DUNLAP - Kosciusko County was represented by two schools in Saturday's cross country regional at Ox Bow Park.
In this weekend's New Haven Semistate, the county will be represented by two individuals.Both the boys and girls teams from Warsaw and Wawasee competed in the Elkhart Central Regional, but only Wawasee's Ryan Smythe and Jose Mejia advanced to the semistate.
The top five teams, as well as the top 15 individuals, advanced to the New Haven Semistate.
Smythe finished 13th at the regional, covering the 5,000-meter course in 16:36. Mejia also crossed the line in 16:36, claiming the 15th and final individual advancing position.
"We had three PRs today, which is always great to see," said Wawasee coach Jerid Stoffel. "We have two semistate qualifers with Ryan and Jose, and the team had a great season."
As a team, the Wawasee boys finished eighth out of 10 teams with 179 points.
Northridge, which won its sixth consecutive regional crown, scored 26 points to take home the team trophy Saturday. Also advancing to semistate as a team were Penn (91), South Bend St. Joe (105), Concord (120) and Mishawaka (125).
Warsaw finished sixth with 150 points, followed by Goshen (167), Wawasee (179), South Bend Clay (179) and South Bend Riley (224).
Northridge's Ladd Mercer (15:52) nd Andrew Albert (16:07) took the top two individual spots in the boys race.
Other finishers for Wawasee included Matt Rensberger (56th, 17:43), Daniil Gardner (58th, 17:49), Thunder Olson (60th, 17:55), Luke Thompson (65th, 18:03) and Kyle Denton (75th, 19:04).
Cody Goshert led Warsaw with a 17th-place time of 16:45, while teammate Brian Donovan was 18th in a time of 16:45.
"It's very disappointing for our team to have run such a great race and missed moving on by one place," said Warsaw coach Jim Mills. "In the previous eight years, this team would have easily moved on to the semistate. Our fifth runner today ran faster than our No. 2 runner on our semistate team of 2003, and both Cody and Brian ran faster than Ryan Holbrook, who was then our No. 1 runner on that team. This team will make its mark in Warsaw cross country history next year as we return our top five runners."
Other Warsaw finishers included Jeremiah Stichter (40th, 17:23), Nathan West (45th, 17:27), Jordon Scroggs (53rd, 17:36), John Tabor (59th, 17:54) and Ryan Connors (66th, 18:05).
In the girls race, Northridge came away with its sixth straight regional title, this time scoring 41 points.
Other teams advancing were Goshen (72), Mishawaka (93), South Bend Riley (113) and Penn (113).
Fairfield finished sixth with 154 points, followed by Mrian (172), St. Joe (195), Warsaw (206) and Wawasee (211).
Warsaw's Ashley Henry led the area competitors with a 21st-place time of 20:19, while teammate Molly Pyle finished 28th in a time of 20:36.
Nicole Rhodes led Wawasee with a 25th-place time of 20:26.
ELKHART CENTRAL REGIONAL
(BOYS)
Team scores - Northridge 26, Penn 91, St. Joe 105, Concord 120, Mishawaka 125, Warsaw 150, Goshen 167, Wawasee 179, South Bend Clay 197, South Bend Riley 224
Wawasee - 13. Ryan Smythe 16:36, 15. Jose Mejia 16:36, 56. Matt Rensberger 17:43, 58. Daniil Gardner 17:49, 60. Thunder Olson 17:55, 64. Luke Thompson 18:03, 75. Kyle Denton 19:04
Warsaw - 17. Cody Goshert 16:45, 18. Brian Donovan 16:45, 40. Jeremiah Stichter 17:23, 45. Nathan West 17:27, 53. Jordon Scroggs 17:36, 59. John Tabor 17:54, 66. Ryan Connors 18:05
(GIRLS)
Team scores - Northridge 41, Goshen 72, Mishawaka 93, South Bend Riley 113, Penn 113, Fairfield 154, Marion 172, St. Joe 195, Warsaw 206, Wawasee 211
