NEW CARLISLE – Led once again by its three standouts, Warsaw’s boys cross country team advanced to the state meet for the third time in the program’s history. The sixth-ranked Tigers will be among 24 teams competing for a state championship Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute. The girls 5K race is scheduled to start at 1 p.m., while the boys 5k event is slated for 1:45 p.m. Warsaw also advanced to state as a team in 1989 and 2011. With Jake Poyner, Robert Murphy and Ellis Coon all finishing in the top five of Saturday’s New Prairie Semistate, the Tigers scored 60 points and finished second among the 20 teams. Valparaiso won the team championship with 45 points, followed in the top 10 by Warsaw, McCutcheon (189), Hobart (189), West Lafayette (207), Lowell (209), Munster (210), Crown Point (211), LaPorte (230) and Portage (231). “There was probably seven or eight really good teams at the semistate,” said Warsaw coach Jim Mills. “I felt like we were a pretty solid second, and we proved that today. We were closer to Valpo than I would have imagined. Until they read the team scores, I thought we’d be 30, 40 points off.” Poyner finished second in a time of 15:49, just four seconds behind Alec Kostelnik of Morgan Township. “Jake led the race up until the last 800 meters,” said Mills. “He was right there.” Murphy finished fourth in 15:59, while Coon was fifth in 16:03. “Robert Murphy was hungry today,” said Mills. “He had a lot of energy. He went out with the leaders and he was up there the whole race. It was fun seeing three Warsaw runners in the top five.” Warsaw’s other two scoring runners were 27th-place finisher Brysten James (16:37) and 33rd-place finisher Daniel Messenger (16:44). There were 153 competitors in the boys race at Saturday’s New Prairie Semistate. All seven of the Tigers’ runners finished in the top 60. Owen Glogovsky was 45th in 17:02, while Ismael Calderon was 60th in 17:13. The only other local runner in the race was Manchester’s Matthew Fahs-Brown, who finished 25th in a time of 16:36. Valparaiso’s top runner was sixth-place finisher Ari Coulopoulos. The Vikings won the team title with depth, as its five scoring runners finished sixth, seventh, 10th, 12th and 18th. “We’ve got one more week,” said Mills. “We’d be thrilled to get in the top five at state. I think we have the best 1-2-3 punch in the state. If we get a couple good races out of our 4 and 5 guys, who knows what could happen.”
NEW PRAIRIE SEMISTATE Note – top six teams and top 15 individuals advance to Saturday’s state meet in Terre Haute
Team scores – Valparaiso 45, Warsaw 60, McCutcheon 189, Hobart 189, West Lafayette 207, Lowell 209, Munster 210, Crown Point 211, LaPorte 230, Portage 231, Lake Central 249, Wheeler 279, Chesterton 302, Rochester 306, Culver Academies 384, Western 402, Lafayette Jeff 405, Frankfort 501, Twin Lakes 514, Carroll (Flora) 551.
Top 15 finishers – 1. Alec Kostelnik (Morgan Twp.) 15:45.9, 2. Jacob Poyner (Warsaw) 15:49.0, 3. Kyle Eller (Lowell) 15:57.8, 4. Robert Murphy (Warsaw) 15:59.4, 5. Ellis Coon (Warsaw) 16:03.4, 6. Ari Coulopoulos (Valpo) 16:03.9, 7. Taylor Bisacchi (Valpo) 16:07.4, 8. Nick Arndt (New Prairie) 16:12.2, 9. Anthony Didion (LaPorte) 16:13.5, 10. Landon Davison (Valpo) 16:14.1, 11. Dunn Brent (Hobart) 16:15.5, 12. Peyton Reed (Valparaiso) 16:18.3, 13. Cooper Williams (West Lafayette) 16:18.8, 14. Joel O’Shea (Wheeler) 16:20.0, 15. Alex Ray (Crown Pt) 16:20.6
Other Warsaw runners – 27. Brysten James 16:37.9, 33. Daniel Messenger 16:44.6, 45. Owen Glogovsky 17:02.6, 60. Ismael Calderon 17:13.9
Other local runners – 25. Matthew Fahs-Brown (Manchester) 16:36.5
