Matt Campbell, Warsaw’s girls cross country coach, said he couldn’t single any of his runners out because the whole team performed well Tuesday evening. Warsaw boys coach Jim Mills said his team has been struggling with injuries, illness and other things. While Campbell and Mills may have had different things on their minds, both their teams were absolutely dominant in a three-way Northern Lakes Conference meet with Concord and Plymouth. The host Tigers and Lady Tigers both improved to 5-0 in conference action, as they held senior night and their last home meet. “I can’t single anybody out, they all ran well today,” said Campbell. “I’m blessed with a great team, and we just need to keep doing what we’ve been doing.” In a 5K girls race with 52 competitors, the 10th-ranked Lady Tigers had nine runners finish in the top 10, leading them to a 15-50 win over Plymouth and a 16-47 win over Concord. Concord defeated Plymouth 22-33. Mia Beckham won the race in 20:05.5, followed by teamates Charlene Orr (20:11.2), Allison Miller (20:20.8) and Anna Craig (20:21.1) in second, third and fourth, respectively. Concord’s Vanessa Steiner finished fifth in a time of 20:21.4, while Warsaw’s Emma Haywood, Claire Kehler, Brooke Rhodes, Hannah Dawson and Lauren Orr finished sixth through 10th. Libby Read was the first Plymouth runner to cross the line, finshing 13th in a time of 21:22.6. “It feels good,” Campbell said when asked about his team being 5-0 and dominating the competition. “I’m obviously very blessed with some great runners.” In the boys 5K race, the Tigers claimed the top three finshes and eight of the top 10. Warsaw beat Plymouth 15-50 and topped Concord 17-46. Concord was a 19-40 winner over Plymouth. “We’re trying to regroup,” said Mills. “We’ve had problems with injuries, illness and grades. We had a little pow-wow, we’re trying to right the ship. Some of our guys laid back today. We wanted some of our middle guys to run up toward the front.” Daniel Messenger won the 54-runner boys 5K race in 17:11.7, followed by Warsaw teammates Jonathan Beres (17:31.5) and Jacob DeBoest (17:32.8) in second and third, respectively. Concord’s Dominic Proffitt finished fourth in a time of 17:37, while Warsaw’s Avery Torress, Lucas Howett, T.J. Day and Owen Glogovsky were fifth through eighth. Kennedy Schneiders was the first Plymouth runner to finish, crossing the line ninth in a time of 17:59. Both the Tigers and Lady Tigers are in action again Saturday in the Culver Military Academy Invitational and then finish the NLC regular season against Elkhart Memorial and Goshen Tuesday at Shanklin Park.
