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WINONA LAKE - Her first year running cross country, Warsaw Community High School sophomore Lindsay Houvener looked more like a seasoned veteran Tuesday afternoon.
No stranger to running, as she competed last year for Warsaw's varsity track and field team, Houvener led the Tigers with an individual third-place finish in the Tiger Invitational at Grace College's Miller Field.
Houvener completed the 4,000-meter course in a time of 16:43, three seconds behind runner-up Kara VanHorn of Huntington North and 11 seconds behind individual winner Lauren Davenport of Huntington North.
"This is her first year running cross country," said Warsaw girls coach Jerry Gackenheimer. "She's a very big addition (to the team). She improves every day. I'm expecting good things from her. She got third today, which is just terrific."
Just as impressive as Houvener was for the Tigers individually, so was Huntington North in the team competition.
With the top five runner for each team being scored, the Vikings ran away from the competition, literally, and finished the invitational with 20 points.
Following Davenport and VanHorn on Huntington North's score card were Tyfanny Patrick in fourth, Megan Stanley in fifth and Breanne Hoffman ninth among the 67 girls that made up the field.
Marion finished a distant second with 66 points in the team standings, followed by Warsaw with 81, Northfield with 88 and NorthWood with 113.
Peru and Tippecanoe Valley competed, but didn't have enough runners for a five-person team score.
"Coming in, I thought we could compete for second," said Gackenheimer. "We saw Huntington North Saturday at DeKalb, and I thought they would be up front."
Others figured into Warsaw's score were Megan DeRenzo in 10th (17:54), Laura McNulty in 22nd (18:31), Ashley Henry in 25th (18:38.17) and Brittany Garver in 26th (18:38.71).
Tippecanoe Valley had just three girls who competed. And while he said it's tough not being able to field enough for a team score, coach Terry Screeton was pleased with his individual results.
"That's the hard part," Screeton said of not having enough competitors for a team score. "We still made some great strides today, and that part is a real positive."
Sophomore Janelle Doody led Valley with a 21st-place finish, crossing the line in 18:28. Junior Sarah Craig was 41st in a time of 19:49, while junior Renee Bitting was 62nd in a time of 25:44.
As was the case in the girls race, Huntington North took the top two spots, with senior Nick Johnson winning in a time of 16:37 and senior Curt Daniels finishing as runner-up in a time of 16:44.
However, not being able to run in a pack up front like the Viking girls were, the Huntington North boys finished third in the team competition.
Fort Wayne Snider finished fourth, fifth, eighth, ninth and 13th individually to score 39 points and walk away with the championship.
Marion was second with 51 points, followed by Huntington North with 59, Warsaw with 101, Peru with 140, NorthWood with 181 and Northfield with 182.
Tippecanoe Valley, much like its girls team, competed in the boys race but only had four runners.
Leading the way for the Warsaw boys team was junior Kyle McNulty in a 12th-place time of 17:44. The rest of Warsaw's five scoring runners included senior Jeremy Blackburn in 20th (18:17), junior Baxter Burnworth in 22nd (18:19), sophomore Matt Campbell in 31st (18:44) and junior Steve Robinson in 33rd (18:51).
Though Warsaw graduated three of its top five runners from last year's team that advanced to the semistate, coach Jim Mills said he thought the Tigers could be a better team from top to bottom.
It didn't show in Tuesday's Tiger Invitational, and Mills seemed to fight through his disapointment by saying he was glad it was still early in the season.
"At DeKalb last week, we were 20 points out of second," said Mills. "It was a mediocre performance, pretty much the same as tonight. I don't know if the guys were nervous or too keyed up or what. They're young kids. The good thing is it's early in the season. We know we're a long way from where we need to be, and we have time to get there. I don't know if disapointed is the word. Some of the kids just didn't run well."
The Vikings, whom Screeton said will have enough runners to post a team score in the very near future, were led by freshman Cody Kaiser's 64th-place time o f 20:34.
Other Valley finishers in the boys field of 100 included sophomore Allen Burkett in 76th (21:16), fresman Todd Whetstone in 90th (23:47) and freshman Robert Bitting in 96th (24:45).
Warsaw is in action again Saturday at Plymouth with Northern Lakes Conference rivals Plymouth and Wawasee. Valley competes Thursday in the Caston Invitational.
TIGER INVITATIONAL
GIRLS
Team Scores - Huntington North 20, Marion 66, Warsaw 81, NorthWod 113, Northfield 88, Peru (no team score), Tippecanoe Valley (no team score)
Top 15 Individuals - 1. Lauren Davenport (HN) 16:32, 2. Kara VanHorn (HN) 16:40, 3. Lindsay Houvener (War) 16:43, 4. Tyffany Patrick (HN) 17:11, 5. Nan Hammel (NF) 17:15, 6. Megan Stanley (HN) 17:26, 7. Breanne Hoffman (HN) 17:41, 8. Cali Spencer (Mar) 17:46, 9. Katie Barrus (Mar) 17:49, 10. Megan DeRenzo (War) 17:54.61, 11. Michelle Steffen (NW) 17:55, 12. Whitney Haupert (NF) 17:56, 13. Asha Stichter (NW) 17:57, 14. Kirsten Hall (Mar) 17:59, 15. Josann Schoeff (HN) 18:03
Warsaw finishers - 3. Lindsay Houvener 16:43, 10. Megan DeRenzo 17:54, 22. Laura McNulty 18:31, 25. Ashley Henry 18:38.17, 26. Brittany Garver 18:38.71, 27. Jennifer Rietman 18:39, 38. Elise Smolen 19:40, 40. Katie Furnivall 19:49, 42. Ericka Kurosky 19:51, 46. Hope Lauster 20:09, 51. Shelby Warner 20:59, 52. Morgan Williams 21:22, 53. Heather Sowers 22:03, 54. Alli Finch 22:04, 55. Christy Lawton 22:05, 57. Melody Lawton 22:20, 58. Alysia Yero 22:20, 66. Alex Shoemaker-Furnivall 28:43, 67. Whitney Ousley 31:14
Valley Finishers - 21. Janelle Doody 18:28, 41. Sarah Craig 19:49, 62. Renee Bitting 25:44
BOYS
Team Scores - Snider 39, Marion 51, Huntington North 59,m Warsaw 101, Peru 140, NorthWood 181, Northfield 182, Tippecanoe Valley (no team score)
Top 15 Individuals - 1. Nick Johnson (HN) 16:37, 2. Curt Daniels (HN) 16:44, 3. Josh Foss (Mar) 16:55, 4. Todd Laubhan 17:05, 5. Jared Messman (Sni) 17:10, 6. Alex Wimsatt (Mar) 17:17.25, 7. Matt Ditzler (HN) 17:17.94, 8. Andrew Miller (Sni) 17:20, 9. Allen Tippman (Sni) 17:25, 10. Chris Fitzgarrald (Mar) 17:28, 11. Cody Siblisk (Per) 17:33, 12. Kyle McNulty (War) 17:44, 13. Ryan Young (Sni) 17:55, 14. Scott Andre (Sni) 17:56, 15. Steven Mui (Mar) 17:57
Warsaw finishers - 12. Kyle McNulty 17:44, 20. Jeremy Blackburn 18:17, 22. Baxter Burnworth 18:19, 31. Matt Campbell 18:44, 33. Steve Robinson 18:51, 34. Nathan Wentz 18:52, 36. Alf Eherenman 18:58, 39. David Compson 19:05, 46. William Olds 19:22, 49. Alex Kurosky 19:33, 58. Adam Gall 20:07, 80. Ryan Lursen 21:44, 84. Trevor Bradley 22:16, 93. Preston Moudy 23:59
Valley Finishers - 64. Cody Kaiser 20:34, 76. Allen Burkett 21:16, 90. Todd Whetstone 23:47, 96. Robert Bitting 24:45
