Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
NORTH MANCHESTER - The day was cloudy, gray, cold and rainy.
It was downright dreary.
That is, unless you talked to Terry Screeton.
The energetic Tippecanoe Valley cross country coach saw a beautiful day filled with sunshine.
"We put it all together," he said.
The source of Screeton's joy was a second-place finish by his girls cross country team in Thursday's Three Rivers Conference Tournament.
His team figured to place as low as fourth, so the Vikings moved up two spots. As she has done in every meet except one dual meet and one triangular meet, Valley's Laura Lash placed first with a time of 15:03. She finished 27 seconds ahead of Southwood second-place runner Angela Boggs.
"Laura has determination, but her biggest strength outside of that is her leg speed at the end," Screeton said. "She closes out a race."
While Screeton was thrilled with Valley's surprising finish, the day belonged to Northfield as the Norsemen swept the tournament. The school boasts a strong cross country tradition, and Thursday's performances did nothing to disprove that.
The Northfield girls won with a score of 48, nine points ahead of Valley's 57. Southwood took third with a 61. Manchester was fifth with 145, and Whitko placed seventh with 174.
Helping Lash on this day were three other Vikings who placed in the top 10. Sarah Kindig placed eighth (16:15), Cari McFarren ninth (16:18) and Sara Zehr 10th (16:19).
"We had everyone run well," Screeton said. "I don't know if I could have asked for anything more than what we did today.
"We put it all together."
Manchester's Lydia Flora took fifth with a time of 15:46, while Whitko's Lisa Wilkinson placed 21st with a time of 16:49.
Northfield took four of the top five and six of the top eight places to run away with the boys meet. Northfield won with 19 points, easily outdistancing Oak Hill's 74 points for second place. Tippecanoe Valley's boys team placed fourth with 112 points, Whitko fifth with 119 and Manchester last with 211.
Northfield's Darrin Haupert won the boys race with a time of 16:23. Elliot Usifo led Valley with a 12th-place finish (17:49). Whitko's Bart Loe took 18th (18:13), while Manchester's Scott Holbert placed 37th (19:13).
A steady drizzle made the course slick and muddy by the time the meet finished. Mud kicked up by harriers could be seen on Valley's yellow and white uniforms.
At 2 p.m., it wasn't raining in North Manchester, so officials decided to go ahead and host the meet. But the rain began soon after they made the decision and kept up for the rest of the day into the evening. A tournament official said afterward had it been raining at 2 p.m. like it was at 5 p.m., they would have postponed the meet.
"I always tell the kids not to let the weather affect you," Screeton said.
"But it may hinder them as far as how slippery it makes the course."
The course was slippery Thursday, but to Screeton and Valley's girls team, it was perfect.
2000 TRC INVITATIONAL
Thursday in North Manchester
Boys
Team scores - 1. Northfield 19, 2. Oak Hill 74, 3. Southwood 81, 4. Tippecanoe Valley 112, 5. Whitko 119, 6. Rochester 122, 7. North Miami 172, 8. Manchester 211
Top 15 individual results - 1. Darrin Haupert (NF) 16:23, 2. Jared Neale (NF) 16:37, 3. Billy Scott (SW) 16:37, 4. Stephan Mirante (NF) 16:44, 5. Nick Walker (NF) 16:55, 6. Derek Reiff (OH) 17:09, 7. Jared Mann (NF) 17:29, 8. Jon Featherstone (NF) 17:38, 9. Derek Diskey (OH) 17:42, 10. Phillip Prater (NF) 17:44, 11. Ryan Grinstead (SW) 17:46, 12. Elliot Usifo (TV) 17:49, 13. Marck Walter (W) 17:51, 14. Adam Wallace (OH) 17:54, 15. Brady Burnsworth (SW) 17:54
Other local results - 16. Ben VanLaningham (TV) 18:09, 18. Bart Loe (W) 18:13, 20. Edjor Rosales (W) 18:18, 24. Jeff Whetstone (TV) 18:25, 28. Mike Ross (TV) 18:31, 32. Ian Fawley (TV) 18:44, 33. Michael Fetro (W) 19:03, 35. Joshua Hoffman (W) 19:11, 36. Jerry Ross (TV) 19:12, 37. Scott Holbert (M) 19:13, 38. Stephan Whitaker (W) 19:14, 39. Kyle Williams (M) 19:19, 42. Ross Fawley (M) 19:28, 43. Scott Zubowski (M) 19:30, 45. Chris Hileman (TV) 19:39, 49. Drew Spangle (W) 20:06, 50. David Huntington (M) 21:32, 53. Matt Rhodes (M) 23:17
JV - 1. Northfield 21 (only team score)
Top JV finisher - 1. Jared Ford (NF) 18:26
Girls
Team scores - 1. Northfield 48, 2. Tippecanoe Valley 57, 3. Southwood 61, 4. Oak Hill 91, 5. Manchester 145, 6. North Miami 160, 7. Whitko 174
Top 15 individual results - 1. Laura Lash (TV) 15:03, 2. Angela Boggs (SW) 15:30, 3. Margaret Boggs (SW) 15:32, 4. Andrea Leland (NF) 15:39, 5. Lydia Flora (M) 15:46, 6. Lindsey Guenin (NF) 15:49, 7. Emily Schenkel (NF) 15:52, 8. Sarah Kindig (TV) 16:15, 9. Cari McFarren (TV) 16:18, 10. Sara Zehr (TV) 16:19, 11. Lindsay Gray (SW) 16:22, 12. Lauren Reiff (OH) 16:27, 13. Nicole DuBois (R) 16:29, 14. Kenzie Hoen (R) 16:32, 15. Danielle Ross (NF) 16:32
Other local results - 21. Lisa Wilkinson (W) 16:49, 25. Jill Kambs (M) 17:26, 29. Kelly Allen (TV) 17:33, 30. Amber Volk (M) 17:38, 33. Jolene Reed (W) 17:46, 34. Angel Puckett (W) 17:46, 37. Charlotte Honig (TV) 18:11, 40. Leslie Weisberger (W) 19:04, 41. Erika Kambs (M) 19:12, 43. Melanie Zehr (TV) 19:14, 44. Kasondra Burgan (M) 19:15, 46. Stacie Warner (W) 19:35, 47. Gretchen Imhoff (W) 20:57, 48. Yukiko Mitsoyam (M) 21:58, 49. Rita Wilkinson (W) 22:31
JV - 1. Northfield 17, 2. Tippecanoe Valley 65
Top JV finisher - 1. Jill Baer (NF) 17:37
