It’s been nearly two weeks since the IHSAA Cross Country season concluded with the State Meet at Lavern Gibson in Terre Haute and even longer since the Lakeview runners surprised the state with a 5th place podium finish at the Middle School State Meet.  However, that was just the start to post-season running for a number of Warsaw distance runners.  You may have seen many of these runners continuing to run through town over these past two weeks.  There is a very good reason as to why:  Warsaw has developed into a very strong distance community at various levels, and these runners have committed to continue to compete in Regional and National meets in the month of November.
Gracie Boren, 7th grader at Lakeview Middle School had a very successful first year of running XC. She was a key team member of the conference runner-up team (competing against the Fort Wayne schools as part of the new conference) and finished 4th at the NHMLC meet last month. Boren placed 16th at the Indiana Middle School state meet. Boren has continued her training and entered the USATF Cross Country Junior Olympics tournament. This is a series of meets, starting with Indiana, then Indiana & Illinois, with the qualifiers advancing then to the National meet in Louisville, KY in early December. Although the distance increases to 4K v (vs. the middle school 3K), Boren has continued her success, crossing the line 15th and qualifying for Regionals on November 18th.
After a successful high school season, members of the 11th place Boys team and 15th place Girls team are set to compete as part of the WRSquared Running Club in the Nike Cross Regional meet on Sunday, November 11th. The Midwest NXR Meet is one of 8 regions across the US that serves as the qualifier for the Nike Cross Country Nationals event where the national champions will be crowned. The Warsaw runners will be competing against the best individuals and teams from Indiana, Illinois, Ohio, Michigan, and Missouri. The top two clubs and top five individuals from the regional will advance to NXN.
Indiana-commit Joey Rastrelli has been selected to represent the state of Indiana in the Mid-East Cross Country Championships on November 18th. Rastrelli will join the top seniors from Indiana to comprise the Indiana All-Stars and compete against the top individuals from Michigan, Ohio, and Illinois. The month of November will then close out with the Foot Locker Regional Championships on November 25th in Kenosha, WI. Foot Locker is widely recognized as the top individual national meet and in order to receive an invitation, individuals must finish in the Top 10 of their respective regions.
Tony Rastrelli, who has been leading the WRSquared club said “It’s great to see the number of runners continuing to compete post-season grow, as well as not only at the high school level, but also with our middle school athletes. Warsaw has always had a strong distance running group of athletes, and seeing them compete at these types of mega-regional and national level events is fantastic. Even more so, it is great to see them continue to grow and develop as individuals. It takes a certain type of personal will to continue to log the miles they are putting in every day and to work towards their goals, whether it be hitting a certain time, place, or advancement. Warsaw has a very special group of runners, and that group is growing. I am very excited to see how they compete this month in these events and looking forward to providing additional opportunities at all levels to compete at various indoor meets. My hope is to have an increased number of middle school runners this winter season. I am also eager for our sprint and field event teams to start to compete again. I suspect there is some high goals being set with several T&F athletes for the winter and spring seasons.”