sitting out the Culver Academies Sectional, Murphy was second and Coon finished fourth.
Back in Culver for the regional, Poyner claimed the championship, with Coon and Murphy placing second and third, respectively.
And in their latest race, Saturday at the New Prairie Semistate, Poyner was second, Murphy was fourth and Coon came in fifth.
“We're hoping to have three all-state runners Saturday and they could definitely do it,” Warsaw boys coach Jim Mills said about his top three, who would need to finish in the top 25 for all-state honors.
The guys will be joined by senior Brysten James, sophomore Michael Compton, sophomore Daniel Messenger and freshman Owen Glogovsky.
Going against the top teams in the state, Mills knows his guys will need to run their best.
“(We can finish in the top five) if we can get a low enough score from those top three, then we just hope our (Nos.) four and five runners can run fast enough,” Mills said. “That's about the simplest way to put it. We're really close.”
Luckily for him, he’ll have three of the top runners at the meet on his team.
“It starts at practice,” Coon said. “It's really been beneficial. I remember last year, being the No. 2 runner for the majority of the season, but there was no way I could keep up with Jake in practice. Giving us another year to get acclimated to the level of training that we have to do. Robert, Jake and myself have been able to step up and run at the same type of level of competition, which gets us ranked high in the state. It's been real beneficial to each have two people to train with.”
Last season, Poyner was easily the team’s top runner, but through training, the other guys have closed the gap.
“In our training, all of a sudden I have two guys with me,” Poyner said. “So, it's pushing each other and working together. It's helped us all out.”
And by pushing each other, the guys are hoping to put last year’s state finals appearance behind them.
Warsaw’s state finals trip in 2011 was only the second time the team had reached that level, and the team finished 15th.
Poyner’s 61st-place finish led last year’s team, while Ismael Calderon was 94th, Coon was 96th, Murphy was 102nd and the graduated Michael Smolen rounded out the scoring by finishing 153rd.
“I was burning out big time,” Poyner said. “I was struggling with some emotional things, but my iron levels were also low at the end. Then, Ellis had shin issues. I remember the day before (the meet), he was in tears, just because he was so frustrated because his shins were hurting him. I just think for the rest of us, the experience was great. We were new to it. So, we don't really like to think about last year, except for the fact we know what to expect.”
Following that meet, the guys were reunited for the track season.
And after running track, the group took some time off before getting together to train for cross country.
“About three weeks after the state track meet, we start getting together as a group for cross country, depending on whether or not you need more time,” Coon said about the cross country team.
By spending so much time together, it always helps if the guys get along, and that’s something the Tigers do.
“One of the things about our sport that's a little different than other sports is, our guys hang out all the time,” Mills said. “You see freshmen with seniors. It's a little different camaraderie among cross country runners. They hang out together when we're away from practice, and we start about the second week of June, so they're together about five solid months. It's a pretty tight-knit group.”
Despite their love for the sport, even Poyner says the constant grind can become a bit much.
“There's times in the season when things start to get a little hard, especially in a sport where it's all just straight running,” he said. “But I feel like, after your rest period, being runners, we're pretty committed. Our legs start to itch and we need to get running again.”
For Poyner, Murphy and James, Saturday’s meet will be the last one they run for Mills, which is pretty bittersweet for the coach.
“It's going to be awful,” Mills said. “You get attached to these kids. With Robert, Jake and Brysten leaving, you get real close to your athletes. What they've done, as far as setting the bar, you can't thank them enough. It's going to be tough. I'm not going to like losing them and not just because they're good runners.”
With this being their last cross country race in Warsaw uniforms, underclassmen want to send the three seniors out right.
“All of us have put in so much work, that it would be a shame to have this be their last season and not have them go out as well as they wanted to,” Coon said.[[In-content Ad]]
“It's definitely attainable,” Warsaw junior Ellis Coon said about competing in Saturday’s 1:45 p.m. state finals meet at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute. “We have three guys that could finish in the top 20, which is really respectable. So, having two more guys where they should be, it could put us right in the top five.”
During this year’s postseason, including the Northern Lakes Conference, the trio has finished in the top five all four times, excluding the sectional when senior Jake Poyner sat out.
“With all three of us coming in the top five, it’s been pretty sweet from the hype side of it,” Poyner said. “But we know if we get two more guys to step up – and we have to step up too – but if we get five of us to step up, we can do great things at the (state) meet.”
Poyner has been Warsaw’s No. 1 runner this season, but Coon and senior Robert Murphy have been right there with him.
At the NLC meet, Coon finished first, followed by Murphy in second and Poyner in third.
A week later, with Poyner sitting out the Culver Academies Sectional, Murphy was second and Coon finished fourth.
Back in Culver for the regional, Poyner claimed the championship, with Coon and Murphy placing second and third, respectively.
And in their latest race, Saturday at the New Prairie Semistate, Poyner was second, Murphy was fourth and Coon came in fifth.
“We're hoping to have three all-state runners Saturday and they could definitely do it,” Warsaw boys coach Jim Mills said about his top three, who would need to finish in the top 25 for all-state honors.
The guys will be joined by senior Brysten James, sophomore Michael Compton, sophomore Daniel Messenger and freshman Owen Glogovsky.
Going against the top teams in the state, Mills knows his guys will need to run their best.
“(We can finish in the top five) if we can get a low enough score from those top three, then we just hope our (Nos.) four and five runners can run fast enough,” Mills said. “That's about the simplest way to put it. We're really close.”
Luckily for him, he’ll have three of the top runners at the meet on his team.
“It starts at practice,” Coon said. “It's really been beneficial. I remember last year, being the No. 2 runner for the majority of the season, but there was no way I could keep up with Jake in practice. Giving us another year to get acclimated to the level of training that we have to do. Robert, Jake and myself have been able to step up and run at the same type of level of competition, which gets us ranked high in the state. It's been real beneficial to each have two people to train with.”
Last season, Poyner was easily the team’s top runner, but through training, the other guys have closed the gap.
“In our training, all of a sudden I have two guys with me,” Poyner said. “So, it's pushing each other and working together. It's helped us all out.”
And by pushing each other, the guys are hoping to put last year’s state finals appearance behind them.
Warsaw’s state finals trip in 2011 was only the second time the team had reached that level, and the team finished 15th.
Poyner’s 61st-place finish led last year’s team, while Ismael Calderon was 94th, Coon was 96th, Murphy was 102nd and the graduated Michael Smolen rounded out the scoring by finishing 153rd.
“I was burning out big time,” Poyner said. “I was struggling with some emotional things, but my iron levels were also low at the end. Then, Ellis had shin issues. I remember the day before (the meet), he was in tears, just because he was so frustrated because his shins were hurting him. I just think for the rest of us, the experience was great. We were new to it. So, we don't really like to think about last year, except for the fact we know what to expect.”
Following that meet, the guys were reunited for the track season.
And after running track, the group took some time off before getting together to train for cross country.
“About three weeks after the state track meet, we start getting together as a group for cross country, depending on whether or not you need more time,” Coon said about the cross country team.
By spending so much time together, it always helps if the guys get along, and that’s something the Tigers do.
“One of the things about our sport that's a little different than other sports is, our guys hang out all the time,” Mills said. “You see freshmen with seniors. It's a little different camaraderie among cross country runners. They hang out together when we're away from practice, and we start about the second week of June, so they're together about five solid months. It's a pretty tight-knit group.”
Despite their love for the sport, even Poyner says the constant grind can become a bit much.
“There's times in the season when things start to get a little hard, especially in a sport where it's all just straight running,” he said. “But I feel like, after your rest period, being runners, we're pretty committed. Our legs start to itch and we need to get running again.”
For Poyner, Murphy and James, Saturday’s meet will be the last one they run for Mills, which is pretty bittersweet for the coach.
“It's going to be awful,” Mills said. “You get attached to these kids. With Robert, Jake and Brysten leaving, you get real close to your athletes. What they've done, as far as setting the bar, you can't thank them enough. It's going to be tough. I'm not going to like losing them and not just because they're good runners.”
With this being their last cross country race in Warsaw uniforms, underclassmen want to send the three seniors out right.
“All of us have put in so much work, that it would be a shame to have this be their last season and not have them go out as well as they wanted to,” Coon said.[[In-content Ad]]
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