By TIM CREASON

CULVER – Zeb Hernandez is one of the best high school runners in Indiana. But he’s still just a sophomore.

And he’s still learning.

“He likes to be out in front, and not knowing who he was up against, he took it out and went after it, and he was in a little over his head,” said Warsaw coach Jim Mills after watching the Tiger team leader finish fourth in the boys Elite race at Saturday’s Culver Academies Cross Country Invitational.

The gigantic meet beside Lake Maxinkuckee attracts over 4,000 high school and middle school runners from Indiana, Ohio, Michigan and Illinois. A pair of Elite races features some of the best teams in the Midwest, including nationally-ranked programs.

Warsaw’s No. 4-ranked girls squad, missing senior Anna Craig, finished eighth in the Elite team standings with 197 points.   The Tiger boys, meanwhile, were  in 14th place with 287.

Hernandez found himself in a blistering race from the start, as the leaders from a nationally-ranked Lyons Township (Ill.) boys squad surged ahead at the gun.

Danny Kilrea, a junior, finished first to lead Lyons Twp., clocking a blistering 15:25.1 over 5,000 meters.

Not far behind, Hernandez surged back and forth through the chase pack, eventually breaking away over the last 2,000 meters to take fourth. He clocked 15:53.9.

“He ran 15:53. Fourth place for a sophomore, that’s not too bad,” said Mills. “But he did hit that (first mile) pretty fast, and it caught up with him. He’s learning.”

Behind Hernandez, the Tiger boys were spread out, with Lucas Howett crossing the finish line 36th in 16:45.3. Xavi Ramirez was 41st in 16:48.8.

Despite the place, Mills felt his team performed better than it did a week earlier at the New Prairie Invitational.

“We knew at the start of the year this is a work in progress,” said Mills. “We’ve got some big gaps, but they’re closing, and if they close some more, we could be in the mix for (a trip to the IHSAA state finals).”

Warsaw’s girls got to see up close what every team in Indiana already knows: Carmel’s No. 1-ranked girls squad may be untouchable.

The Greyhounds swept five of the top six finish spots and scored just 17 points. If not for LaPorte’s Shelby Riehle, who finished fourth, Carmel might have pulled off a perfect score.

Defending state champ Sarah Leinheiser clocked 17:51.1 to lead the Greyhounds.

Mia Beckham was 21st in 19:13.3 to lead Warsaw.

“I try to be confident when I go out there, because when I get nervous, I don’t perform well,” said Beckham. “You gotta believe in yourself.”

Charlene Orr was not far behind, clocking 19:28.7 for Warsaw to finish in 24th place, while Allison Miller was 26th in 19:32.5. But over a minute-and-a-half went by between Warsaw’s No. 1 and No. 5 finishers.

“I’m always proud of our girls, and I know we’re capable of so much,” said Beckham.  “Some of them have mental blocks, and we’re trying to help them get past that.”

A big gap stunned Wawasee, as well, in the girls open (large school race).

The Warriors got tremendous efforts from Elizabeth Zorn and McKenzie Smith, who finished sixth and 11th^trespectively. But no other Wawasee runner finished among the top 70, dropping the Warriors to 11th place in the team standings with 280 points.

Zorn clocked 20:23.1; Smith ran 20:33.3.

Wawasee was also 11h in the boys open standings, where LaPorte finished first at 75 points. The Warriors scored 293.

Spencer Hare was 11th in 16:55.9 to lead the Wawasee boys.

Triton was the 14th-place finisher among closed (small school) girls teams. Whytnie Miller, a freshman, was 42nd for the Trojan girls.

Bailey Watkins was 32nd to lead Triton’s boys, who finished 17th in the closed division team standings.

Watkins clocked 18:32.1.

Warsaw and Wawasee will return to action next Saturday in the NLC Meet at Ox Bow Park.

CULVER ACADEMIES CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL

At Culver

GIRLS ELITE

TEAM SCORES: Carmel 17, Penn 112, Bloomington North 156, Mason (Ohio) 159, Milford (Mich.) 170, Columbus North 180, Guerin Catholic 182, Warsaw 197, West Lafayette 223, LaPorte 239, Portage 247, Munster 296, Portage Central (Mich.) 323, Terre Haute North 359, Indianapolis Cathedral 387, Twin Lakes 407, Crown Point 529.

TOP 25 FINISHERS: 1, Sarah Leinheiser (Carmel) 17:51.1. 2, Christina Geisler (Carmel) 18:26.1. 3, Maddie Dalton (Carmel) 18:31.2. 4, Shelby Riehle (LaPorte) 18:31.4. 5, Rachel Anderson (Carmel) 18:36.9. 6, Phoebe Bates (Carmel) 18:39.0. 7, Lauren Frank (Penn) 18:46.7. 8, Ellie Brush (Mason) 18:47.5. 9, Megan Slamkowski (Guerin) 18:48.2. 10, Rachel Brougher (Columbus No) 18:51.9. 11, Victoria Heiligenthal (Milford) 18:52.4. 12, Devon Zeck (Terre Haute No) 18:52.9. 13, Olivia Morlock (Columbus No) 18:55.6. 14, Paige Schemanske (Guerin) 19:02.8. 15, Mallory Barrett (Milford) 19:07.7. 16, Emma Jankowski (Penn) 19:07.9. 17, Arig Tong (Columbus No) 19:08.3. 18, Ellie Schroeder (Guerin) 19:12.0. 19, Alexa Gebhardt (Bloomington No) 19:12.3. 20, Maggie Gutwein (Twin Lakes) 19:12.9. 21, Mia Beckham (Warsaw) 19:13.3. 22, Brisa Bohling (Munster) 19:14.1. 23, Grace Williams (Bloomington No) 19:24.1. 24, Charlene Orr (Warsaw) 19:28.7. 25, Ailee Henderson (Mason) 19:30.4.

Other Warsaw runners: 26. Allison Miller; 51. Angie Sanchez; 80. Megan Metzer; 81. Lauren Orr; 90. Emma Bohnenkamper; 91. Mallory Hooks; 95. Amanda Herman; 114. Tsige Berelsman.

Girls Reserve Race: 3. Carmen Yoder; 18. Remi Beckham; 21.Lex Desenberg; 22. Megan Dawson; 29. Taylor Strickler.

BOYS ELITE

TEAM SCORES: 1, Lyons Township (Ill.) 36, Fort Wayne Concordia 132, West Lafayette 180, Mason (Ohio) 181, Penn 214, Lake Central 228, Portage Central (Mich.) 230, Milford (Mich.) 239, Fort Wayne Northrop 249, Bloomington North 257, Columbus North 261, Portage 263, Crown Point 283, Warsaw 287, Fort Wayne Snider 337, Guerin Catholic 341, Sycamore (Ohio) 351.

TOP 25 FINISHERS: 1, Danny Kilrea (Lyons) 15:25.1. 2, Vince Zona (Lyons) 15:39.7. 3, Bailey McIntire (South Adams) 15:41.3. 4, Zeb Hernandez (Warsaw) 15:53.9. 5, Mitchell Rans (Caston) 15:54.0. 6, Noah Steffen (FW Concordia) 16:03.2. 7, Jesse Hamlin (FW Snider) 16:10.2. 8, Dan Palmer (Lyons) 16:11.3. 9, Quinn Gallagher (Guerin) 16:12.9. 10, Gannon Foley (Portage Central) 16:14.9. 11, Reece Gibson (FW Concordia) 16:15.3. 12, David Czerwonky (West Lafayette) 16:15.4. 13, Dakota Giles (Milford) 16:16.8. 14, Kevin Lawson (Sycamore) 16:17.6. 15, Graham Kutchek (Lyons) 16:19.4. 16, Alex Pall (Lyons) 16:21.5. 17, Roman Jennings (FW Snider) 16:22.1. 18, Mikey Loehr (Mason) 16:22.7. 19, Michael Uematsu (Mason) 16:23.1. 20, Andrew Warren (Bloomington No) 16:23.8. 21, Jonathan Harley (Penn) 16:24.1. 22, Jon Koning (Portage Central) 16:25.2. 23, Antonio Chapa (Portage) 16:25.7. 24, Joey Copeland (Lake Central) 16:30.6. 25, Mitch Polaski (Lake Central) 16:31.4

Warsaw runners (Elite Race):  Zeb Hernandez 4th 15:53 Lucas Howell 34th 16:45 Xavi Ramirez 39th 16:48. Taylor Mills 104th 17:44 Nathaniel Gottschalk 107th 17:45. Ridley Lemon 117th 18:11. Justin Flemming 119th 18:14. Eric Williamson 18:32. TJ Day 19:00. Kennis Dye 20:07.

Fresh /Soph race. Nick Bazzoni 31st 18:38. Hunter Metzger 40th 18:48. Gary Keys 49th 19:00. Anthony Bass 51st 19:01. Isaac Mitchel 65th 19:27. Luke Howard 76th  19:43 Jack Horoho 77th 19:45. Noah Marshall 20:24 Chase Byron 22:02.

Reserve Race. Ryan Bonebrake 42nd 19:11. Riley Hogenson 78th 20:00. Caleb Remocaldo 85th 20:20. Finn Morgendahl 93rd 20:43. Trent Shepherd 111th 21:08. Ethan Thompson 121st 21:28. Austin Flemming 127th 21:51. Jacob Dachenhaus 140th 21:58. Keller Swartzentruber 227th  22:52. Brock Hogenson  229th 22:57. Victor Mejia 241st  23:22. Avery Remocaldo.277th  26:36. William Bibler 278th  26:37. Timothy Farner 280th  26:51.

BOYS OPEN (Large schools)

TEAM SCORES: LaPorte 75, Plainfield East (Ill) 147, Michigan City 163, Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 175, Illiana Christian (Ill.) 177, Culver Academies 207, Morgan Twp. 217, Terre Haute North 242, Kankakee Valley 247, Sylvania Northview (Ohio) 282, Wawasee 293, Munster 311, South Bend St. Joseph 317, New Prairie 323, Hanover Central 341, Plymouth 349, Twin Lakes 438, Kokomo 474, NorthWood 503, Elkhart Central 534, Logansport 535, Frankfort 615, Mishawaka Marian 710, John Glenn 734.

TOP 25 FINISHERS: 1, Bryon Berg (Michigan City) 16:11.2. 2, Austin Ohm (Illiana Christian) 16:21.4. 3, Peyton Riehle (LaPorte) 16:31.5. 4, Kevin Paszko (Hanover Central) 16:33.3. 5, Jacob Adams (Michigan City) 16:38.2. 6, Corbin Alexander (LaPorte) 16:38.8. 7, Trevor Conley (Kankakee Valley) 16:39.3. 8, Dakota Merkel (LaPorte) 16:42.1. 9, Eric Braden (Morgan Twp.) 16:46.9. 10, Derek Van Prooyen (Illiana Christian) 16:49.1. 11, Spencer Hare (Wawasee) 16:55.9. 12, Emanuel Olvera (NorthWood) 17:00.8. 13, Ryan Koontz (Illiana Christian) 16:49.1. 14, Zach Dunlap (Culver Academies) 17:03.9. 15, Emmanuel Angomas (Plainfield East) 17:05.0. 16, Danny Rockley (Kankakee Valley) 17:07.2. 17, Nathan Kolbus (Indianapolis Chatard) 17:10.6. 18, Jacob Corbett (New Prairie) 17:12.0. 19, Noah Scherf (Michigan City) 17:12.1. 20, Jax Crawford (Indianapolis Chatard) 17:14.1. 21, Loukas Korallas (Michigan City) 17:14.9. 22, Eddie Clintron (Plainfield East) 17:17.0. 23, Luke Lemmons (Morgan Twp.) 17:19.6. 24, Cooper Losey (Sylvania) 17:19.9. 25, Nathan Dibley (Elkhart Central) 17:20.2.

GIRLS OPEN (Large schools)

TEAM SCORES: Sylvania Northview (Ohio) 87, Fort Wayne Northrop 172, Western 173, Kankakee Valley 183, Indianapolis Bishop Chatard 188, Lake Central 223, New Prairie 235, NorthWood 245, Mishawaka Marian 268, Lewis Cass 279, Wawasee 280, Culver Academies 296, Fort Wayne Concordia 301, Elkhart Central 309, Indianapolis Roncalli 345, Fort Wayne Snider 394, Lafayette Jeff 399, Logansport 421, Hanover Central 431, Michigan City 499, Plymouth 587, South Bend St. Joseph 642.

TOP 25 FINISHERS: 1, Miah Martin (Lewis Cass) 19:15.7. 2, Catherine Cavinder (Kankakee Valley) 19:21.2. 3, Jenna Kill (Sylvania Northview) 19:27.5. 4, Alexis Jackson (Lewis Cass) 19:37.7. 5, Erica Stutsman (NorthWood) 20:06.4. 6, Elizabeth Zorn (Wawasee) 20:23.1. 7, Kyrstin Green (Lafayette Jeff) 20:24.9. 8, Claire Collins (Winamac) 20:26.5. 9, Erin Chambers (Sylvania Northview) 20:29.5. 10, Isabelle Crain (Logansport) 20:29.6. 11, McKenzie Smith (Wawasee) 20:33.3. 12, Natalie Nicholson (Western) 20:34.9. 13, Katie Dietrick (Indianapolis Chatard) 20:35.8. 14, Mary Terhune (Culver Academies) 20:37.0. 15, Kylie Archibeque (Sylvania Northview) 20:37.7. 16, Angela Gonzalez (Hanover Central) 20:41.1. 17, Marci Wallace (Fort Wayne Snider) 20:43.5. 18, Paula Casada-Jeimenz (Michigan City) 20:46.0. 19, Abbey Brennan (FW Concordia) 20:59.0. 20, Jordyn Bloode (New Prairie) 21:00.0. 21, Samantha Dittrich (Lake Central) 21:02.5. 22, Summer Silvers-Barone (FW Northrop) 21:05.2. 23, Abby Teed (Indianapolis Chatard) 21:08.2. 24, Angela Dilday (Sylvania Northview) 21:10.4. 25, Patricia Giraldo (FW Northrop) 21:10.8.

BOYS CLOSED (Small schools)

TEAM SCORES: Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter 133, South Central (LaPorte) 135, Brown County 144, Kouts 149, Indianapolis Scecina 151, Fairfield 217, South Adams 225, Park-Tudor 238, Hebron 243, Manchester 252, Winamac 252, Washington Twp. 279, North Judson 337, Rensselaer Central 364, Pioneer 372, Lafayette Central Catholic 394, Triton 400, South Bend Washington 406, Caston 466, Carroll (Flora) 511, Cranbrook-Kingswood (Mich.) 532, Eastern 607, Tri-County 679, Argos 707, Oregon-Davis 745.

TOP 25 FINISHERS: 1, Landon Miller (Fairfield) 16:44.2. 2, Wyatt Wyman (Brown Co) 16:54.4. 3, Connor Schepers (Indianapolis Ritter) 17:13.5. 4, Henry Egan (Scecina) 17:22.2. 5, Job Lawson (Brown Co) 17:23.8. 6, Logan Tabor (So Central) 17:25.6. 7, Parker Nuest (Hebron) 17:29.7. 8, Odin Bules (So Central) 17:32.7. 9, Wyatt Miller (So Adams) 17:37.3. 10, David Konter (SB Washington) 17:38.3. 11, Dakota Dick (Kouts) 17:39.6. 12, Jay Heinold (Kouts) 17:40.0. 13, Michael Beckner (Winamac) 17:40.9. 14, Holden Martin (Scecina) 17:49.1. 15, Bryan Hernandez-Rios (Caston) 17:49.3. 16, Colton Cripe (Fairfield) 17:50.9. 17, Zack Titus (Washington Twp.) 17:53.0. 18, Chase Jefferson (Kouts) 17:53.1. 19, Andrew Clegg (Scecina) 17:56.2. 20, Braden Tankersly (Winamac) 18:00.7. 21, Jaden Seymour (Park-Tudor) 18:10.2. 22, Trent Olling (So Central) 18:11.4. 23, Nathan Kilburn (Brown Co.) 18:16.9. 24, Alec Smith (Carroll-Flora) 18:20.4. 25, Cam Houston (Indianapolis Ritter) 18:21.9.

GIRLS CLOSED (Small schools)

TEAM SCORES: South Adams 90, Rensselaer Central 96, Morgan Twp. 119, Indianapolis Cardinal Ritter 152, Manchester 154, Fairfield 166, Kouts 253, Caston 260, Cranbrook-Kingswood (Mich.) 277, Pioneer 309, Hebron 310, Northfield 324, Lafayette Central Catholic 340, Triton 341, Park-Tudor 389, Indianapolis Scecina 421, North Judson 507, North Miami 519, Brown County 546, Eastern-Greentown 549, Tri-County 584, Carroll (Flora) 619, South Bend Clay 654.

TOP 25 FINISHERS: 1, Kelsie Wuethrich (Rensselaer) 19:31.1. 2, Mary Anne Wehrle (Indianapolis Ritter) 19:55.9. 3, Morgan Fleming (Rensselaer) 20:14.8. 4, Adrianna Dague (Caston) 20:16.2. 5, Kendall Blake (Indianapolis Ritter) 20:22.6. 6, Olivia Van Gunten (South Adams) 20:23.2. 7, Kailee Patch (South Adams) 20:34.1. 8, Nicky Scher (North Miami) 20:40.0. 9, Mariah Wehrle (Indianapolis Ritter) 20:48.7. 10, Miriam Walker (Lafayette CC) 29:49.2. 11, Tahnee Fuentes (Manchester) 20:52.2. 12, Jacqueline Kennedy (Scecina) 20:55.0. 13, Hailey Henry (Rensselaer) 20:58.3. 14, Alyssa McKillip (Northfield) 21:01.8. 15, Carol Haldeman (Fairfield) 21:03.5. 16, Kiersten Duzan (Morgan Twp) 21:06.4. 17, Jaelyn Webb (Manchester) 21:11.4. 18, Jenna Beagle (Park-Tudor) 21:14.7. 19, Grace Abbett (Morgan Twp) 21:20.9. 20, Madison Kiser (Pioneer) 21:22.4. 21, Eliza Harruff (South Adame) 21:25.9. 22, Holly Kuebler (Kouts) 21:30.7. 23, Zoe Baxter (Cranbrook-Kingswood) 21:32.7. 24, Hailey Haveck (Morgan Twp.) 21:38.6. 25, Megan Teitge (Morgan Twp.) 21:40.0.