CULVER – Rochester High School senior Wesley Meyer won the battle. Warsaw's young, talented and determined boys cross country team, however, won the war. Racing in cool temperatures Saturday morning, Meyer won the Culver Academies Regional after covering the scenic 5K course in 16:00. Warsaw senior Owen Glogovsky (16:03) and freshman teammate Zeb Hernandez (16:10) finished second and third, though, leading the Tigers to their fourth-consecutive regional title as a team and the program's fifth overall. Warsaw earned the hardware with 46 points, as all five of the Tigers' scoring runners finished among the top 17 competitors in the 89-person boys race. Rochester, with only two team members placing among the top 12 runners, finished second in the team standings with 72 points. “Our guys, 1 through 5, ran as well as we have all year,” said Warsaw coach Jim Mills. “It was a good day. Everybody's healthy and feeling good. We wanted to at least get on a good roll for next week.” The next week Mills was referring to is Saturday's New Prairie Semistate. The top five teams, as well as the top 10 individuals not on an advancing team at the regional, qualify for the semistate. Joining Warsaw and Rochester will be Culver Military Academy (90), Winamac (91) and Logansport (145). Kokomo finished sixth in the team standings Saturday with 154 points, followed by Western (165), Pioneer (213), Manchester (213) and Plymouth (217). There will be 20 teams at the New Prairie Semistate. Only six of them will advance to the state finals, which are scheduled for Oct. 31 in Terre Haute. “I think we're right there,” Mills said when asked about his team – which had a lineup Saturday of two seniors, one junior, three sophomores and a freshman – and its chances of a possible trip to state. “I mean, I don't think everybody thinks we are, but we think we are. We'll see what happens next week.” What happened at the regional was the Tigers showed off their young team's talent. Sophomore Lucas Howett finished 14th in 16:59, while sophomore Xavi Ramirez (17:15) was 16th and sophomore Nathaniel Gottschalk (17:18) finished 17th. The Tigers' lineup also included senior Jon Beres (17:24) in 19th and junior T.J. Day (18:04) in 38th place. Warsaw was able to distance itself from runner-up Rochester because the Zebras only had two runners near the front pack, Meyer and fifth-place finisher Eli Pugh (16:23). Rochester's other three scoring runners included junior Harrison Korkos in 13th, freshman Cody Dennis in 20th and junior Damek O'Dell in 46th. “They're a good team,” Mills said of the Zebras. “We didn't just come here and think we were gonna stroll through this. We just felt like if we ran good we were the best team, and I think today we showed it.” Sophomore Thomas Rohr led ninth-place Manchester with a 10th-place time of 16:42. Rohr advanced to the semistate as an individual. Junior Drew Jones was the second Squire to cross the stripe, finishing 51st in a time of 18:28. Tippecanoe Valley had two individuals in the race – senior Jesse Floor (22nd, 17:30), who advanced to semistate as an individual, and junior Jared Mikel (87th, 20:01). Triton was represented by 39th-place finisher Bailey Watkins (18:07), as well as fellow junior Cordell Sherow (40th, 18:09) and sophomore Shaun Honeycutt (75th, 19:25). Lakeland Christian Academy had two runners in the boys race – senior Alex Plastow (78th, 19:37) and junior Josh Gervasi (79th, 19:38).
CULVER ACADEMIES REGIONAL (Boys) Team Scores – Warsaw 46, Rochester 72, Culver Military 90, Winamac 91, Logansport 145, Kokomo 154, Western 165, Pioneer 213, Manchester 213, Plymouth 217 Top 10 – 1. Wesley Meyer (Roch) 16:00, 2. Owen Glogovsky (War) 16:03, 3. Zeb Hernandez (War) 16:10, 4. Mitchell Rans (Caston) 16:15, 5. Eli Pugh (Roch) 16:23, 6. Zen Zupin (Win) 16:25, 7. Joshua Everetts (West) 16:27, 8. Jacob Graf (Logan) 16:34, 9. Kyle Collins (Win) 16:39, 10. Thomas Rohr (Manch) 16:42 Warsaw – 2. Owen Glogovsky 16:03, 3. Zeb Hernandez 16:10, 14. Lucas Howett 16:59, 16. Xavi Ramirez 17:15, 17. Nathaniel Gottschalk 17:18, 19. Jon Beres 17:24, 38. T.J. Day 18:04 Manchester – 10. Thomas Rohr 16:42, 51. Drew Jones 18:28, 58. Lance Bennett 18:43, 69. Hunter Miller 18:59, 74. Wilson Nettleton 19:19, 82. Montgomery Pattison 19:48, 83. Ethan Davis 19:49 LCA – 78. Alex Plastow 19:37, 79. Josh Gervasi 19:38 Valley – 22. Jesse Floor 17:30, 87. Jared Mikel 20:01 Triton – 39. Bailey Watkins 18:07, 40. Cordell Sherow 18:09, 75. Shaun Honeycutt 19:25
