GOSHEN - More times than not, the real battle at the Northern Lakes Conference cross country meet is for second place.
Such was the case in Saturday mornning's 5,000-meter boys race at Ox Bow Park in Goshen, as Northridge once again ran away with the team championship and county rivals Warsaw and Wawasee duked it out for the runner-up position.Northridge took the top four spots, while its fifth runner finished seventh, as the Raiders ended the race with 17 points and easily outdistanced themselves from the other seven teams in the field.
Warsaw, led by the 10th-place finish of Cody Goshert (16:46), finished second with 100 points.
Wawasee, led by Ryan Smythe's sixth-place time of 16:42, finished third in the team scoring with 103 points, followed by Concord (112), Goshen (114), Elkhart Memorial (134), Plymouth (142) and NorthWood (185).
To go with Goshert's 10th-place effort, the rest of the Tigers' five-person score was made up of the finishes from Brian Donovan (15th, 17:02), Nathan West (18th, 17:18), Jeremiah Stichter (25th, 17:29) and Jordon Scroggs (32nd, 17:43).
Other Warsaw runners included Ryan Connors (38th, 18:04) and John Tabor (43rd, 18:10).
While Wawasee had two runners finish ahead of Warsaw's first runner, as Smythe was sixth and Jose Mejia (16:44) was sixth, the Warriors couldn't top the Tigers because the rest of their scoring runners finished 28th, 30th and 31st.
The gap between the Warriors second and third runners was just too big.
Luke Thompson (17:35) was 28th for Wawasee, while Kyle Denton finished 30th in a time of 17:41, Daniil Gardner was 31st in 17:42, Thunder Olsen finished 41st in a time of 18:08 and Matt Rensberger completed the course in 18:23 to finish 45th.
Northridge's Ladd Mercer won the boys race in a time of 16:05, followed in the top five by teammates Andrew Albert, Mitch Keyser, Trevor Moore and Elkhart Memorial's Race Dorsey.
In the junior varsity boys race, Kyle Stamm led Warsaw with a fourth-place time of 18:25, while Justin Krizman led the Warriors with a fifth-place time of 18:27.
In the girls event, Northridge wasn't as dominating, but did come away with the team championship with a score of 25 points.
The Raiders had the top two individuals, as Hannah Miller won with a time of 19:15 and teammate Karissa Cominator finished second in 19:28.
Goshen finished second in the girls team standings with 53 points, followed by Warsaw (115), Elkhart Memorial (120), Plymouth (135), Concord (142), Wawasee (155) and NorthWood (177).
Warsaw's Erica Ridderman was the highest-finishing local with her 10th-place time of 20:14. Teammate Ashley Henry finished right behind her in 11th-place with a time of 20:31.
Other Warsaw finishers included Molly Pyle (22nd, 21:27), Lauren Smolen (32nd, 22:14), Katie McNulty (40th, 23:04), Sena Muta (47th, 23:21) and Sarah Espinoza (53rd, 24:02).
Lisa Pfetsch led Warsaw in the junior varsity race with a second-place time of 21:42.
For Wawasee's girls team, Stephanie Rhodes led the way with a 16th-place time of 20:59, while Nicole Rhodes was 20th in a time of 21:19, Catherine Giltner was 31st (22:01), Ellie Gilbert was 37th (22:37), Jessica Goldsmith was 51st (23:44), Desi List was 55th (24:17) and Lydia Karns was 56th in a time of 25:04.
Gina Cockrill paced the Warriors in the JV race with a 22nd-place effort.
Both the boys and girls teams from Warsaw and Wawasee will be in action again Oct. 9 in the sectional at Ox Bow Park. Action is scheduled to get underway at 5 p.m.
NLC BOYS MEET
Team scores - Northridge 17, Warsaw 100, Wawasee 103, Concord 112, Goshen 114, Elkhart Memorial 134, Plymouth 142, NorthWood 185
Warsaw - 10. Cody Goshert 16:46, 5. Brian Donovan 17:02, 18. Nathan West 17:18, 25. Jeremiah Stichter 17:29, 32. Jordon Scroggs 17:43, 38. Ryan Connors 18:04, 43. John Tabor 18:10
