Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
SYRACUSE - Warsaw boys cross country coach Jim Mills isn't in the business of sugar coating things.
When asked how he thought his team ran Tuesday against Northern Lakes Conference foes Concord and host Wawasee, he was blunt.
"We ran pretty mediocre," said Mills. "Every year we come over here and run poorly. There's something about coming to Wawasee."
The Warriors coasted to a 19-40 win over Warsaw and a 15-47 win over the Minutemen in rainy and muddy conditions at Wawasee High School. The Tigers topped the Minutemen 19-36.
In girls action, Warsaw beat Concord 22-35 and Wawasee 19-40. The Minutemen edged Wawasee 25-30.
For the boys, the race was dominated by Wawasee's Ryan Smythe. Smythe jumped out to an early lead and never looked back. While the rest of the Warriors ran in a solid pack, Smythe distanced himself from his teammates and all the Tigers.
Warsaw's Matt Campbell finished second, more than 40 seconds behind Smythe with a time of 16:54.
Wawasee boys coach Jerid Stoffel was impressed with how his team ran and the return of sophomore Ross Stichter.
"He said he felt good," said Stoffel of Stichter on his return from injury. "It's going to help out a ton having him run as our No. 2."
Stichter finished third with a time of 17:25 while Wawasee's Jose Mejia finished fourth, Haven Hoffman fifth and Doug Slabaugh sixth.
"Our guys ran together and stayed pretty consistent," said Stoffel. "We had lot of young guys run PRs. Maybe the rain helped."
Luke Blakeslee, Carl Senders, Kyle Denton and Rito Islas all ran personal bests for Wawasee.
Warsaw's loss to Wawasee is disappointing said Mills, because of how well his team ran Saturday at the Northrop Invitational.
"If you took our times compared to theirs from (Northrop) then we win," said Mills. "Give credit to Wawasee, they're really good. We came off a great meet. We just didn't run well tonight."
For the girls, Warsaw ran a solid race with Erica Ridderman leading the way. Ridderman earned a first-place finish with a time of 16:01. Val Leek finished third, Sarah Espinosa finished sixth, Lindsay Houvener finished seventh and Ashley Henry finished ninth.
Wawasee earned just two top-10 finishes in Ashlee Pollen and Catherine Giltner with fourth- and eighth-place times, respectively.
The girls' race came after the boys', which allowed for the girls to navigate the slippery course with a bit more ease.
According to Stoffel, the Wawasee course is typically a fast one when dry but becomes a lot trickier with rain.
"(The conditions) were absolutley horrible," said Warsaw girls coach Jerry Gackenheimer. "It's the third week in a row we've run in the rain. I had a couple of girls that slipped and fell but running after the boys we were able to figure out the sharp turns easier."
Despite the conditions, Gackenheimer is pleased with where his girls are.
"We're where we want to be for the middle of the season," said Gackenheimer. "We're not where we want to be three weeks from now but we're happy with our performance."
Both Warsaw boys and girls squads are next in action Saturday at the New Prairie Invitational which, according to Mills, is one of the state's top invites.
The Wawasee boys, 2-1 on the season, and the Warrior girls, 0-3 on the season, are in action Tuesday at NorthWood in a three-way meet with Northridge.
(BOYS)
WAWASEE 19, WARSAW 40
WAWASEE 15, CONCORD 47
WARSAW 19, CONCORD 36
Wawasee finishers -Ê1. Ryan Smythe 16:11, 3. Ross Stichter 17:25, 4. Jose Mejia 17:29, 5. Haven Hoffman 17:32, 6. Doug Slabaugh 17:34, 10. Jared Wurtzel 17:54, 12. Scott Gingerich 17:59, 16. Luke Blakeslee 18:11, 17. Daniil Gardner 18:12, 20, 20. Carl Sender 18:21, 21. Kyle Denton 18:42, 28. Matt Rensberger 19:06, 29. Justin Krizman 19:13
Warsaw finishers - 2. Matt Campbell 16:54, 7. Alex Kurosky 17:40, 8. Cody Goshert 17:47, 13. John Tabor 18:04, 14. Brian Donovan 18:07, 21. Alph Eherenman 18:37, 22. Nathaniel West 18:40, 26. Adam Gall 19:00, 27. Jeremiah Stichter 19:04
(GIRLS)
WARSAW 22, CONCORD 35
WARSAW 19, WAWASEE 40
CONCORD 25, WAWASEE 30
Warsaw finishers -Ê1. Erica Ridderman 16:01, 3. Val Leek 16:43, 6. Sarah Espinosa 16:54, 7. Lindsay Houvener 16:58, 9. Ashley Henry 17:04, 13. Lauren Smolen 17:52, 14. Katie McNulty 17:56, 18. Laura McNulty 18:31, 20. Hilary Shepherd 18:49, 21. Emily Tuggle 18:51, 22. Sena Muta 18:56, 24. Johanna Gymrek 19:09, 26. Karrie Burch 19:14, 28. Shleby Warner 19:35, 30. Katie Furnivall 19:57
Wawasee finishers - 4. Ashlee Pollen 16:46, 8. Catherine Giltner 17:02, 12. Jessica Goldsmith 17:50, 15. Dani Wallace 18:04, 16. Kati Hasse 18:13, 25. Lydia Karns 19:09, 29. Ellie Gilbert 19:41, 32. Gina Cockrill 20:09, 35. Desi List 20:29
