DUNLAP – Warsaw’s boys team placed five runners in the top 16, and the Lady Tigers placed seven runners in the top 16 to sweep the Northern Lakes Conference cross country races Saturday morning at Elkhart County’s Ox Bow Park. Tiger freshman Zeb Hernandez was a surprise winner in the boys race, completing the course in 16:13. Owen Glogovsky was third for the Tigers, Lucas Howett was sixth, Xavi Ramirez eighth, and Jon Beres 16th. “We’ve got a young team, and they’ve come through all year long, so it’s great. We’re excited,” Warsaw boys head coach Jim Mills said. Warsaw beat perennial NLC power Northridge 34-45 for the conference title. “We beat them early on in the season in a dual meet, and Ryan (Northridge coach McClane) always has his guys ready at the end, It was neck-and-neck the whole way, and our guys came through,” Mills said. “Five of our top seven guys are freshmen or sophomores, and Zeb winning in 16:13, that’s pretty darn fast at Ox Bow for a freshman. They’ve pretty much ran this way all season; they just keep getting a little bit better and a little bit better. “We weren’t looking for Zeb to win the conference championship today, but we’ll take it.” The Lady Tigers were even more dominant, placing five runners in the top 10 to edge the Lady Raiders by one point, 27-28. “It’s great to see our girls, from top to bottom, just step up. we had four personal bests, and some course bests by some other girls. It’s something they’ve been working on,” Lady Tiger head coach Scott Erba said “We knew Northridge was going to be bringing it, because every year they run their best at the end of the season. We’ve talked since the beginning of the year that Northridge and Warsaw might have a lot of runners in the top 14 spots, and it’s essentially a dual meet at that point. “So to walk out of here with the undisputed championship, it’s a good day for Warsaw.” Wawasee’s boys team, missing some of its better runners, finished eighth, and the Lady Warriors took sixth. “We were hoping to do a little bit better than that. We’ve had issues with sickness and injuries, so we’re definitely not at full strength,” said Wawasee boys head coach Chad Hoffert. “We’re hoping to get our ducks in a row by next weekend, and have a strong showing at sectional. Several of our runners ran better than they did a week ago, Three of our top four runners are freshmen, and we’re having a little trouble closing out the season, they’ve kind of hit a wall a little bit. But we’re gotta do what we need to do to recover mentally and try and push through one more week. Wawasee girls coach Doug Slabaugh said his squad was a little disappointed in the outcome. “We wanted to be top-three. Our top three had a good day, but the gap between three and four just killed us. There were 20 places between our third and fourth. But our top three had a good day.” he said. The postseason competitions continue Saturday with sectional races. Wawasee will return to Ox Bow for the Elkhart Central Sectional, and Warsaw goes to the Culver Academies Sectional. Races begin at 10:30 a.m.
NORTHERN LAKES CONFERENCE CROSS COUNTRY MEET BOYS RESULTS Team Standings – 1. Warsaw 34, 2. Northridge 45, 3. Goshen 89, 4. NorthWood 94, 5. Concord 114, 6. Elkhart Memorial 150, 7. Plymouth 180, 8. Wawasee 212 Warsaw – 1. Zeb Hernandez 16:13, 3. Owen Glogovsky 16:24, 6. Lucas Howett 16:54, 8. Xavi Ramirez 17:02, 16. Jon Beres 17:26, 23. Nathaniel Gottschalk 17:36, 29. T. J. Day 17:51 Wawasee – 33. Ben Hoffert 18:08, 38. Luke Griner 18:35, 40. Sam Griner 18:39, 48. Braxton Alexander 19:06, 53. Jaxon Bame 20:10, 54. Parker Bame 20:30, 55. Logan Brugh 20:32 GIRLS RESULTS Team Standings – 1. Warsaw 27, 2. Northridge 28, 3. Concord 98, 4. Goshen 128, 5. NorthWood 133, 6. Wawasee 151, 7. Elkhart Memorial 204, 8. Plymouth 208 Warsaw – 2. Mia Beckham 18:50, 3. Anna Craig 19:15, 5. Allison Miller 19:17, 8. Brooke Rhodes 19:42, 9. Hannah Dawson 19:55, 11. Claire Kehler 20:07, 16. Emma Hayward 20:26 Wawasee – 20. Aubrey Kuhn 20:39, 22. Mckenzie Smith 20:59, 24. Elizabeth Zorn 21:05, 42. Delanie Bame 22:54, 43. Bailey Schroeder 23:03, 44. Yanelly Pizana 23:06, 45. Keyanna Clevenger 23:09
