Senior Elizabeth Zorn was sixth overall Saturday to help Wawasee place third in the Elkhart Sectional.

GOSHEN – Wawasee girls cross country coach Doug Slabaugh loved the mindset of his team Saturday.

The Warriors, after a third-place finish in the Elkhart Sectional, were ready to go back to work to get ready for the regional.

“I love the attitude of our kids,” said Slabaugh following the postrace awards session. “Today was definitely a good day for us, but the girls are ready to go back to work. They know that we still have room for improvement and our goal is to advance out of the regional next week.”

Northridge, led by individual champion Mariah King, captured the sectional title on a chilly but absolutely perfect weather day at Ox Bow Park.

The Raiders, who placed a trio of runners in the top 10 team in the 11-team field, posted a team score of 43 to win the sectional championship for the fifth straight year. The outstanding Northridge program has won sectional titles 25 of the last 26 years with the only exception being in 2011 when Warsaw won the crown. The No. 11 Tigers won the Culver Academies Sectional title Saturday for fifth straight year.

Concord was second in the final team standings with a score of 48 with the Warriors third at 99. NorthWood and host Elkhart Central claimed fourth and fifth and the final two regional qualifying spots with scores of 115 and 130 respectively.

Those top five teams will return to Ox Bow Park next Saturday to compete in the Elkhart Regional. The top five teams there earn a spot in the New Haven Semistate on Oct. 22.

Wawasee, which took fourth at the Northern Lakes Conference Meet at Ox Bow last Saturday, were right where they belonged on Saturday. With NLC champion Warsaw competing and winning the title at the Culver Academies Sectional Saturday, the Warriors were strong.

“Our goal today was the top three,” noted Slabaugh. “It was a fun day for us.”

Wawasee, which placed fifth at the sectional in 2015, got a big pair of performances from the pair of sophomore Kenzie Smith and senior Elizabeth Zorn. Smith was fifth overall in a time of 19:39.82 and Zorn was right behind her in sixth place in a time of 19:52.10.

Freshman Valeria Pizana of the Warriors.

“Kenzie and Elizabeth se the tone for us today,” remarked Slabaugh. “Last week, Elizabeth was first for us and Kenzie was second. Today they just switched places. It’s the first time that both of them have broken 20 minutes and that was huge.”

Zorn was 11th overall and Smith 12th in the NLC Meet a week ago.

Junior Aubrey Kuhn was the third Warrior to hit the finish line Saturday as she placed 24th overall in a time of 21:24.92. Freshmen Lila Gregory and Valeria Pizana were 31st and 33rd overall in times of 21:45.72 and 21:48.00 to complete the team scoring for the Warriors. Freshman Katie Haines was 45th in 22:32.98 and senior Bailey Schroeder 47th in 22:38.16 to complete the lineup for Wawasee.

“Our entire pack ran well today,” stated Slabaugh. “It was definitely a good day for us.”

The Elkhart Regional will include the top five teams from Ox Bow Saturday, along with the top five teams from the South Bend Riley Sectional, which was won by powerhouse No. 4 Penn on Saturday.

Slabaugh, whose team placed 10th at the regional a year ago, expects his squad to be in the hunt for a semi state berth next weekend.

“If you look at the regional, there are probably two spots open behind Penn, Northridge and Concord,” said Slabaugh. “Our goal is to get one of those next Saturday.”

Elkhart Christian Academy finished in sixth place Saturday with a team score of 171. Fairfield was seventh at 190, followed by Goshen (202), Bethany Christian (214), Elkhart Memorial (228) and Jimtown (356).

King was Queen for Northridge as the senior won the individual sectional title in 19:13.34. Concord freshman Summer Cooper was second in 19:30.95, followed by Bethany Christian senior Hannah Yeakey (19:34.28), NorthWood junior Erica Stutsman (19:37.17) and Smith to round out the top five. Zorn was sixth with Northridge junior Mackenzie Adams seventh in 19:54.83, followed by Northridge senior Mckenzie Love (20:00.07), Concord senior Allyse Smith (20:07.34) and Concord sophomore Alexa Porter (20:08.12) to round out the top 10.

Freshman Lila Gregory heads for the finish line.

Northridge senior Mariah King was the sectional champion Saturday.