Warsaw Boasts Veteran Boys XC Team As Practice Begins
July 31, 2017 at 3:06 p.m.
Warsaw Boasts Veteran Boys XC Team As Practice Begins
By Dale [email protected]
Warsaw Community High School’s boys cross country team has plenty of it.
Practice for all IHSAA-sanctioned fall sports began today – with the exception of girls golf, which started Friday – and the Tiger runners are more than ready to get their season going.
They appear, on paper at least, to be one of the deepest and most veteran teams of any fall sport in the Times-Union coverage area.
Warsaw has won six consecutive boys cross country sectional titles and five straight regional championships at Culver Academies.
The Tigers finished eighth out of 20 teams in the New Prairie Semistate last year, with the top five squads advancing to the state meet in Terre Haute.
Warsaw returns all seven runners that competed in the semistate a year ago, and the eighth-place finish at the semistate is still a bitter taste.
“It’s always in the back of your head,” senior Lucas Howett said when asked about the motivation of last year’s disappointing semistate finish. “We weren’t that far off, and it’s always in the back of my head.
“The No. 1 goal is to go to state, and now we’re a little more of a veteran team. We have more people now who know how to run a varsity race, and run in that big meet.”
Back from last year’s postseason lineup are Howett, fellow seniors Xavi Ramirez, Ridley Lemon, Nathaniel Gottschalk, Justin Fleming and Taylor Mills, and junior Zeb Hernandez.
Veteran coach Jim Mills has had some very impressive cross country teams at Warsaw, squads that have been led by the likes of Division I runners Jake Poyner, Robert Murphy and Ellis Coon, and the expectations are high for his current group.
“We’ve got everybody back from the semistate roster, and I’ll tell you what, if you look at them training right now, they’re in great shape,” said Mills. “If we can keep them healthy, we’ve got five guys that can really tear it up this year.
“They’ve been out there hammering the workouts this summer. I’d say we’re way ahead of where we were last year. Now, that can sometimes come back to bite you, but as long as we keep building on where we’re at right now we’re in good shape. We’ve got five really strong runners and a fairly good supporting cast that’s coming around.
“We’re excited. We said a couple years ago we thought this group could be as good as the group we had with Jake Poyner, Robert Murphy and Ellis Coon. We’ll see. They’re definitely putting the time in. The difference is we don’t have the big three on this team, but we have five who can score very well. We’re different from those teams, but we think we can be just as good.”
Poised to lead the way for the Tigers is the duo of Hernandez and Howett.
Hernandez finished second in the sectional, regional and semistate last year as a sophomore, and capped his season with a 24th-place finish in the state meet.
“Zeb was 24th in the state last year, and it’s always good to have that front runner,” said Mills. “He didn’t have the track season in the spring that he wanted, he had problems with shin splints, but he’s getting in shape. All the guys are putting in more miles, and it’s starting to show.
“As a combination, they’re very good. Lucas is just that work horse, steady guy. You can always count on him to be where he needs to be.
The Tigers open the season Aug. 22 when they host the Warsaw Invitational.
“I know that we can make it to state if we all push each other and stay together,” said Hernandez. “We have great teamwork and we push each other in practices. We have a lot of really good runners, and we’re focused on going to state.”
Warsaw Community High School’s boys cross country team has plenty of it.
Practice for all IHSAA-sanctioned fall sports began today – with the exception of girls golf, which started Friday – and the Tiger runners are more than ready to get their season going.
They appear, on paper at least, to be one of the deepest and most veteran teams of any fall sport in the Times-Union coverage area.
Warsaw has won six consecutive boys cross country sectional titles and five straight regional championships at Culver Academies.
The Tigers finished eighth out of 20 teams in the New Prairie Semistate last year, with the top five squads advancing to the state meet in Terre Haute.
Warsaw returns all seven runners that competed in the semistate a year ago, and the eighth-place finish at the semistate is still a bitter taste.
“It’s always in the back of your head,” senior Lucas Howett said when asked about the motivation of last year’s disappointing semistate finish. “We weren’t that far off, and it’s always in the back of my head.
“The No. 1 goal is to go to state, and now we’re a little more of a veteran team. We have more people now who know how to run a varsity race, and run in that big meet.”
Back from last year’s postseason lineup are Howett, fellow seniors Xavi Ramirez, Ridley Lemon, Nathaniel Gottschalk, Justin Fleming and Taylor Mills, and junior Zeb Hernandez.
Veteran coach Jim Mills has had some very impressive cross country teams at Warsaw, squads that have been led by the likes of Division I runners Jake Poyner, Robert Murphy and Ellis Coon, and the expectations are high for his current group.
“We’ve got everybody back from the semistate roster, and I’ll tell you what, if you look at them training right now, they’re in great shape,” said Mills. “If we can keep them healthy, we’ve got five guys that can really tear it up this year.
“They’ve been out there hammering the workouts this summer. I’d say we’re way ahead of where we were last year. Now, that can sometimes come back to bite you, but as long as we keep building on where we’re at right now we’re in good shape. We’ve got five really strong runners and a fairly good supporting cast that’s coming around.
“We’re excited. We said a couple years ago we thought this group could be as good as the group we had with Jake Poyner, Robert Murphy and Ellis Coon. We’ll see. They’re definitely putting the time in. The difference is we don’t have the big three on this team, but we have five who can score very well. We’re different from those teams, but we think we can be just as good.”
Poised to lead the way for the Tigers is the duo of Hernandez and Howett.
Hernandez finished second in the sectional, regional and semistate last year as a sophomore, and capped his season with a 24th-place finish in the state meet.
“Zeb was 24th in the state last year, and it’s always good to have that front runner,” said Mills. “He didn’t have the track season in the spring that he wanted, he had problems with shin splints, but he’s getting in shape. All the guys are putting in more miles, and it’s starting to show.
“As a combination, they’re very good. Lucas is just that work horse, steady guy. You can always count on him to be where he needs to be.
The Tigers open the season Aug. 22 when they host the Warsaw Invitational.
“I know that we can make it to state if we all push each other and stay together,” said Hernandez. “We have great teamwork and we push each other in practices. We have a lot of really good runners, and we’re focused on going to state.”
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