The Warsaw boys cross country team won its ninth straight regional title at Logansport Saturday morning. Photo courtesy Warsaw Athletics

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

Cross country ran its second leg of the IHSAA postseason Saturday, with regional races at both Logansport and Elkhart hosting area teams. Warsaw won its eighth straight girls title by one point over Culver Academy in another air tight team finish and the Tiger boys won its ninth straight regional crown with an 11-point win over Western.

NorthWood would advance its boys team to semi-state after a fourth-place finish at Ox Bow Park and the Elkhart Regional, and a handful of area runners would also advance to the semi-state round.

At Logansport

Warsaw and Culver Academy again dueled to the finish, with Culver Academy taking three of the top six overall positions, and just eight points from those three, which included regional champion Alexis Allen’s 18:27. Warsaw’s pack, again, was the difference as it took points 8, 11, 12, 16 and 17 while the Academy had to pot a 26 and 31 as the runners all filed in.

Leading the way for Warsaw was Wini Barnett at 20:14, followed by Ava Knight (20:30), Regan Brouwer (20:32), Elizabeth Vander Bie (20:52) and Erika Bugg (20:52).

Triton’s Jocelynn Faulkner also punched a semi-state ticket to New Prairie next week with her time of 20:51, good for one of the 10 non-advancing team runners.

Also active at Logansport but not advancing were Triton’s Anela Hill (23:48) and Tippecanoe Valley’s Ella Myers (23:17). Valley’s Chesnee Miller was on the list to perform, but had to withdraw because of COVID-19 quarantine rules.

Maconaquah, Rochester and Winamac advanced their teams to semi-state.

On the boys side, Warsaw won its tenth regional title overall with a 38-49 win over Western to land at the top of the heap. Tanner Stiver ran his way to a runner-up finish, clocking 16:40 to finish two seconds ahead of teammate Jacob Kissling. The overall champion was Western’s Brayden Curnutt at 16:27.

Sam Lechlitner (16:56), Harrison Phipps (17:04) and Garrett Hall (17:15) were the other point scorers for the Tigers.

Tippy’s Matthew Howes was the lone area individual to advance, running 17:33 to grab one of the top additional spots. Howes’ teammates, Chase Miller (19:43) and Evan Myers (19:47), saw their seasons end, as did Triton’s Brandon Kitch (19:17) and Tyler Gladieux (19:37).

Culver Academy, Plymouth and Manchester advanced their teams to semi-state.

At Elkhart

NorthWood worked a fourth-place finish in the boys ledger at Ox Bow Park to advance to the New Haven Semi-state.

The Panthers scored 137 points to stay clear of a logjam behind them, where South Bend Adams’ 162 held off Riley, Concord and Elkhart from the fifth and final spot. Goshen reunited its big four at the front and scored 56 points to hold off Penn’s 60 for the regional title. Northridge was third at 77.

For the Panthers, Brady Hunsberger was 12th overall at 16:40, and had teammates Grady Stevenson (17:11), Jordan Burden (17:27), Sam Schlatter (17:32) and Owen Miller (17:42) all lumped in a large group of runners fighting for position.

Goshen’s top four all went top 10, led by Cole Johnston’s runner-up 15:56, only trailing Penn’s Mariano Retzloff’s championship 15:45. Johnston and Tommy Claxton (16:35) had missed the sectional because of off-the-field notations.

Wawasee had two boys run the regional, and one will advance. Karlson Hand raced to a 17-flat to place 17th overall and move to New Haven. Teammate Camden Powell’s 17:36 fell short of the mark of advancement.

For the girls race, NorthWood finished seventh and missed the cut for advancement, but did have Kaitlin Burden continue her season with a 20:06, which was ninth overall in the race. The Panthers fell way back after that, the next highest place was 47th by Reese Barhydt (22:10), then Emilie Allen (22:20), Jenna Markham (22:30) and Britton Jesse (23:30). NorthWood’s 191 team total was well behind St. Joe’s 144, which took fifth.

Penn won the regional title with a commanding 34, scoring its top five in the top 12 overall positions. Haylee Hile of Northridge was the top overall female at 19:06, helping the Lady Raiders to a 60 and second place. Elkhart and Mishawaka also advanced as girls teams to the semi-state round.

Wawasee had a trio of girls race, but none were able to advance after finishing in the back half of the racers. Emma Ebright was the top Wawasee runner at 22:26, followed by Lily Tyler (22:59) and Mariah Hurst (23:05).