Aubrey Kuhn placed 16th for Wawasee in Saturday’s race at Ox Bow. (Photos by Nick Goralczyk)

GOSHEN – It was close, but Wawasee lives to run another day.

The Lady Warriors cross country team had a tough field to compete with but managed a fifth place finish to punch a ticket to regional at the Elkhart Central Girls Cross Country Sectional Saturday morning. Ox Bow Park was packed with harriers from around the area as Northridge won its 24th team title with a score of 35 points.

The Raiders beat out Northern Lakes Conference foe Concord (65) for the title. Fellow NLC members NorthWood (99), Goshen (116) and Wawasee (146) rounded out the top five team qualifiers.

“It wasn’t really a great day for us,” began Doug Slabaugh, Wawasee’s head coach. “Our top three were back about 20 seconds behind where they were last week. That really put us behind the eight ball from the start.

“What got us through was how our four and five runners finished. Bailey Schroeder and Yanelly Pizana were able to separate themselves from Fairfield’s No. 4 near the finish. If that flip-flops a little bit in there then we’re probably going home and Fairfield is moving on. It came down to heart and our girls had it.”

Schroeder (22:59) and Pizana (23:00) were able to pull ahead of Fairfield’s Cierra Lau on the home stretch, giving Wawasee the edge it needed to beat out the Falcons 146-147 to advance to the regional.

Hannah Yeakey

McKenzie Smith (21:31) and Elizabeth Zorn (21:19) came in ahead of that group while Aubrey Kuhn (21:04) paced Wawasee’s squad. Delanie Bame (23:07) and Keyanna Clevenger (23:35) rounded out the scores for the Warriors.

Wawasee struggled on the course at times today, but the girls were able to breathe a sigh of relief when the final scores were announced. Looking ahead Slabaugh wants his runners to take of themselves before the regional.

“Some of these girls have to take better care of themselves,” Slabaugh said. “They need to take better of themselves for racing and not getting to the point where their bodies are shutting down. Staying hydrated, getting more sleep. That’s the kind of stuff we have to do better at this week.

“Then it’s back to what it’s been all year, we have to have our pack move up. Our four through seven will have to move up. That’s the biggest difference with the regional field, the back of the race is faster and we have to be ready for that.”

Wawasee will return to Ox Bow next Saturday as the Elkhart Central Sectional will combine with the South Bend Riley Sectional.

Bethany Christian’s Hannah Yeakey was the top individual runner with her time of 19:30. Jenna Miller (19:46), Mackenzie Adams (19:52) and Mariah King (19:59) took second through fourth, all representing Northridge. NorthWood’s Erica Stutsman rounded out the top five with her time of 20:03.

Mackenzie Smith