Warsaw’s Ellis Coon capped his stellar senior season with a third-place finish Saturday at the Cross Country State finals in Terre Haute (Photos by Scott Davidson)

TERRE HAUTE- Satisfaction and sadness both covered the face of Ellis Coon Saturday at the end of his prep cross country career.

The Warsaw standout made his final race in the orange and black one to cherish.

The gratifying third-place finish at the 68th annual Boys Cross Country State Finals at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course though was tempered for Coon.

Coon watched as his future college teammate Zach Panning of Fort Wayne Concordia collapsed late in the race to fall from first place all the way to a 22nd place finish.

Panning, who was runner-up in 2012 and clearly the top runner in the field Saturday, was leading until he began to struggle and slow dramatically about  200 meters down the final stretch headed for the finish line. Panning, who has committed to Temple just like Coon, then fell three times and was past by 21 runners. Panning had won the semi state title at Fort Wayne last Saturday.

“I just feel horrible for Zach,” said Coon, who took his visit to Temple the same time as Panning. “To see one of my best friends go down like that was just terrible. I wanted to stop and help him when I saw him go down.

“I’m satisfied and happy with how my race went today. I can’t complain about being third. I just wish it could have happened under lighter circumstances than it did.”

Ellis Coon heads to a third-place finish Saturday.

Coon covered the 5,000-meter course in a time of 15:41.4. He finished behind champion Jackson Bertoli, a senior from Terre Haute South, who won in 15:32.4 and runner-up David Dalton, a senior from Greenwood, who finished in a time of 15:37.

“I was happy with how my race went,” Coon said. “I made a couple tactical mistakes and could have maybe finished second. I should have made my move a little earlier. We all knew that Zach would go out fast to the front. But, Jackson and David ran outstanding races.”

Coon was eighth at the State Finals a year ago in a time of 15:41.2. He won the NLC, sectional, regional and semi state titles this fall before his outstanding effort Saturday. His tremendous final cross country season came after he missed most of the track season in the spring due to a foot injury.

The No. 9 Tigers posted a team score of 337 to finish in 12th place in the 24-team field. Warsaw was making its third straight trip to the State Finals, where they were fourth in 2012.

“Ellis should be happy with third place,” said Warsaw coach Jim Mills. “He came here to win, not to finish second or third, but he proved today that he’s one of the best in the state.

“He’s a fierce competitor who has come this far through his hard work and dedication. As a freshman, he was not one of our best runners. He’s come a long way.”

Senior Tyler Houvener nears the finish line for the Tigers at State Saturday.

Mills had plenty of empathy for Panning’s heartbreaking day.

“You have to feel horrible for Zach,” said Mills. “He gave it his all. He’s been the best runner all year and this is just awful for him.”

Sophomore Owen Glogovsky, making his second appearance at State, was the second Tiger to hit the finish line Saturday. He finished 94th overall in a time of 16:48.6. Junior Daniel Messenger placed 110th for Warsaw in 16:54.6, followed by senior Tyler Houvener in 129th (17:09.3), junior Nick Bergen 134th (17:11.2), sophomore Jonathan Beres 138th (17:12.9) and senior Ryan Goon 206th (20:22.5).

Junior Nick Bergen helped Warsaw place 12th Saturday at the State Finals.

“It wasn’t our best day and it wasn’t our worst day,” Mills said. “Tyler really gutted it out with the way his hip was hurting. Owen was night and day different today than when he ran here last year as a freshman.”

The Tigers put together an amazing season in which they won NLC, sectional and regional championships and took second at the semi state. Warsaw, despite the loss of All-State runners Jake Poyner and Robert Murphy, continued its tradition of excellence.”

“Every time you come here it helps build your team for next year. Our program is on a roll right now and we want to continue this. We plan to make it four trips in a row here next year.”

Goon, one of three seniors in the lineup, had his moment in the spotlight Saturday. He sprinted from the start of the race all out to lead for about the first 800 meters before in the end crossing the finish line last in the field of 291 competitors.

“The guys told me last night they had something in mind and I said don’t tell me,” said Mills. “I knew what they had in mind. It was a senior thing. Ryan is one of my favorite all-time guys. It’s been great to have him around.”

Top-ranked Carmel claimed the team championship Saturday for the second straight year. The Greyhounds totaled 64 points to top runner-up Columbus North, which finished with a score of 78.

Northridge, led by senior Blake O’Dell, finished in eighth place with a team total of 234.

Sophomore Owen Glogovsky was the No. 2 runner for Warsaw at the State Finals Saturday.