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Warsaw's girls cross country team placed second at sectional to advance to the regional, where the Tigers placed fourth. The regional finish earned them a trip to Saturday's Manchester Semistate.
Imagine what they could do if they were healthy.
Sophomore Melonie Albert, Warsaw's sixth-place runner at last week's regional, is not. Junior Hillary Barlow, Warsaw's top runner at last week's regional, is not.
"Hillary has hip problems, and Melonie Albert has had stomach problems," Warsaw coach Paul Sibray said. "Hillary has what is essentially a hip pointer. She just does not have good control of her hips. She came up with it in track last year and just found out what it was this year. She started good treatments recently."
Last year Albert's times compared favorably to Jennifer Finch's. This year Finch, a sophomore, won the sectional and placed 11th at the regional, three spots behind Barlow.
"(Barlow) has run through pain all year," Sibray said. "She was undefeated in the conference. There's no end to her possibilities.
"At Manchester, if she would be completely healthy, she could run it in 14:40 or 14:50, 20 to 30 seconds faster than she has been running this year."
The Tigers will try to improve on last year's 11th-place finish at the Manchester Semistate.
"We were pretty good last year, but if everybody had been healthy, this would have been our best team," Sibray said. "I think we could be as strong next year, if everybody is healthy."
Besides Barlow and Finch, Warsaw's other top runners this year are freshman Rachel Rondeau and senior Summer Boyd. Rondeau placed 17th and Boyd 19th at the regional. Barlow, Finch, Boyd and Rondeau placed in the top 10 at the sectional. Junior Amy Robertson has been Warsaw's fifth-place runner at the sectional and regional.
Three teams -ÊNo. 5 West Noble, No. 10 Homestead and No. 12 Fort Wayne Northrop - are favored to claim the top three spots at the Manchester Semistate. The top five teams advance to the state finals, so Warsaw is one of a handful of teams jostling for the final two positions. The Tigers, ranked No. 19, are up against the likes of No. 13 Northridge and No. 18 DeKalb.
"As it stacks up, there are seven or eight teams," Sibray said. "You have us and three or four others who are on the bubble for the last couple of spots. We're hopeful."
If Warsaw doesn't crack the top five, Sibray hopes he can get some runners in the top 15. The 15 best individuals advance to the state finals as well. Warsaw has not sent a runner to the state finals since the early part of this decade.
Manchester's reputation is that of a fast course. The Tigers are preparing this week by focusing more on speed than endurance in practices.
The key for Warsaw's success? "Get our top five close together," Sibray said. "That's the key. It's important to pack it up as much as possible. If one of our girls had beaten one more girl Saturday, we would have been third."
MANCHESTER GIRLS CROSS
COUNTRY SEMISTATE
10:30 a.m. Saturday at Manchester High School
Competing teams - No. 5 West Noble, No. 10 Homestead, No. 12 Fort Wayne Northrop, No. 13 Northridge, No. 18 DeKalb, No. 19 Warsaw, Bellmont, Fort Wayne Snider, South Adams, New Castle, Richmond, Delta, Muncie Central, Yorktown, East Noble, Marion, Kokomo, Northfield, Huntington North, Southwood
Local results at last Saturday's Elkhart Regional at Ox Bow Park
Warsaw - fourth as team with a score of 87
Warsaw individual results
8. Hillary Barlow 15:49, 11. Jennifer Finch 15:53, 17. Rachel Rondeau 15:58, 19. Summer Boyd 16:13, 36. Amy Robertson 16:47, 52. Melonie Albert 17:21, 72. Kristen Brown 19:13
Individuals advancing to Manchester Semistate
From Manchester Regional
4. Lydia Flora (Manchester) 15:55
10. Angel Puckett (Whitko) 16:13
