CULVER – For Warsaw’s boys and girls cross country teams, the outcome of Saturday’s sectional was as beautiful as the weather and scenery. On a gorgeous day on the campus of Culver Academies, both teams won their respective program’s fifth overall sectional title and fourth consecutive. The seventh-ranked Lady Tigers did so in absolutely dominating fashion, as they had all five scoring runners place in the top six of the 56-person girls 5K. Warsaw won the eight-team girls sectional title with 17 points, while Culver Girls Academy was a distant second with 70 points. “Refreshing would be a good word,” said first-year Warsaw girls coach Matt Campbell, who used the word heartbreaking after his team lost to Northridge by one point the previous week in the Northern Lakes Conference meet at Ox Bow Park. “The girls ran well today, we almost had all seven girls finish in the 20-minute range,” added Campbell. The Warsaw boys team won its sectional title with a team score of 37 points, as the Tigers had all five scoring runners finish among the top 13 of their 62-person race. Culver Military Academy finished second as a team in the boys event with 63 points, while Rochester was third among the nine teams with 70 points. “Our guys needed a boost in confidence after all the weeks of struggling we’ve had,” said Warsaw boys coach Jim Mills. “It was nice to get back on track like we did today. We had seven guys in the top 17, and two of them were freshman. It was a good day.” The top five teams, as well as the top 10 individuals not on an advancing team, qualified for Saturday’s regional at CMA. Following Warsaw and CGA in the girls team standings were Plymouth (83), Rochester (101), Manchester (152), Caston (152), Tippecanoe Valley (161) and Triton (193). The Manchester Lady Squires advanced as a team based on a sixth-runner tiebreaker. Clara Burdette led Manchester with a 22nd-place time of 22:03. The Lady Squires advanced with Sophia Reifeltshammer’s 42nd-place time of 24:57, as Caston’s sixth runner, Hannah Cousins, finished 49th in a time of 25:51. The Lady Tigers’ dominant performance included sophomore Allison Miller’s winning time of 19:33, which was 23 seconds ahead of runner-up and freshman teammate Mia Beckham. Warsaw sophomore Charlene Orr (20:01) finished third, while the rest of the Lady Tigers’ lineup included junior Brooke Rhodes (20:08) in fifth, sophomore Lauren Orr (20:34) in sixth, junior Claire Kehler (20:54) in 12th and senior Hannah Thompson (21:15) in 15th. “I’m happy with all the girls,” Campbell said of his team. “We changed our lineup, sat out three girls, and we still went 1-2-3. I’m very proud of the girls.” Among the 10 girls that will run at the regional as individuals are four competitors from Valley and two from Triton. Advancing for Valley are junior Karly Kitch (24th, 22:10), junior Breelyn Conley (28th, 23:04), senior Courtney Burns (35th, 24:02), and sophomore Sierra Rudd (36th, 24:04). Representing Triton’s girls team will be freshman Baylee McIntire (18th, 21:49) and senior Makayla Musilli (31st, 23:25). In the boys event, Triton finished fourth with 126 points, while Caston earned the final team berth with a fifth-place score of 132. Plymouth (141), Valley (190), Manchester (213) and North Miami (234) rounded out the boys team standings. Caston senior Seth Cousins won the boys 5K in a time of 16:31, while Warsaw senior Owen Glogovsky finished second in 16:45. Warsaw senior Daniel Messenger (17:00) and junior Jonathan Beres (17:05) finished fourth and sixth, respectively. The rest of the Tigers’ lineup included freshman Lucas Howett (17:37) in 12th, sophomore T.J. Day (17:38) in 13th, senior Jacob DeBoest (17:43) in 15th and freshman Nathaniel Gottschalk (17:49) in 17th. “I think the guys got some confidence today,” said Warsaw boys coach Jim Mills. “We just need to keep making little improvements.” Senior Derek Johnston led Triton with an 18th-place time of 17:51, while the rest of the Trojans’ lineup included sophomore Cordell Sherow (18:11) in 24th, senior Landon Kaufman (18:14) in 25th, sophomore Bailey Watkins (18:19) in 26th and freshman Shaun Honeycutt (19:09) in 33rd. Among the 10 boys that advanced to the regional as individuals are juniors Jesse Floor (14th, 17:42) and Shay Merley (41st, 20:12) from Valley and freshmen Thomas Rohr (10th, 17:24) and Taylor Heckman (42nd, 20:15) of Manchester.
CULVER ACADEMIES SECTIONAL Note – top 5 teams, as well as top 10 individuals not on an advancing team qualify for Saturday's Culver Academies Regional
(GIRLS) Team Scores – Warsaw 17, Culver Girls Academy 70, Plymouth 83, Rochester 101, Manchester 152, Caston 152, Tippecanoe Valley 161, Triton 193
(BOYS) Team Scores – Warsaw 37, Culver Military Academy 63, Rochester 70, Triton 126, Caston 132, Plymouth 141, Tippecanoe Valley 190, Manchester 213, North Miami 234
Top 15 Individuals – 1. Seth Cousins (Cas) 16:31.6, 2. Owen Glogovsky (War) 16:45.2, 3. Landrum Neer (CMA) 16:57.1, 4. Daniel Messenger (War) 17:00.8, 5. Wesley Meyer (Roch) 17:01.0, 6. Jonathan Beres (War) 17:05.7, 7. Justin Matei (CMA) 17:14.8, 8. Zach Dunlap (CMA) 17:18.7, 9. Eli Pugh (Roch) 17:19.2, 10. Thomas Rohr (Manch) 17:24.3, 11. Kennedy Schneiders (Ply) 17:30.7, 12. Lucas Howett (War) 17:37.3, 13. T.J. Day 17:38.3, 14. Jesse Floor (TV) 17:42.0, 15. Jacob DeBoest (War) 17:43.4
Other Warsaw runner – 17. Nathaniel Gottschalk 17:49
