DUNLAP - Northridge High School's girls cross country team won the Northern Lakes Conference Meet Saturday for the 21st year in a row, but not without a serious challenge from the Warsaw Lady Tigers.
Of the top 12 finishers in the 55-person, 5,000-meter girls race at Ox Bow Park that, 10 of them were from Northridge or Warsaw.And to say that it was a two-team race would be a huge understatement.
Northridge won with 33 points, followed closely by Warsaw with 36 points, while NorthWood finished a distant third with 83 points.
Plymouth was fourth with 108 points, followed in the eight-team field by Goshen (138), Concord (157), Elkhart Memorial (187) and Wawasee (187).
NorthWood's Cynthia Medina and Lindsey Roe, who finished first and eighth, respectively, were the only non-Northridge or non-Warsaw runners in the top 12 of the girls race.
The Lady Tigers were led by the second-place finish of Ashley Erba, who covered the course in 19:16, 10 seconds behind Medina. Warsaw's Brooke Kline was fourth in a time of 19:40.
Warsaw's other three scoring runners were Anna Bearss (7th), Kristin Quick (11th) and Creigh Ogle (12th).
Northridge was led by Skylair Hilton and Corinne Cominator, who finished third and fifth, respectively. The Lady Raiders' other three scoring runners finished sixth, ninth and 10th.
Wawasee was led by the 14th-place finish of Jennifer Slabaugh (21:07).
By winning Saturday's meet and finishing 7-0 against NLC opponents in the regular season, the Lady Raiders won the NLC championship for the 10th straight year.
The Lady Tigers finished second in the final NLC standings, followed by NorthWood, Goshen, Concord, Plymouth, Wawasee and Elkhart Memorial.
Erba, Bearss, Kline and Ogle were named all-conference for Warsaw, while Wawasee's Slabaugh received honorable mention honors.
Northridge and Warsaw also finished first and second in the boys race, with the Raiders beating the Tigers 39-51.
Goshen finished third in the boys race with 73 points, followed by Concord (87), Wawasee (150), Plymouth (159), NorthWood (181) and Elkhart Memorial (187).
Goshen's Tyler Wynn won the boys 5,000-meter race in a time of 16:12, while Northridge was led by the runner-up finish of Trevor Moore (16:22).
Jacob Poyner led Warsaw with a fourth-place time of16:31.
The rest of Warsaw's scoring runners were Trevor Callahan (7th), Jordan Scroggs (8th), Spencer Rheinhardt (13th) and Ismael Calderon (21st).
Wawasee was led by the 12th-place finish of Reid Stichter.
Much like Northridge's girls team, the boys team also went 7-0 against NLC opponents and won the conference championship.
The Tigers finished second in the final standings, followed by NorthWood, Goshen, Concord, Plymouth, Wawasee and Elkhart Memorial.
Poyner, Callahan and Scroggs were named all-conference for Warsaw.
NLC MEET
Ox Bow Park
(Girls)
Team scores - Northridge 33, Warsaw 36, NorthWood 83, Plymouth 108, Goshen 138, Concord 157, Elkhart Memorial 187, Wawasee 187
