Warsaw Runners Top NLC Foes Wawasee, PlymouthA senior and a sophomore led the way Tuesday evening, as Warsaw’s girls and boys cross country teams opened Northern Lakes Conference action with wins over rivals Wawasee and Plymouth. Led by senior Charlene Orr, who won the girls 63-person 5K event in a time of 20:11, the host Lady Tigers beat Wawasee 19-40 and were 15-49 winners over Plymouth. The Lady Warriors beat Plymouth 17-45. In the boys 5K race, sophomore Zeb Hernandez won in 16:42, leading the Tigers to a 17-44 win over Plymouth and a 19-42 victory over Wawasee. Plymouth edged Wawasee 26-33 in their head-to-head boys matchup. “We wanted to get off to a fast start, and we put it in the hands of our second tier – we rested our top three today,” said Warsaw girls coach Matt Campbell. “We gave some other girls a chance to shine, which is good for everybody. That’s just going to make us deeper and better, so I’m pretty pumped with how they showed up and took care of business.” Warsaw’s Emma Bohnenkamper finished second in 20:44, while the rest of the Lady Tiger’s scoring lineup included Taylor Gunter (21:08), Lauren Orr (21:20) and Angie Vijil Sanchez (21:35) in fourth, fifth and seventh, respectively. “They run for each other,” Campbell said of his team depth, which was put on display even more, given the fact he rested his top three runners. “They’re a team. They just take care of business. When a girl is down, or is resting, the rest of them step up.” Elizabeth Zorn led Wawasee’s girls team with a third-place time of 20:53. The Lady Warriors’ other scoring runners were McKenzie Smith (6th, 21:33), Aubrey Kuhn (8th, 21:46), Lila Gregory (16th, 22:59) and Katie Haines (19th, 23:34). Plymouth was led by Emory Smith’s 10th-place time of 22:02. In the boys race, Warsaw sophomore Zeb Hernandez was out front in convincing fashion, winning in a time of 16:42. Hernandez finished 21 seconds ahead of teammate and runner-up Xavi Ramirez. Warsaw swept the top three spots in the boys race, as Lucas Howett crossed the line in 17:07. “It’s always good to start 2-0, especially when our conference (round-robin schedule) counts as half of the conference championship,” said Warsaw boys assistant coach Rob Peters. “And it’s nice, too, when it’s Wawasee and Plymouth ... two of our big rivals. It was a good day for us. I thought we raced well.” All five of Warsaw’s scoring runners in the 71-person 5K boys race finished in the top eight. The Tigers’ Kennis Dye was seventh in a time of 18:30, two seconds ahead of teammate Nathaniel Gottschalk. Wawasee was led by the duo of Spencer Hare (17:31) and Luke Griner (17:52), who finished fourth and sixth, respectively. The Warriors’ other three scoring runners were Bennett Hoffert (15th, 19:03), Thomas Conley (25th, 19:44) and Brandon Kidd (37th, 20:52). “We are still in the process of building toward a strong team in October,” said Wawasee boys coach Chad Hoffert. “We had several drop their time from the last meet, so that is good. We will keep working to get where we want to be.” Plymouth’s top runner was fifth-place finisher Jordan Morrow (17:41). The teams from Warsaw and Wawasee will be in action again Saturday in the Marion Invitational at Indiana Wesleyan University.
