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NORTH MANCHESTER -ÊBefore Saturday's Manchester Sectional, Tippecanoe Valley cross country coach Terry Screeton thought his girls team had a chance to place in the top five and advance to the Manchester Regional next week.
He also knew the competition would be tough, especially among the top six teams.
"It was basically a six-team race," said Screeton. "And unfortunately we were the odd man out. We didn't run as well on the girls' side as we possibly could have."
Valley finished sixth behind Carroll, Northfield, Southwood, Huntington and Columbia City with a team score of 131.
However, the Vikings did have one bright spot on Saturday. Laura Lash placed first in the sectional and blew away her competition. Lash's first-place time of 14:51 bested her nearest competitor, Angela Boggs of Southwood, by 11 seconds.
"Laura Lash ran well today," said Screeton. "She is the individual champion."
Sara Zehr was Valley's next finisher, placing 20th with a time of 16:20. Sarah Kindig's time of 16:41 was good enough for 24th place, while Cari McFarren was 41st, Charlotte Honig was 48th and Shea Bailey was 54th.
Manchester's Lydia Flora advances to the individual regional as well. Her time of 15:41 was good enough to place 10th overall.
Amber Volk was the next Squire to cross the finish line with a 39th-place time of 15:25, while teammate Jill Kambs was right behind in 40th place with her time of 17:30. Kasondra Burgan, Erika Kambs, and Yukiko Mitsuyama rounded out the Manchester runners.
Lisa Wilkinson was the first finisher for Whitko. She placed 35th with a time of 17:18. Angel Puckett was 43rd, and Jolene Reed, Leslie Weisberger and Gretchen Imhoff rounded out the Wildcat team.
As in the girls competition, no area team advanced to the regional. Tippecanoe Valley placed eighth, while Whitko was ninth and and Manchester finished 10th out of 10 teams.
Although the Vikings did not advance as a team in the boys race, Screeton was pleased with their performance.
"Our boys ran pretty well," said Screeton. "Four of our seven runners had personal bests. I'm really happy with them."
Ian Fawley and Jeff Whetstone led the Valley squad by placing 18th and 19th, respectively. Fawley ran the race in 18:14, while Whetstone finished in 18:15. Eliott Usifo was close behind with a time 18:20, good enough for 36th place. Mike Ross, Jerry Ross, Ben Vanlaningham and Chris Hileman rounded out the Valley finishers.
Bart Loe led the ninth-place Whitko Wildcats by placing 38th overall in 18:25. Edjor Rosales (43rd), Joshua Hoffman (50th), Stephan Whitaker (51st), Michael Fetro (64th) and Drew Spangle (65th) finished out the Whitko squad.
Scott Holbert was the first Manchester competitor to cross the finish line. His time of 19:07 put him in 56th place. Scott Zubowski was 58th and Kyle Williams was 63rd.
Kyle Williams, Ross Fawley, Matt Rhodes and David Huntington also competed for Manchester.
Although neither Valley team advanced to the regional, Screeton was pleased with the results of the season overall.
"We made some great strides forward in both the girls and boys teams this year," said Screeton. "We became a lot more competitive. I hope that we can continue to make strides next year."
Lash and Flora will compete in the Manchester Regional Saturday morning.
MANCHESTER CROSS COUNTRY SECTIONAL
BOYS -Ê1. Northfield 54, 2. Carroll 58, 3. Huntington North 60, 4. Wabash 88, 5. Columbia City 132, Churubusco 161, 6. Southwood 171, 7. Tippecanoe Valley 194, 8. Whitko 235, 9. Manchester 305
Top indviduals - 1. Chris Baliss (Wab) 16:13; 2. Christopher Kempf (Car) 16:24; 3. Jared Neale (NF) 16:25; 4. Billy Scott (NF) 16:25; 5. Darrin Haupert (NF) 16:37; 6. Seth Lochmeller (Car) 16:39; 7. Derek Leininger (CC) 16:44; 8. Ryan Van Horn (HN) 16:46; 9. Nick Stoffel (HN) 16:48; 10. Nick Walker (NF) 16:54; 11. Hunter Paris (Car) 17:00; 12. Trevor Hughes (HN) 17:04; 13. Tim Schultz (HN) 17:13; 14. Chris Burkett (CC) 17:05; 15. Jesse Cleaver (HN) 17:07
Valley finishers -Ê33. Ian Fawley 18:14; 34. Jeff Whetstone 18:15; 36. Eliott Usifo 18:20; 45. Mike Ross 18:43; 46. Jerry Ross 18:48; 48. Ben Vanlaningham 18:50; 60. Chris Hileman, 19:28
Whitko finishers -Ê38. Bart Loe 18:25; 43. Edjor Rosales 18:36; 50. Joshua Hoffman 18:56; 51. Stephan Whitaker 18:59; 53. Marc Walter 19:02; 64. Michael Fetro 20:01; 65. Drew Spangle 20:12
Manchester finishers -Ê56. Scott Holbert 19:07; 58. Scott Zubowski 19:12; 63. Kyle Williams 19:57; 66. Ross Fawley 20:46; 67. Matt Rhodes 21:54; 68. David Huntington 21:58
GIRLS - 1. Carroll 41, 2. Northfield 88, 3. Southwood 94, 4. Huntington 97, 5. Columbia City 125, 6. Tippecanoe Valley 131, 7. Wabash 162, 8. Manchester 206, 9. Churubusco 238, 10. Whitko 251
Top individuals -Ê1. Laura Lash (TV) 14:51; 2. Angela Boggs (SW) 15:02; 3. Carolyn Magley (Car) 15:11; 4. Amanda Knuckles (Car) 15:20; 5. Jessica Hein (Car) 15:24; 6. Emily Schenkel (NF) 15:30; 7. Stephanie Huffman (CC) 15:32; 8. Margaret Boggs (SW) 15:33; 9. Lindsey Guenin (NF) 15:40; 10. Lydia Flora (Man) 15:41; 11. Andrea Hess (Car) 15:46; 12. Andrea Leland (NF) 15:47; 13. Amber Copeland (Wab) 15:51; 14. Rachel Stoffel (HN) 15:58; 15. Sherry George (Wab) 15:59
Valley finishers -Ê1. Laura Lash 14:51; 20. Sara Zehr 16:20; 24. Sarah Kindig 16:41; 41. Cari McFarren 17:33; 45. Kelly Allen 17:51; 48. Charlotte Honig 18:11; 54. Shea Bailey 19:03
Manchester finishers -Ê10. Lydia Flora 15:41; 39. Amber Volk 17:25; 40. Jill Kambs 17:30; 57. Kasondra Burgen 19:15; 60. Erika Kambs 19:42; 63. Yukiko Mitsuyama 20:17
Whitko finishers -Ê35. Lisa Wilkinson 17:18; 43. Angel Puckett 17:48; 49. Jolene Reed 18:20; 59. Leslie Weisberger 19:36; 65. Gretchen Imhoff 20:27
