Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
In their own Tiger Invitational Tuesday, the first five runners for Warsaw's girls cross country team did nearly everything they could do to win the team title.
When all was said and done, all they could do was cheer on their teammates.
Warsaw and Northfield tied for first with 47 points each, but based on the tiebreaker system the Norseman came out on top.
Northfield's sixth runner crossed the line 20th in a time of 19:03, while Warsaw's sixth runner, Jayde Rice, crossed the line 26th in a time of 19:46.
Marion finished the six-team invitational in third with 50 points, while Peru was a distant fourth with 105 points. Tippecanoe Valley finished fifth with 123 points, followed by Oak Hill with 174 points.
Peru senior Jenal Darland won the girls race with a time of 16:46, followed by Warsaw's Jennifer Finch.
Northfield's top five runners finished third, sixth, ninth, 14th and 15th.
For Warsaw, Finch finished second, Jill Shipley (17:28) was fourth, Melissa Johnston (17:53) was eighth, Jessica Wehrly (18:07) was 11th and Jill Wehrly (19:30) was 22nd.
Leading the way for Tippecanoe Valley was junior Sara Zehr, who finished 13th with a time of 18:31. Sophomore Laura Lash crossed the line second for the Vikings, finishing 17th with a time of 18:45.
"Sara Zehr ran real well for us tonight," Valley coach Terry Screeton said. "She's worked pretty hard over the summer and has shown great improvement. Laura is coming off a stress fracture and was just released by the doctor. It'll be interesting to see how she comes off that."
Other Valley finishers included Rebekah Parker (20:00) in 29th, Cari McFarren (20:57) in 42nd, Kelly Allen (22:03) in 56th and Karla Ross (32:43) in 70th.
On the boys side of things, Marion won with a score of 33, followed by Northfield (37), Warsaw (104), Oak Hill (105), Peru (112) and Tippecanoe Valley (142)
Valley senior Jeff Whetstone was the first local runner to cross the finish line, ending up eighth with a time of 18:26.
"It's hard to say enought about Jeff," Screeton said. "He really put his time in over the summer and he's reaping the rewards for that."
Other Valley finishers included Jerry Ross (19:29) in 31st, Ben Vanlaningham (19:41) in 35th, Eric Whetstone (21:19) in 57th, Karl Gast (21:26) in 61st, Ryan Anglin (21:54) in 63rd, Chris Hileman (22:54) in 76th and Ryne Hamman (23:24) in 80th place.
"Ryne Hamman has really come along way from last year," Screeton said. "He ran 23 minutes tonight, I'm real happy for him."
Leading the way for Warsaw was junior Zach Woodward, who finished 13th in a time of 18:36.
"We took a big hit from last year," Tiger coach Jim Mills said. "I can't predict what's gonna happen from week to week. Of 22 runners, we only have three seniors. Just from the DeKalb Invitational last week we've shuffled."
Rounding out the top five for Warsaw was Matt Lankford (18:57) in 19th, Peter Mansfield (19:05) in 24th, Melvin Freels (19:09) in 26th and Landon Geiger (19:30) in 32nd.
Northfield's Nick Walker won the boys race with a time of 17:09, followed by Marion's Alex Harvey (17:12) and Oak Hill's Derek Reiff (17:45).
Warsaw's cross country teams will be in action again Sept. 4 when they host Northern Lakes Conference rivals Goshen and Plymouth. Tippecanoe Valley will compete Saturday in the Caston Invitational.
2001 TIGER INVITATIONAL
Boys Team Scores - 1. Marion 33, 2. Northfield 37, 3. Warsaw 104, 4. Oak Hill 105, 5. Peru 112, 6. Tippecanoe Valley 142
Top 10 individuals - 1. Nick Walker (Northfield) 17:09, 2. Alex Harvey (Marion) 17:12, 3. Derek Reiff (Oak Hill) 17:45, 4. Jared Mann (Northfield) 17:49, 5. Chris Burns (Marion) 18:07, 6. Stephen Mirantic (Northfield) 18:13, 7. Danny Berrido (Marion) 18:21, 8. Jeff Whetstone (T. Valley) 18:26, 9. Josh Fuss (Marion) 18:29, 10. J. Sheward (Marion) 18:30
Other Warsaw finishers - 13. Zach Woodward 18:36, 19. Matt Lankford 18:57, 24. Peter Mansfield 19:05, 26. Melvin Freels 19:09, 32. Landon Geiger 19:30, 36. Jacob Gall 19:42, 37. Sean Mochocki 19:49, 40. John Robertson 20:10, 42. Alex Tidball 20:12, 43. William Olds 20:12, 48. David Compson 20:32, 53. Ian Harrold 21:10, 54. Ryan Holbrook 21:16, 67. Eric Laurent 22:16, 73. Ryan Lozier 22:42, 77. B.J. Woodward 22:58
Other Valley finishers - 31. Jerry Ross 19:29, 35. Ben Vanlaningham 19:41, 57. Eric Whetstone 21:19, 61. Karl Gast 21:26, 63. Ryan Anglin 21:54, 76. Chris Hileman 22:54, 80. Ryne Hamman 23:24
Girls Team Scores - 1. Northfield 47, 2. Warsaw 47, 3. Marion 50, 4. Peru 105, 5. Tippecanoe Valley 123, 6. Oak Hill 174
Top 10 individuals - 1. J. Darland (Peru) 16:46, 2. Jennifer Finch (Warsaw) 17:08, 3. Emily Schenkel (Northfield) 17:12, 4. Jill Shipley (Warsaw) 17:28, 5. Amanda Weirich (Marion) 17:30, 6. Andrea Leland (Northfield) 17:39, 7. Amber Ruley (Marion) 17:50, 8. Melissa Johnston (Warsaw) 17:53, 9. Danielle Ross (Northfield) 18:00, 10. Katie Kreveda (Marion) 18:03
Other Warsaw finishers - 11. Jessica Wehrly 18:07, 22. Jill Wehrly 19:30, 26. Jayde Rice 19:46, 28. Melissa Sparkman 19:56, 43. Beth Gensinger 21:12, 52. Lauren Roberts 21:44
Other Valley finishers - 13. Sara Zehr 18:31, 17. Laura Lash 18:45, 29. Rebekah Parker 20:00, 42. Cari McFarren 20:57, 56. Kelly Allen 22:03, 70. Karla Ross 32:43
Wawasee Netters Top Manchester
By Jen Gibson, Times-Union Sports Editor
SYRACUSE -ÊThe volleyball teams from Manchester and Wawasee are like two sides of a coin.
Heads, Wawasee with an experienced team.
"We are a much more experienced than Manchester," said Wawasee coach Jason Fleming. "They are also a much younger team."
Tails, Manchester with a young inexperienced squad.
"We are awfully young, and our inexperience shows," said Manchester coach Mike West.
Wawasee's experience won out Tuesday night as the Warriors defeated the Manchester Squires 15-2 and 15-8.
"We didn't play poorly, but we did not execute as well as we could have," said Fleming. "It was hard to play with emotion and get ourselves up to play. But with the experience we have, we should be able to get ourselves motivated to play anyone, no matter who it is."
Jessie Korenstra started the match by serving four straight points to give the Warriors a 4-0 lead.
Manchester's Joni West countered with an ace and another point to cut the Wawasee lead in half, 4-2.
Then enter Wawasee's Candice Brown. Brown stepped to the line and served 11 straight points, including two aces, to give Wawasee a 15-2 win in the first game.
"Candice came in and served points 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14 and 15," said Fleming. "We only had two servers in the first game, Jessie and Candice. We have worked a lot on making the most of our serving opportunities. We've worked on making aggressive serves, and picking better zones. We are also varying our serves, long, short, sideline."
West started the second game by serving up a point for the Squires.
However, that lead did not last long. Staci VanLue moved to the line and served up seven points and then was replaced by Kasey Bollier. Bollier served one more point, and the Warriors held an 8-1 advantage.
Manchester's Brittany Falk and Wawasee's Angie Weybright served up two points each to make the score 10-3. Then Margo Searfoss served two more points to put the Warriors up 12-3.
The Squires were down, but not out. Shelly power stepped to the serving line and put the Squires back in the running with five straight service points, making the score 12-8.
"We have been working on passing better, and we're getting better and better every game," said West. "But we have what I call 'between the lines syndrome.' What that is is when its game time, we forget half of what we've learned already. Sometimes we forget what the game of volleyball is all about. But we are working on improving, and we're getting there. Hopefully everything will come together for sectionals and we will peak at the right time."
But Wawasee did not give Manchester another chance to score.
Korenstra stepped back to the line, served three straight points and gave Wawasee a 15-8 win in the second game.
The win puts Wawasee at 8-2, while Manchester falls to 0-6. The Squires will face Wabash Thursday, while Wawasee will play at Plymouth in its first Northern Lakes Conference game of the season.
WAWASEE def. MANCHESTER, 15-2, 15-8
Wawasee leaders
Digs -ÊKim Likens 3, Staci VanLue 2; Jessie Korenstra 2
Blocks -ÊJessica Leach 3, Chrissy Kime 2
Aces -ÊStaci VanLue 3, Candice Brown 3
Kills -ÊJessica Leach 4, Staci VanLue 3, Candice Brown 2
Assists -ÊCandice Brown 8
Wawasee record -Ê8-2
Manchester Leaders
Scoring -ÊShelly Power 5, Joni West 3
Kills -ÊAshley Penrod 8
Blocks - Ashley Penrod 6
Assists -ÊJoni West 10
Manchester record -Ê0-6
JV -ÊWAWASEE def. MANCHESTER
17-15, 15-1
Wawasee leaders
Digs - C. List 8, L. Sloan
Aces - C. Shoemaker 3, C. List 2
Kills -Ê1. K. Cook 5, 2. A. Schmucker 5, 3. J. Minear 3
Assists -ÊC. List 15
Wawasee record -Ê3-3
