Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
WINONA LAKE - While the Warsaw boys and girls cross country squads both won Monday afternoon against Plymouth and Concord at Miller Field on the campus of Grace College, the sentiments weren't the same for each team.
The boys edged out Plymouth 27-28 and cruised past Concord 17-44. The girls snuck past Concord 26-29 and topped Plymouth 27-30.
While the girls team enjoyed the win on Warsaw's senior night, the boys practiced.
"We're two teams right now," said Warsaw head coach Jim Mills. "There's a team that practices and a team that shows up to meets."
After a solid showing at the Snider Invitational in Fort Wayne Saturday, the Tigers struggled against two Northern Lakes Conference foes.
Warsaw's Matt Campbell and Kyle McNulty finished second and third with times of 17:10 and 17:22 respectively.
Baxter Burnworth came in fifth for the Tigers with a time of 17:33.
Plymouth and Concord made things interesting
Plymouth's Matt Galt and Brendan Fox finished sixth and eighth with Concord's John Welker sandwiched in between.
The Tigers secured the win when John Tabor and Steve Robison rounded out the top 10 with times of 18:07 and 18:08.
"This is as ugly as it gets," said Mills. "Particularly after a great effort Saturday. So we're practicing right now. The night's not over."
While the boys practiced the girls race started.
Erica Ridderman and her time of 16:25 once again led Warsaw. Lindsay Houvener soon followed with a time of 16:35 and then Julie Seiss crossed the finish line with a 16:42 to secure the fourth, fifth and sixth spots for the Tigers. Ashley Henry and Laura McNulty rounded out the scoring for the Tigers with finishes of 12th and 13th.
Warsaw girls coach Jerry Gackenheimer was pleased with his team's effort and especially the performance of his five seniors.
Elise Smolen, a four-year runner for the Tigers, finished 21st with a time of 18:47.
Melody Lawton is a sprinter for the track team and finished with a time of 22:35.
Ericka Kurosky, who Gackenheimer said adds to the "livelihood" of the team finished with a time of 19:56.
Sara Ringborg, a Swedish exchange student in her first year of cross country, ended with a time of 21:43.
On the boys side, while Mills wasn't pleased with his team's performance, he was pleased with some individual performances.
Especially those of his seniors, who Mills termed as "great kids".
McNulty, Burnworth and Robinson all finished in the top 10 of their final home regular season meet. Fellow senior Ryan Lursen ran a time of 20:05 while Ryan Walker was unable to race due to a leg injury.
Plymouth's Dan Neidlinger finished first in the boys race with a time of 16:51 while fellow Pilgrim Julia Rodriguez was tops in the girls race with a time of 15:37.
Both boys and girls team complete their dual meet portion of the season and rest until Saturday when they travel to Oxbow Park for the NLC championship.
BOYS - WARSAW 27, PLYMOUTH 28; WARSAW 17, CONCORD 44
Warsaw finishers - 2. Matt Campbell 17:10, 3. Kyle McNulty 17:22, 5. Baxter Burnworth 17:33, 9. John Tabor 18:07, 10. Steve Robinson 18:08, 13. Alex Kurosky 18:16, 15. Alph Eherenman 18:39, 19. Brian Donovan 18:58, 22. Adam Gall 19:30, 27. Kyle Stamm 19:51, 29. Ryan Lursen 20:05, 35. Trevor Hanson 21:46, 39. Trevor Bradley 22:40
GIRLS - WARSAW 26, CONCORD 29; WARSAW 27, PLYMOUTH 30
Warsaw finishers - 4. Erica Ridderman 16:25, 5. Lindsay Houvener 16:35, 6. Julie Seiss 16:42, 12. Ashley Henry 17:45, 13. Laura McNulty 17:55, 15. Emily Tuggle 18:04, 20. Brittany Garver 18:39, 21. Elise Smolen 18:47, 23. Jalyn Haughee 19:10, 26. Isabel Olivo 19:36, 28. Ericka Kurosky 19:56, 30. Nicole Kuhn 20:12, 32. Karrie Burch 20:25, 33. Johanna Gymrek 20:33, 37. Alli Finch 21:45, 38. Sara Ringborg 21:43, 39. Shelby Warner 22:15, 40. Melody Lawton 22:35, 42. Whitney Ousley 24:4, 43. Alex Shoemaker-Furnivall 28:22
