ELKHART – The Northridge girls cross country team came up with another way to ruin Warsaw’s party.

Putting all five of its runners in the top 10, the Lady Raiders squeaked out a 32 final score to eek out a second-straight Northern Lakes Conference Championship title over Warsaw’s 33 points. And for the second straight season, the Northridge team had the last laugh at Ox Bow while Warsaw stood in disbelief.

In 2013, Northridge used a sixth-runner score to break a tie with Warsaw and claim the NLC crown while Warsaw wondered how in the world they didn’t win. As Warsaw head coach Matt Campbell began counting runners at the finish line, he watched Ridge split his runners. As both teams had four runners in, Ridge’s fifth – Brianna Eggleston – crossed the finish line at 20:07 while Warsaw’s five – Brooke Rhodes – ambled in at 20:11.

The four-second difference became the separation on the results sheet, leaving Warsaw, which finished 7-0 in the NLC round robin, tied with Northridge for the sentimental NLC title, but heartbroken once again at the finish line.

“We had not everyone race well,” began Campbell. “Two out of the top five for us didn’t have the big day we needed. Northridge came out firing, and they got us by one point. It just wasn’t meant to be.”

No one was going to catch Elkhart Memorial’s Brooke Moore, the defending conference champion. Moore was unstoppable on the 5,000-meter course, running virtually unopposed across the wind-christened Elkhart landscape for a championship time of 18:51.

From there, Northridge and Warsaw traded places, almost literally. Morgan Blyly was second at 19:23, followed by Hannah Dawson of Warsaw at 19:31. McKenzie Love (19:41) beat Warsaw’s Allison Miller (19:44) and Anna Craig (19:44) to the line while Love’s teammate, Mackenzie Adams, came in next at 19:48.

Mia Beckham put Warsaw back in front for the time being with an eighth-place time of 19:59, but Northridge grabbed the next two spots in Mariah King’s 20:06 and Eggleston’s finish just ahead of Rhodes.

Warsaw beat Northridge 25-30 in the regular season, where Warsaw’s pack squeezed out Northridge’s back three. The difference Satruday may have been Adams’ run, who dropped over two minutes from her dual time against Warsaw a month ago. Campbell was impressed with how Ridge’s pack responded.

“Northridge’s pack got us,” Campbell said. “Northridge is a really good team, and from what I know, that is the best they have run as a team in two or three years. You have to give it to them. We had a couple kids not run well. Just have to move on and look forward to sectionals.”

Warsaw will move from the NLC circuit to the Culver Academy course next Saturday for the CMA Sectional. The prohibitive favorite, Warsaw should be fine going forward in both the sectional and regional against far less competitive teams than what the NLC presented Saturday. Warsaw is the defending champion in both 2013 competitions.

Wawasee, which finished 4-3 during the season, dropped back to fifth and wound up tied with Concord in the overall standings.

Courtney Linnemeier led Wawasee with a time of 21:04, but only in 20th place. Teammate Sarah Harden was right behind Linnemeier at 21:05 and Aubrey Kuhn just a few paces back at 21:11.

Yanelly Pizana finished at 21:37 and Elizabeth Zorn gave Wawasee it’s fifth score at 21:54.

Head coach Doug Slabaugh saw progress, but also regression on the first of hopefully three races at Ox Bow.

“Our pack, Yanelly, Elizabeth, Aubrey, we’ve got to be closer at the beginning if we are going to compete with some of these good teams,” Slabaugh stated. “A lot of the girls have a slow early part of the race but come on strong in the second half. We have to move up earlier and keep pace.”

Wawasee will return to Ox Bow for the Elkhart Central Sectional next Saturday, which features all the schools from Elkhart County as well as Wawasee. Ox Bow is also the host course for the Elkhart Central Regional in two weeks.

With Goshen and Concord both ahead of Wawasee, as well as the inclusion of a competitive Fairfield team, Slabaugh is hoping Saturday’s run was a rehearsal for a better showing.

“Running here today helps, but Concord and Goshen are right there with us,” Slabaugh said. “We have to find a way to get ahead of them. We’re in trouble if we can’t find a way to keep up with them.”

Northern Lakes Conference Girls Cross Country Championships – Ox Bow Park

1. Northridge 32 (6-1)
2. Warsaw 33 (7-0)
3. Goshen 112 (5-2)
4. Concord 120 (3-4)
4. Wawasee 123 (4-3)
6. Plymouth 151 (2-5)
7. Memorial 187 (0-7)
7. NorthWood 197 (1-6)