Warsaw Boys, Girls Win XC Invitational
August 23, 2017 at 3:55 p.m.
Warsaw Boys, Girls Win XC Invitational
By Dale [email protected]
Because of who graduated from last year’s Warsaw girls cross country team that competed in the state meet in October, Lady Tigers coach Matt Campbell didn’t know what to expect this season.
Both coaches had reason to smile following Tuesday’s season-opening Tiger Invitational.
Led by first-place finisher Zeb Hernandez, the Tigers had three of the top four runners in the boys 5K and won the team title with 29 points.
Homestead’s Ryan Ruppert finished second, 11 seconds behind Hernandez’s time of 16:17, and the Spartans were the only squad in the 11-team boys field that even remotely challenged the hosts.
NorthWood was a distant third with 124 points, followed by Columbia City (132), Manchester (152), Bishop Luers (185), Fairfield (202), Winamac (206), Northfield (213), Tippecanoe Valley (233) and Rochester (306).
“For the first race, this course, and having really sore shins ... when I taped him up he couldn’t even stand for me to put the tape on ... pretty respectable time,” Mills said of Hernandez’s win. “He gets irritated, even in practice, when people get close, so he likes to get away from people. I think he got tired of (Ruppert) dogging him, so he decided to open it up a little bit.”
In the girls 5K event, Warsaw senior Mia Beckham won in a time of 18:56, finishing ahead of runner-up Emily McManus of Bishop Luers by a minute and 13 seconds.
The first five finishers, which included Manchester’s Jaelyn Webb in a third-place time of 20:25, were all from different schools.
The Lady Tigers’ five scoring runners finished in the top 15 of the 122-person girls race, as they won the team title with 47 points.
NorthWood was a distant second with 76 points, followed by Bishop Luers (83), Columbia?City (98), Manchester (118), Northfield (174), Fairfield (183), Tippecanoe Valley (235), Winamac (240) and Blackhawk Christian (245).
“I wasn’t expecting her to do that, but she wanted it from the start,” Campbell said of Beckham. “It was a good way to start off the season.”
En route to the boys title, the Tigers had four of the top seven finishers in the 188-person race, and their fifth scoring runner was 14th.
Warsaw returned all seven runners that competed in the New Prairie Semistate last season.
Hernandez, a junior who was second in the semistate and 24th at the state meet while competing as an individual last season, was the class of the field.
Senior teammates Lucas Howett and Taylor Mills weren’t far behind, finishing third and fourth. Seniors Xavi Ramirez and Justin Fleming were seventh and 14th respectively, while freshman Sam Lechlitner and senior Nathaniel Gottschalk were 19th and 20th.
“We’re thin, so we’ve got to keep everybody healthy, but we’ve got some guys back that we have a lot of time to get in shape, but we have five solid runners,” said Mills. “We’re a little worried when it gets down to our 6, 7 and 8 runners.
“But, the first time out, on our course, I thought the guys ran good times. I’m happy.”
Ethan Davis led Manchester’s boys team with a 24th-place finish, while Jorden Owens led Valley with a 73rd-place finish.
Whitko only had four runners, one short of having a team score.
The Wildcats were led by a 54th-place finish from Logan Busz.
Lakeland Christian had two runners compete in the boys race and was led by Rye Stevens in 153rd.
Complimenting Beckham’s win for the Lady Tigers was Taylor Gunter in sixth.
Freshman Adree Beckham and junior Remi Beckham were 12th and 13th, respectively, while Amslie Howett rounded out the Warsaw girls squad’s scoring lineup with a 15th-place finish.
“We have a lot of work to do after our No. 1 runner,” said Campbell. “Taylor Gunter had a heck of a race today. We have three other girls that are capable of being with her, but we have a young team, a very inexperienced team, so we’re still learning. October is when it matters, so that’s what we’re shooting for right now.”
Following Webb’s third-place finish, the next Lady Squires finisher was Torina Runkel in 14th, breaking up the pack of Warsaw runners that included Adree Beckham, Remi Beckham and Amslie Howett.
Manchester’s other scoring runners included Anna Markham (39th), Katie Barker (41st) and Sydney Diefenbaugh (42nd).
Jadyn Kolesiak led Valley’s girls squad with a 51st-place finish, while the Lady Vikings’ scoring group was rounded out by Ava Craig (64th), Valeria Jimenez (67th), Haley Hoover (70th) and Caleigh Byrer (94th).
Whitko had just two competitors in the girls race – Angel Moyer (104th) and Liz Foutz (108th).
TIGER INVITATIONAL
5K at Warsaw Community High School
(Boys, 188 runners)
Team Scores – Warsaw 29, Homestead 43, NorthWood 124, Columbia City 132, Manchester 152, Bishop Luers 185, Fairfield 202, Winamac 206, Northfield 213, Tippecanoe Valley 233, Rochester 306
(listed are the top 7 runners for local teams)
Winner – Zeb Hernandez (Warsaw) 16:17
Warsaw – 1. Zeb Hernandez 16:17, 3. Lucas Howett 16:37, 4. Taylor Mills 16:50, 7. Xavi Ramirez 17:17, 14. Justin Fleming 17:30, 19. Sam Lechlitner 18:03, 20. Nathaniel Gottschalk 18:04
Manchester – 28. Ethan Davis 18:33, 30. Carter Bedke 18:37, 45. Benjamin Reichenbach 19:16, 47. Lance Bennett 19:18, 70. Montgomery Pattison 19:52, 81. Reece Adamiec 20:20
T. Valley – 73. Jorden Owens 19:56, 85. Colt Demske 20:27, 86. Howes Matthews 20:27, 95. Mitch Smith 20:47, 103. Justin Peconga 21:12, 129. Ethan Hartman 22:15, 148. Evan Lowman 23:28
Whitko – 54. Logan Busz 19:27, 74. Zack Freel 20:06, 133. Ezra Miller 22:24, 166. Caden Compton 24:28
Lakeland Christian – 153. Rye Stevens 23:40, 174. Sam Turner 24:49
(Girls, 122 runners)
Team Scores – Warsaw 47, NorthWood 76, Bishop Luers 83, Columbia City 98, Manchester 118, Northfield 174, Fairfield 183, Tippecanoe Valley 235, Winamac 240, Blackhawk Christian 245
Winner – Mia Beckham (War) 18:56
Warsaw – 1. Mia Beckham 18:56, 6. Taylor Gunter 20:41, 12. Adree Beckham 21:30, 13. Remi Beckham 21:31, 15. Amslie Howett 21:36, Angie Sanchez-Vijil 21:52, 24. Sierra Palmer 22:20
Manchester – 3. Jaelyn Web 20:25, 14. Torina Runkel 21:32, 39. Anna Markham 23:06, 41. Katie Barker 23:11, 42. Sydney Diefenbaugh 23:12, 59. Maddy Evans 24:26, 100. Guri Hoidahl 28:04
T. Valley – 51. Jadyn Kolesiak 23:56, 64. Ava Craig 24:41, 67. Valeria Jimenez 24:55, 70. Haley Hoover 25:10, 94. Caleigh Byrer 27:09, 103. Alyssa Bell 28:21, 109. Lauren Sponseller 29:14
Whitko – 104. Angel Moyer 28:30, 108. Liz Foutz 29:02
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Because of who graduated from last year’s Warsaw girls cross country team that competed in the state meet in October, Lady Tigers coach Matt Campbell didn’t know what to expect this season.
Both coaches had reason to smile following Tuesday’s season-opening Tiger Invitational.
Led by first-place finisher Zeb Hernandez, the Tigers had three of the top four runners in the boys 5K and won the team title with 29 points.
Homestead’s Ryan Ruppert finished second, 11 seconds behind Hernandez’s time of 16:17, and the Spartans were the only squad in the 11-team boys field that even remotely challenged the hosts.
NorthWood was a distant third with 124 points, followed by Columbia City (132), Manchester (152), Bishop Luers (185), Fairfield (202), Winamac (206), Northfield (213), Tippecanoe Valley (233) and Rochester (306).
“For the first race, this course, and having really sore shins ... when I taped him up he couldn’t even stand for me to put the tape on ... pretty respectable time,” Mills said of Hernandez’s win. “He gets irritated, even in practice, when people get close, so he likes to get away from people. I think he got tired of (Ruppert) dogging him, so he decided to open it up a little bit.”
In the girls 5K event, Warsaw senior Mia Beckham won in a time of 18:56, finishing ahead of runner-up Emily McManus of Bishop Luers by a minute and 13 seconds.
The first five finishers, which included Manchester’s Jaelyn Webb in a third-place time of 20:25, were all from different schools.
The Lady Tigers’ five scoring runners finished in the top 15 of the 122-person girls race, as they won the team title with 47 points.
NorthWood was a distant second with 76 points, followed by Bishop Luers (83), Columbia?City (98), Manchester (118), Northfield (174), Fairfield (183), Tippecanoe Valley (235), Winamac (240) and Blackhawk Christian (245).
“I wasn’t expecting her to do that, but she wanted it from the start,” Campbell said of Beckham. “It was a good way to start off the season.”
En route to the boys title, the Tigers had four of the top seven finishers in the 188-person race, and their fifth scoring runner was 14th.
Warsaw returned all seven runners that competed in the New Prairie Semistate last season.
Hernandez, a junior who was second in the semistate and 24th at the state meet while competing as an individual last season, was the class of the field.
Senior teammates Lucas Howett and Taylor Mills weren’t far behind, finishing third and fourth. Seniors Xavi Ramirez and Justin Fleming were seventh and 14th respectively, while freshman Sam Lechlitner and senior Nathaniel Gottschalk were 19th and 20th.
“We’re thin, so we’ve got to keep everybody healthy, but we’ve got some guys back that we have a lot of time to get in shape, but we have five solid runners,” said Mills. “We’re a little worried when it gets down to our 6, 7 and 8 runners.
“But, the first time out, on our course, I thought the guys ran good times. I’m happy.”
Ethan Davis led Manchester’s boys team with a 24th-place finish, while Jorden Owens led Valley with a 73rd-place finish.
Whitko only had four runners, one short of having a team score.
The Wildcats were led by a 54th-place finish from Logan Busz.
Lakeland Christian had two runners compete in the boys race and was led by Rye Stevens in 153rd.
Complimenting Beckham’s win for the Lady Tigers was Taylor Gunter in sixth.
Freshman Adree Beckham and junior Remi Beckham were 12th and 13th, respectively, while Amslie Howett rounded out the Warsaw girls squad’s scoring lineup with a 15th-place finish.
“We have a lot of work to do after our No. 1 runner,” said Campbell. “Taylor Gunter had a heck of a race today. We have three other girls that are capable of being with her, but we have a young team, a very inexperienced team, so we’re still learning. October is when it matters, so that’s what we’re shooting for right now.”
Following Webb’s third-place finish, the next Lady Squires finisher was Torina Runkel in 14th, breaking up the pack of Warsaw runners that included Adree Beckham, Remi Beckham and Amslie Howett.
Manchester’s other scoring runners included Anna Markham (39th), Katie Barker (41st) and Sydney Diefenbaugh (42nd).
Jadyn Kolesiak led Valley’s girls squad with a 51st-place finish, while the Lady Vikings’ scoring group was rounded out by Ava Craig (64th), Valeria Jimenez (67th), Haley Hoover (70th) and Caleigh Byrer (94th).
Whitko had just two competitors in the girls race – Angel Moyer (104th) and Liz Foutz (108th).
TIGER INVITATIONAL
5K at Warsaw Community High School
(Boys, 188 runners)
Team Scores – Warsaw 29, Homestead 43, NorthWood 124, Columbia City 132, Manchester 152, Bishop Luers 185, Fairfield 202, Winamac 206, Northfield 213, Tippecanoe Valley 233, Rochester 306
(listed are the top 7 runners for local teams)
Winner – Zeb Hernandez (Warsaw) 16:17
Warsaw – 1. Zeb Hernandez 16:17, 3. Lucas Howett 16:37, 4. Taylor Mills 16:50, 7. Xavi Ramirez 17:17, 14. Justin Fleming 17:30, 19. Sam Lechlitner 18:03, 20. Nathaniel Gottschalk 18:04
Manchester – 28. Ethan Davis 18:33, 30. Carter Bedke 18:37, 45. Benjamin Reichenbach 19:16, 47. Lance Bennett 19:18, 70. Montgomery Pattison 19:52, 81. Reece Adamiec 20:20
T. Valley – 73. Jorden Owens 19:56, 85. Colt Demske 20:27, 86. Howes Matthews 20:27, 95. Mitch Smith 20:47, 103. Justin Peconga 21:12, 129. Ethan Hartman 22:15, 148. Evan Lowman 23:28
Whitko – 54. Logan Busz 19:27, 74. Zack Freel 20:06, 133. Ezra Miller 22:24, 166. Caden Compton 24:28
Lakeland Christian – 153. Rye Stevens 23:40, 174. Sam Turner 24:49
(Girls, 122 runners)
Team Scores – Warsaw 47, NorthWood 76, Bishop Luers 83, Columbia City 98, Manchester 118, Northfield 174, Fairfield 183, Tippecanoe Valley 235, Winamac 240, Blackhawk Christian 245
Winner – Mia Beckham (War) 18:56
Warsaw – 1. Mia Beckham 18:56, 6. Taylor Gunter 20:41, 12. Adree Beckham 21:30, 13. Remi Beckham 21:31, 15. Amslie Howett 21:36, Angie Sanchez-Vijil 21:52, 24. Sierra Palmer 22:20
Manchester – 3. Jaelyn Web 20:25, 14. Torina Runkel 21:32, 39. Anna Markham 23:06, 41. Katie Barker 23:11, 42. Sydney Diefenbaugh 23:12, 59. Maddy Evans 24:26, 100. Guri Hoidahl 28:04
T. Valley – 51. Jadyn Kolesiak 23:56, 64. Ava Craig 24:41, 67. Valeria Jimenez 24:55, 70. Haley Hoover 25:10, 94. Caleigh Byrer 27:09, 103. Alyssa Bell 28:21, 109. Lauren Sponseller 29:14
Whitko – 104. Angel Moyer 28:30, 108. Liz Foutz 29:02
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