CULVER – The weather and course conditions were much different this time. The end result, however, was very much the same for Warsaw's boys and girls cross country teams. A week after both teams won sectional championships at Culver Academies in beautiful warm and sunny fall weather, the Tigers and Lady Tigers claimed regional titles in a steady drizzle and on a muddy and sloppy course. For coach Jim Mills’ Warsaw boys team, it was their third consecutive regional championship and the program's fourth overall. The other was in 1989. Coach Matt Campbell’s young Lady Tigers won the program's third regional title, all of which have come in the past four seasons. “These are races that we should win,” said Mills. “That's the way we look at it.” The Tigers had three runners finish in the top 10 of the boys 5K race, which featured 86 runners and was won by Caston senior Seth Cousins in a time of 16:33. Warsaw senior Owen Glogovsky was third in 16:43, while junior Jonathan Beres was ninth in 17:21 and senior Daniel Messenger finished 10th in a time of 17:25. The rest of the Warsaw boys lineup included freshman Lucas Howett (19th, 17:47), sophomore Avery Torres (25th, 18:06), freshman Nathaniel Gottschalk (27th, 18:08) and sophomore T.J. Day (44th, 18:24). “Owen really competed today and looked a lot better,” said Mills. “Hopefully he's over the breating problems he's been having lately. “Jonathan Beres has competed for us all year,” added Mills. “Avery Torres was our No. 5 guy today, and our freshmen ran pretty well.” The top five teams, as well as the the top 10 individuals not on an advancing team, qualify for Saturday's New Prairie Semistate. Warsaw won the boys team championship with 58 points, while Culver Military Academy (85), Winamac (90), Rochester (96) and Western (125) also extended their seasons. Kokomo finished sixth with 149 points, followed by Triton (185), Caston (191), Logansport (205) and Peru (232). While Mills was happy with the championship, he felt his team could have performed better, and he was disappointed one of his standout runners didn't compete. “It's frustrating because these are big races and you gotta want to take the starting line,” said Mills. “It's time to compete, and we made it tough on ourselves again, like we have all season.” Senior Derek Johnston led seventh-place Triton with a 24th-place time of 18:02. The rest of the Trojans’ lineup included sophomore Cordell Sherrow (34th, 18:12), senior Landon Kauffman (47th, 18:29), freshman Shaun Honeycutt (63rd, 19:09) and sophomore Bailey Watkins (65th, 19:15). Tippecanoe Valley’s boys team had two individual runners, juniors Jesse Floor (21st, 17:52) and Shay Merley (74th, 19:57). Manchester also had two individuals in the boys race, freshmen Thomas Rohr (18th, 17:46) and Taylor Heckman (83rd, 20:30). In the girls event, the seventh-ranked Lady Tigers saw all five of their scoring runners finish in the top 10 of the 87-person race. In all, Warsaw’s entire seven-runner lineup finished among the top 16. “They ran great today,” Campbell said of his team. “To have five in the top 10 and all seven of our girls in the top 16 is pretty awesome. The course was muddy and slow today, so the times aren't as good as they could be. Today was all about positioning.” Warsaw sophomore Allison Miller was the individual regional champion in a time of 19:23, 27 seconds ahead of runner-up Adrianna Dague of Caston, also a sophomore. Other top 10 finishers for the Lady Tigers included sophomore Anna Craig (19:57) in fourth, junior Emma Hayward (20:06) in sixth, junior Hannah Dawson (20:12) in seventh and junior Claire Kehler (20:37) in 10th. Rounding out Warsaw’s girls lineup were senior Hannah Thompson (20:56) in 15th and sophomore Lauren Orr (21:01) in 16th. The Lady Tigers won the team championship with 24 points, while Culver Girls Academy was a distant second with 95 points. Western (118), Maconaquah (118) and Plymouth (125) also advanced to the semistate, while Rochester (136), Winamac (138), Logansport (163), Manchester (243) and Northwestern (272) rounded out the 10-team field. Sophomore Clara Burdette led the Manchester girls with a 37th-place time of 22:11. The rest of the Lady Squires’ lineup included junior Natasha Niccum (60th, 23:24), junior Emily Lynn (62nd, 23:35), freshman Kaitlyn Blum (63rd, 23:38), Sophia Reifeltshammer (80th, 24:46), junior Alexis Vernon (83rd, 24:50) and sophomore Alexis Wagoner (86th, 27:47). Tippecanoe Valley had a trio of runners in the girls race, while Triton had two individual competitors. Junior Karly Kitch led Valley with a 57th-place time of 22:56, while senior Courtney Burns was 61st in 23:34 and sophomore Sierra Rudd was 76th in 24:20. Freshman Baylee McIntire finished 27th for the Lady Trojans in 21:41, while senior teammate Makayla Musilli was 71st in 24:01.
CULVER ACADEMIES REGIONAL (5K) Note – top five teams, as well as top 10 individuals not on advancing team, qualify for Saturday's New Prairie Semistate
(GIRLS) Team Scores – Warsaw 24, Culver Girls Academy 95, Western 118, Maconaquah 118, Plymouth 127, Rochester 136, Winamac 138, Logansport 163, Manchester 243, Northwestern 272 Top 10 – 1. Allison Miller (War) 19:23.0, 2. Adrianna Dague (Caston) 19:50.1, 3. Kelsey Tyler (Roch) 19:50.5, 4. Anna Craig (War) 19:57.4, 5. Claire Collins (Win) 20:02.3, 6. Emma Hayward (War) 20:06.1, 7. Hannah Dawson (War) 20:12.8, 8. Isabelle Crain (Logan) 20:18.9, 9. Nicole Hampshire (West) 20:34.5, 10. Claire Kehler (War) 20:37.6 Other Warsaw runners – 15. Hannah Thompson 20:56, 16. Lauren Orr 21:01 T. Valley – 57. Karly Kitch 22:56, 61. Courtney Burns 23:24, 76. Sierra Rudd 24:20 Triton – 27. Baylee McIntire 21:41, 71. Makayla Musilli 24:01
(BOYS) Team Scores – Warsaw 58, Culver Military Academy 85, Winamac 90, Rochester 96, Western 125, Kokomo 149, Triton 185, Caston 191, Logansport 205, Peru 232 Top 10 – 1. Seth Cousins (Cas) 16:33.2, Kyle Collins (Win) 16:40.0, 3. Owen Glogovsky (War) 16:43.6, 4. Zen Zupin (Win) 17:04.5, 5. Wesley Meyer (Roch) 17:06.3, 6. Ethan Sharp (Kok) 17:10.5, 7. Eli Pugh (Roch) 17:17.9, 8. Jacob Graf (Logan) 17:20.5, 9. Jonathan Beres (War) 17:21.4, 10. Daniel Messenger (War) 17:25.4 Other Warsaw runners – 19. Lucas Howett 17:47.4, 25. Avery Torres 18:06.5, 27. Nathaniel Gottschalk 18:08.4, 44. T.J. Day 18:24.2 Triton – 24. Derek Johnston 18:02.8, 34. Cordell Sherrow 18:12.9, 47. Landon Kauffman 18:29.6, 63. Shaun Honeycutt 19:09.1, 65. Bailey Watkins 19:15.0 T. Valley – 21. Jesse Floor 17:52.3, 74. Shay Merley 19:57.0 Manchester – 18. Thomas Rohr 17:46.1, 83. Taylor Heckman 20:30.1
