TRC Cross Country Meet Goes As Expected

NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊThere were no big surprises in Thursday evening's Three Rivers Conference cross country meet.

Northfield's boys team, ranked No. 19 in the latest state cross country poll, placed first after filling six of the top seven places. The Northfield girls earned first place team honors even after one of its top girls fell around the second mile and dropped out of the race.

The other teams in the race knew Northfield was tough, but they plan to use the competition to fine tune themselves before the sectionals next week.

"We learned that we need to pick up the pace a little bit if we want to have a chance at sectional," said Whitko coacch Steve Hoopingarner. "This is a good opportunity to see where we need to improve before the sectional."

Tippecanoe Valley coach Terry Screeton shared the same sentiment. "I think we know what we have to do in order to be successful at sectional. We'll work on improving before then and see what happens."

"We raced here five days ago (in the Manchester Invitational) and had six personal-best times, and today we had six personal-best times again," said Manchester coach Scott Erba. "It's good to see that we are continuing to improve before sectional. This is a very meaningful race."

Manchester's Lydia Flora was the top area finisher, placing second overall with a time of 15:20, and earning all-conference honors.

"Lydia Flora had a lifetime best time," said Manchester coach Scott Erba. "She went 15:20 for the second best time in the race, just four seconds behind the school record. This is the first time she has beaten some of these girls in her two-year career. It's definitely a big confidence booster for her."

Whitko's top runner, Angel Puckett, placed seventh in the TRC competition and earned a spot on the all-conference team as well.

"This was not one of Angel's better races," said Hoopingarner. "It was a good race overall but not one of her best."

Sara Zehr placed 15th to lead the Tippecanoe Valley Vikings with a time of 16:35. However, the Vikings reached an important milestone as a team as well.

"We had seven girls in this race and all of them ran under 17:47," said Screeton. "That is fantastic for us, but we didn't have anybody at the top."

Valley's Jerry Ross was the top area finisher in the boys competition, placing 10th with a time of 17:13.

"Jerry Ross ran well," said Screeton. "This is the first time in ten years that we have had a boy place in the top 10 in the conference. I am very pleased."

Whitko's Phil Fetro was close behind Ross in 11th place with a time of 17:22, while Manchester's Derek Miller ran a 17:46 to place 16th.

Now each of the TRC teams will focus on the sectional scheduled for Oct. 16 in North Manchester.

"Manchester has by far the fastest course in the state," said Northfield coach Dick Leming. "This race was a great tune-up for the state series, especially when the regional and semistate are held here."

THREE RIVERS CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY MEET

VARSITY

Girls

Team Results -Ê1. Northfield 49, 2. Rochester 82, 3. Oak Hill 91, 4. Southwood 91, 5. Manchester 117, 6. Tippecanoe Valley 118, 7. North Miami 165, 8. Whitko 173

Top 10 -Ê1. Jamie Hartzler, Rochester, 14:44; 2. Lydia Flora, Manchester, 15:20; 3. Andrea Leland, Northfield, 15:33; 4. Lindsey Guenin, Northfield, 15:37; 5. Angela Boggs, Southwood, 15:42; 6. Margaret Boggs, Southwood, 15:50; 7. Angel Puckett, Whitko, 16:00; 8. Danielle Ross, Northfield, 16:02; 9. Katie Spencer, Rochester, 16:06; 10. Shay Knecht, Manchester, 16:14.

All-Conference -ÊJamie Hartzler, Rochester; Lydia Flora, Manchester; Andrea Leland, Northfield; Lindsey Guenin, Northfield; Angela Boggs, Southwood; Margaret Boggs, Southwood; Angel Puckett, Whitko; Danielle Ross, Northfield.

Manchester finishers (117) -Ê2. Lydia Flora, 15:20; 10. Shay Knecht, 16:14; 26. Amber Volk, 17:18; 37. Jill Kambs, 17:53; 42. Milena Jakimiak, 19:01.

Tippecanoe Valley (118) -Ê15. Sara Zehr, 16:35; 17. Sara Kindig, 16:39; 25. Stephanie Tilden, 17:17; 29. Cari McFarren, 17:32; 32. Jennifer Yeiter, 17:37; 33. Kelly Allen, 17:38; 35. Emily Jackson, 17:47.

Whitko finishers (173) -Ê7. Angel Puckett, 16:00; 36. Gretchen Imhoff, 17:52; 39. Tara Eberhart, 18:15; 45. Rachel Lehman, 19:28; 46. Lisa Menck, 19:40; 47. Tiffany Obregon, 20:26; 49. Rita Wilkinson, 21:06.

Boys Varsity

Team Results -Ê1. Northfield 19; 2. Southwood 64; 3. Rochester 87; 4. Whitko 105; 5. Tippecanoe Valley 126; 6. North Miami 160; 7. Manchester 172; 8. Oak Hill 185.

Top 10 -Ê1. Jason Parks, Northfield, 16:07; 2. Ben Cooper, Southwood, 16:35; 3. Nijck Walker, Northfield, 16:41; 4. Jason Cordes, Northfield, 16:43; 5. Jared Neale, Northfield, 16:51; 6. Darrin Haupert, Northfield, 16:52; 7. Stephen Mirante, Northfield, 16:56; 8. BJ Needler, Southwood, 16:58; 9. Bart Hott, Rochester, 17:06; 10. Jerry Ross, Tippecanoe Valley, 17:13.

All-Conference -ÊJason Parks, Northfield; Ben Cooper, Southwood; Nijck Walker, Northfield; Jason Cordes, Northfield; Jared Neale, Northfield; Darrin Haupert, Northfield; Stephen Mirante, Northfield; BJ Needler, Southwood.

Whitko finishers (105) -Ê11. Phil Fetro, 17:22; 13. Mike McKeighen, 17:36; 22. Daryl Nicodemus, 18:02; 29. Tylen Hull, 18:24; 30. Micah Moncrief, 18:25; 33. Marc Walter, 18:31; 3. Josh Hoffman, 18:49.

Tippecanoe Valley finishers(126) -Ê10. Jerry Ross, 17:13; 24. Mike Ross, 18:04; 26. Chris Leiter, 18:17; 28. Evan Boggs, 18:20; 38. Jeff Whetstone, 18:46; 40. Ben Vanlaningham, 19:00; 47. Aaron Robbins, 19:47.

Manchester finishers (172) -Ê16. Derek Miller, 17:46; 27. Thomas Penrod, 18:19; 35. Scott Holbert, 18:34; 43. Ross Fawley, 19:13; 51. Kyle Williams, 20:08.

JUNIOR VARSITY RESULTS

Girls

Team Results -Ê1. Northfield 20; 2. Oak Hill 42.

Tippecanoe Valley finishers -Ê20. Frances Kantner, 20:25; 24. Ashley Gearhart, 21:17.

Boys

Team Results -Ê1. Northfield 37; 2. Whitko 42.

Whitko finishers (42) -Ê3. Eric Bradford, 18:52; 5. Bart Loe, 19:23; 10. Michael Fetro, 20:08; 11. Jordan Schrader, 20:16; 13. Zack Kessie, 20:19; 14. Drew Spangle, 20:39; 23. Adam Bower, 21:22.

Tippecanoe Valley finishers -Ê9. Tim Miller, 20:07; 22. David Tilden, 21:19; 24. Fred Borges, 21:23; 26. Nick Miller, 21:32; 29. Karl Gast, 22:13; 35. Aaron Krueger, 28:29.