MARION — Winning hasn't historically come often for the Whitko boys cross country team, but for this year's senior class, it has. After claiming their third-straight Three Rivers Conference championship Thursday in North Manchester, the 23rd-ranked Whitko Wildcats won Tuesday's Marion Sectional at Indiana Wesleyan University for the second-straight season. The Wildcats won the meet with 37 points, putting plenty of distance between themselves and second-place Huntington North, which finished with 57 points. "It's tough, because only a couple schools here had conference (meets) last week," Whitko coach Mike McKeighen said. "So, we had five days where we ran two races with high intensity. We really needed to manage what we did through the week, to make sure they didn't over do either one." The Wildcats now have three days to rest before returning to Marion for the regional, which begins at 10:30 a.m. At the regional, the top five teams from the Marion Sectional will meet up with the top five teams from Tuesday's Bellmont Sectional, with Whitko and the 14th-ranked Homestead Spartans headlining the event. "It's going to be good competition," McKeighen said. "Homestead is usually always around 10th in the state. They're going to be tough. They've been cranking, so it will be a good race to see how long we can hang up there with them." At the sectional, Eastbrook sophomore Joshua Neideck finished first in a time of 16:01.52, while Whitko senior Trapper Mize placed second in 16:17.37. "I'm happy with today," Mize said. "I've been struggling this season, but I'm getting back up there." Mize also finished second at the meet a season ago, when he was the runner-up to teammate Brian Menzie with a time of 15:54.90. Despite the slower time, McKeighen was pleased with what he saw out of Mize. "I thought he made some good strides this race, because he made a good effort in the middle of the race to separate himself from the chase pack and put on a good push of his own," McKeighen said. "I felt like, Thursday (at the TRC Meet), he held with the chase pack a little long. He needs to start cutting away at some those leads, because when you get to semistate, there's going to be people in that gap, and you need to pass those people for points." Along with Mize's performance, Whitko seniors Jude Stieglitz (16:32.18) and Dylan Cozad (16:32.52) finished fourth and fifth, respectively, while senior Dallas Asher was 12th (17:07.61) and senior Brody Wilson was 14th (17:13.18). "I felt like three of our guys were really clicking today, which were the three in the top five," McKeighen said. "The other two, I was happy where they were — I thought they ran good effort races. Maybe they made some slight technical errors in some places, and that didn't put them in the best position. But we did what we had to do." Also for the boys team were freshman Derek Miller, who placed 22nd in 17:58.90, and senior Josh Busenbark, who finished 45th in 19:23.80. In the girls race, the 25th-ranked Huntington North Lady Vikings finished first with 45 points, while the Whitko Lady Wildcats were seventh with 179. The Lady Wildcats' top finisher was junior Melanie Kelsey, who placed 27th in 21:57.22, followed by junior Holly Frantz (33rd), freshman Michelle Kelsey (36th), freshman Abby Smith (39th), junior Jocellyn Krull (46th), sophomore Miranda Terrill (49th) and junior Becca Thomson (56th). While the season is over for the girls team, it just now seems to be picking up for the boys. "We weren't really keying on this race," McKeighen said. "We wanted to make sure we ran well, so we could win it. But, the bigger task is Saturday. We're really focused on that one. "These aren't the races we're focusing on," he added. "We want to do well and get the trophies, but something bigger awaits."
MARION SECTIONAL Note - top five teams and top 15 individuals advance to Saturday's regional BOYS Team scores – Whitko 37, Huntington North 57, Eastbrook 87, Churubusco 132, Columbia City 134, Southwood 160, Marion 168, Mississinewa 192, Wabash 198, Blackford 273 Top 15 — 1. Joshua Neideck (Eastbrook) 16:01.52, 2. Trapper Mize (Whitko) 16:17.37, 3. Cordell Lewis (Huntington North) 16:18.46, 4. Jude Stieglitz (Whitko) 16:32.18, 5. Dylan Cozad (Whitko) 16:32.52, 6. Brenden Zoltek (Columbia city) 16:45.15, 7. Johnny Mendez (Southwood) 16:48.93, 8. Evan Harney (Columbia City) 16:51.06, 9. Connor Hogeston (Churubusco) 16:57.90, 10. Logan Juillerat (Huntington North) 17:03.90, 11. Skyler Vogleman (Huntington North) 17:07.34, 12. Dallas Asher (Whitko) 17:07.61, 13. Charlie Mettler (Huntington North) 17:07.99, 14. Brody Wilson (Whitko) 17:13.18, 15. David Rodman (Eastbrook) 17:24.24 Whitko — 2. Mize 16:17.37, 4. Stieglitz 16:32.18, 5. Cozad 16:32.52, 12. Asher 17:07.61, 14. Wilson 17:13.18, 22. Derek Miller 17:58.90, 45. Josh Busenbark 19:23.80
GIRLS Team Scores – Huntington North 45, Columbia City 48, Eastbrook 69, Southwood 117, Marion 128, Churubusco 136, Whitko 179, Wabash 213 Top 15 — 1. Samantha Roush (Columbia City) 18:46.00, 2. Sophie Seward (Eastbrook) 19:15.72, 3. Robyn Earst (Huntington North) 19:31.92, 4. Carlee Hearld (Columbia City) 19:45.59, 5. Haley Heath (Southwood) 20:02.40, 6. Madeline Cramer (Eastbrook) 20:09.34, 7. Kayla Patrick (Huntington North) 20:13.65, 8. Nicole Smith (Huntington North) 20:19.21, 9. Emily Lehner (Southwood) 20:21.81, 10. Erin Knepple (Columbia City) 20:23.12, 11. Lisa Schmalzried (Southwood) 20:36.72, 12. Emily Eherenman (Huntington North) 20:38.81, 13. Aletheia Burritt (Marion) 20:39.81, 14. Tiffany Harber (Columbia City) 20:43.61, 15. Marie Ditzler (Huntington North) 20:49.18 Whitko — 27. Melanie Kelsey 21:57.22, 33. Holly Frantz 22:14.72, 36. Michelle Kelsey 22:24.56, 39. Abby Smith 23:09.09, 46. Jocellyn Krull 24:35.50, 49. Miranda Terrill 25:07.12, 56. Becca Thomson 30:02.24
