WINONA LAKE – The weather and course conditions were anything but desirable. The results, however, were just what Warsaw's boys and girls cross country teams were looking for. On a cold, wet and rainy afternoon, both Warsaw teams defeated rival Wawasee Tuesday to finish 7-0 in the round-robin portion of the Northern Lakes Conference. The Warsaw boys beat the Warriors 19-44, while the Lady Tigers won 23-36. Both Warsaw teams are guaranteed at least a share of the conference championship, and can win it outight with a win in Saturday's NLC Meet at Ox Bow Park. The Lady Warriors are 3-4 in the NLC heading into Saturday's conference meet, while the Wawasee boys are 2-5. "It's been 20-plus years since we went undefeated in the NLC," said Warsaw boys coach Jim Mills. "We've been second a number of times while I've been here, but never won it." Saturday at Ox Park Park, both the Warsaw boys and girls teams will be in the driver's seat to bring home an outright conference championship. In Tuesday's boys race, Warsaw claimed nine of the top 10 and 13 of the top 15 positions. Ellis Coon won the 5K event in a time of 16:51, while teammates Ismael Calderon (17:02), Michael Smolen (17:16), Brysten James (17:17) and Michael Compton (17:19) finished third, fourth, fifth and sixth, respectively, to account for the Tigers' five scoring runners. "We've got depth," said Mills. "If one guy is off, somebody else can step up. We've got 16 guys running times under 18 minutes right now." The lone Wawasee runner in the top 10 finishers of the boys race was sophomore Adam Doll, who was second in a personal-best time of 16:54. Other scoring runners for the Warriors included Austin Yoder (15th, 18:09), Austin Krizman (17th, 18:20), Troy Carolus (19th, 18:26) and Joey Bornman (20th, 18:29). "The guys ran a tough course in tough conditions," said Wawasee coach Jerid Stoffel. "The guys competed and went after it. Adam Doll ran a great race, running down a pack of Tigers in nearly taking the win." In the girls race, the Lady Tigers claimed seven of the top 10 spots, with junior Ashley Erba winning and senior Brooke Kline finishing second. Erba ran a winning time of 19:23 in the rain, while Kline finished the sloppy, muddy course in 19:59. Other scoring runners for the Lady Tigers were Kristin Quick (5th, 20:28), Creigh Ogle (7th, 21:20) and Michelle Feng (8th, 21:29). Tuesday's win gave the Warsaw girls their second undefeated NLC dual meet season in three years. For the Lady Warriors, freshman Courtney Linnemeier led the way with a third-place time of 20:17, while classmate Bre Robinson was on her heels in fourth place. "The girls had a great final Tuesday night conference dual meet against one of the best teams in the area," said Stoffel. Linnemeier placed third and fourth, both running 20:17, a great time for the sloppy course conditions."
(BOYS) WARSAW 19, WAWASEE 44 (listed are the top 10 finishers for each team) Warsaw – 1. Ellis Coon 16:51, 3. Ismael Calderon 17:02, 4. Michael Smolen 17:16, 5. Brysten James 17:17, 6. Michael Compton 17:19, 7. Robert Murphy 17:29, 8. Spencer Rheinhardt 17:29, 9. Daniel Messenger 17:37, 10. Tyler Houvener 17:43, 11. Nate Haller 17:45 Wawasee – 2. Adam Doll 16:54, 15. Austin Yoder 18:09, 17. Austin Krizman 18:20, 19. Troy Carolus 18:26, 20. Joey Bornman 18:29, 22. Jacob Tucco 18:29, 25. Garrett Freel 18:44, 28. Adam Baker 19:12, 31. Bailey Yoder 19:39, 37. Devan Courter 20:11 Records: Warsaw 7-0, Wawasee 2-5
