Warsaw’s Wini Barnett (415) runs alongside Angola’s Gracynn Hinkley and Penn’s Nicole Marshall at Saturday’s IHSAA Cross Country State Finals. Warsaw photos courtesy Melissa Kissling

By Mike Deak
InkFreeNews

TERRE HAUTE – In a season where athletes, coaches and teams are all checking off boxes on the daily, the high school cross country world got to check off its biggest box Saturday. The IHSAA conducted its state finals at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course, where both Warsaw teams as well as NorthWood junior Kaitlin Burden all took part in the festivities.

Warsaw Boys Land 16th

Warsaw’s Jacob Kissling runs among the crowd Saturday afternoon at the IHSAA Cross Country State Finals.

Warsaw boys head coach Jim Mills noted earlier in the week he would be ecstatic if his team could land in the top two-thirds of the meet. Well, his team was right there, placing 16th overall in its first state team appearance since 2013.

Warsaw’s five scorers were all within 50 seconds of each other, led by Jacob Kissling’s 16:33, which was 60th overall. While the times were all within range of one another, the spacing was a little different, which cost Warsaw in the final standings. The Tigers scored 386 points, which fell three short of Bloomington South and 11 of Jasper, however, the placings had Kissling’s finish 27 places ahead of the No. 2 time, which was Sam Lechlitner at 16:50.

Bringing up the rest of the scorers for Warsaw were Tanner Stiver (17:02), Harrison Phipps (17:05) and Garrett Hall (17:21). Also gaining state experience for the first time were Sam Slough (18:04) and Luke Nier (18:32).

“We are ecstatic,” verified Mills Saturday afternoon from Terre Haute. “Our realistic goal was 15th and we were three points out of 15th. These guys overcame many roadblocks and managed to stay focused the entire season. In 35 years, this is one of the most satisfying season I’ve ever had.”

Top-ranked Columbus North went on to cruise to a title, scoring 63 points with all five of its scoring runners within the top 26. Carmel was runner-up and Brebeuf was third. Goshen took 13th and Penn 18th to highlight area teams.

Angola’s Izaiah Steury ran to a championship with a stop of 15:23, a good 11 seconds faster than Highland’s Lucas Guerra. Penn’s Mariano Retzloff was fifth at 15:45 and Goshen’s Cole Johnston was 13th at 15:57.

Warsaw Girls Fall To 24th

Warsaw’s Adree Beckham paces with Homestead’s Lauren Saddington at the IHSAA Cross Country State Finals.

In the same optimism that the boys had, Warsaw’s girls hoped it could cobble together enough to crack to the top 20, maybe the top 15. That just wasn’t in the cards for the Lady Tigers at the Gibson course.

Warsaw’s top place was 81st, claimed by Wini Barnett, which gave the team a 49 right off the bat in the team deck of cards. Barnett ran a 19:55 on the day, almost a full two minutes behind the state championship run of Karina James of Lowell, who posted an 18-flat in a great finish with Fort Wayne Carroll’s Zoe Duffus, coming in two seconds later.

Warsaw then saw its times drop into the high 20s, with Adree Beckham running her final race at 20:44, followed by Regan Brouwer (20:58), Ava Knight (21:08) and Elizabeth Vander Bie (21:16) as its top five. Erika Bugg, who had been so good for the Tigers in sectional and regional championships, posted a 21:20 and Marissa Howett came in at 22:05 to wrap up the Warsaw times.

“This definitely wasn’t the results we were looking for, but we did have the chance to gain some valuable experience for our younger runners,” said Warsaw girls head coach Jason Fleming. “We will take what we have learned and apply this next season. Overall, these girls have represented their school, family and community which they should be very proud.”

The two heavy favorites to battle for the team title didn’t disappoint, as Carmel held off Fort Wayne Carroll, 52-77. Columbus North was third at 168. Penn was 11th and Culver Academy 21st, which the Eagles had Alexis Adams place eighth overall with a time of 18:28.

No Heavy Burden Upon Her Shoulders

NorthWood’s Kaitlin Burden ran a 19:47 at Saturday’s IHSAA Cross Country State Finals. InkFreeNews file photo by Mike Deak

Kaitlin Burden had run at a championship pace for much of the 2020 season, and worked her way to the IHSAA State Finals as an individual for NorthWood.

Burden’s time Saturday of 19:47 was not a season best, nine seconds short of her all-time stop posted a week ago at the semi-state. But it was within a huge bundle of runners that would of had her chasing a top 50 if she could have hit her PR, but also a small victory of sorts as she beat Northridge’s Haylee Hile for the first time. Hile, the Northern Lakes Conference, sectional and regional champion, fell back to 89th at 19:59.

Burden was running at the state finals for the first time.

“Although her time was a bit slower than semi-state, Kaitlin ran an excellent race by finishing 67th in the field of 208,” said NorthWood head coach Mark Mikel, who was coaching his first athlete at a cross country state finals. “She got out well and passed some girls in the last kilometer. A great race to cap off a great season.”