GOSHEN — The Northridge Raiders grabbed second place and the Goshen Redskins third in the NLC high school boys cross country meet Saturday at Ox Bow County Park.

Warsaw, led by individual winner junior Jacob Poyner, took the team title with 30 points. Northridge finished with 54 and Goshen 65, followed by Concord 114, Wawasee 117, NorthWood 177, Plymouth 187 and Elkhart Memorial 206.

It’s Warsaw’s first outright championship since 1984. The Tigers shared the crown with Plymouth in 1989.

Poyner cruised over the 5,000-meter course in a time of 15:52. Northridge freshmen James Bradberry was second in 16:25.

“Bradberry really stepped it up with a major lifetime personal best,” Northridge coach Ryan McClane said. “We knew coming in that beating Warsaw and Goshen would be tough. I am blown away by what these kids did today.”

Sophomore Blake O’Dell placed fourth (16:32) for the Raiders, sophomore Jacob Frost 12th (17:01), freshmen Luke Riffell 17th (17:10) and sophomore Phillip Kilmer 19th (17:16).

“This is an exciting meet to see us run like we did,” McClane said. “The guys ran so well that I can’t single anyone out. We felt coming in there was a chance we would be third. So finishing second in something special.

“Our goal every year is getting to semistate so we are going to need to run like this again in two weeks (regional on Oct. 15 at Ox Bow). I want to see us among the top five teams in the regional. The way things look we will be fighting with Goshen and Penn for semistate qualifying spots.”

Junior Reid Zimmerman was seventh (16:54) and classmate Luke Kaufman eighth (16:55) to lead the Redskins. Junior Josh Abbs was 13th (17:02), junior Adam Weeden 15th (17:05) and senior Stephen Place 22nd (17:19).

“For the most part we ran fairly well,”  Goshen coach  Mike Wynn said.  “Northridge was just that much better.

“Zimmerman was our top runner. He took advantage and ran well.”

Wynn explained that Kaufman had a little bit of a problem on the course.

“I have to commend Luke,” the coach said.

“He missed a turn around 800 meters into the race. He had to go back and make the turn and spent the rest of the race trying to make up for it.”

Senior Collin Chupp finished fifth (16:45) to lead Concord, junior Reid Stichter 10th (16:57) to lead Wawasee and sophomore Jose Medina 26th (17:42) to pace NorthWood.



NLC Summary

Warsaw (30) — 1, Jacob Poyner 16:25; 3, Ellis Coon 16:29; 6, Robert Murphy 16:51; 9, Brysten James 16:55; 11, Michael Compton 16:59. Also: 18, Ismael Calderon 17:12; 24, Cam Hoskins 17:32.

Northridge (54) — 2, James Bradberry 16:25; 4, Blake O’Dell 16:32; 12, Jacob Frost 17:01; Luke Riffell 17:10; 19, Phillip Kilmer 17:16. Also: 20, Jesse Moore 17:17; 31, Michael Linn 17:57.

Goshen (65) — 7, Reid Zimmerman 16:54; 8, Luke Kaufman 16:55; 13, Josh Abbs 17:02; 15, Adam Weeden 17:05; 22, Stephen Place 17:19. Also: 25, Alfonso Torres 17:40; 49, Logan Schlabach 18:57.

Concord (114) — 5, Collin Chupp 16:45; 21, Jacob Camacho 17:18; 23, Hector Valdez 17:22; 28, Keenen Burnett 17:47; 37, Dominic Proffitt 18:11. Also: 44, Josh Troyer 18:32; 48, Brendan Smith 18:42.

Wawasee (117) — 10, Reid Stichter 16:57; 16, Adam Doll 17:07; 29, Austin Yoder 17:52; 30, Zach Cockrill 17:54; 32, Troy Caroulus 17:59. Also: Austin Krizman 18:17; 41, Joey Bornman 18:22.

NorthWood (177) — 26, Jose Medina 17:42; 33, Nathan Bailey 18:00; 36, Will Schrock 18:09; 40, Casey Hershberger 18:20; 42, Corban Wyatt 18:23. Also: 43, Reid Yoder 18:28; 47, Michael Coleman 18:42.

Plymouth — (187) — 27, Diego Ibarra 17:44; 34, Matt Lee 18:04; 45, Clay Crosbie 18:09; 39, Levi Schuller 18:18; 52, Brandon Brashere 19:28. Also: 55, Adam Fish 20:32.

Memorial (206) — 14, Anthony Whyte 17:03; 45, Angel Gomez 18:40; 46, Jacob Chastain 18:40; 50, Nathan Holt 19:21; 51, Austin King 19:26. Also:  53, Justin Sellers 20;25; 54, Liam Wilcox 20:26.

All-NLC — Luke Kaufman and Reid Zimmerman of Goshen, James Bradberry and Blake O’Dell of Northridge, Collin Chupp of Concord, Reid Stichter of Wawasee, Michael Compton, Ellis Coon, Brysten James, Robert Murphy and Jacob Poyner of Warsaw.

Honorable Mention — Josh Abbs and Adam Weeden of Goshen, Jacob Frost of Northridge, Adam Doll of Wawasee, Ismael Calderon and Cam Hoskins of Warsaw.

Coach of the year — Jim Mills of Warsaw.

Final Standings — 1, Warsaw; 2, Goshen; 3, Northridge; 4, Concord; 5, tie, NorthWood and Wawasee; 7, tie, Memorial and Plymouth.



Girls race

Warsaw bests Northridge

A decade long run at the top of the NLC cross country standings by the Northridge High School girls came to an end Saturday at Ox Bow County Park.

Warsaw, led by individual winner junior Ashley Erba, captured the team title with 34 points.

Northridge finished second at 43, followed by Goshen 125, Wawasee 127, Concord 141, NorthWood 141, Plymouth 144 and Elkhart Memorial 162.

“It was a pretty good day,” Northridge coach Ryan McClane said.

“We wanted to be a little more competitive with Warsaw. About halfway through the race we were leading them, but we couldn’t keep it up.”

Northridge and Warsaw shared the title in 2009. Warsaw’s last outright title was in 2001.

Erba completed the 5,000-meter course in a time of 18:09. She also was the NLC champion in 2009.

Junior Corinne Cominator finished third (18:55) to lead Northridge.

Junior Jennifer Schrock was fifth (19:16), sophomore Olivia Golden sixth (19:20), junior Madeline Royce 12th (20:34), freshmen Brianna Eggleston 17th (20:53), junior Lindsay Hostetler 22nd (21:05) and junior Kayla Rothi 24th (21:07).

“Today was the best our No. 1 to No. 7 runners have been all season,” McClane said.

“Schrock and Golden were amazing. We had a lot of lifetime personal bests. We have a young team (no seniors). A lot of the girls in the JV race ran personal bests and that puts some pressure on the varsity.

“Warsaw is a very good team. They have what it takes. Good front runners, quality third and fourth runners and a solid fifth runner.”

Freshmen Adrienne Henke placed 13th (20:40) to lead Goshen. Senior Juni Schirch was 15th (20:45), sophomore Andrea Kline 31st (21:27), junior Jessica Wynn 32nd (21:35), junior Morgan Short 34th (21:43), junior Megan Graves and senior Addie Picking 44th (22:30).

“Third place was a little surprising,” Goshen coach Mike Wynn said. “Henke, Schirch and Graves all ran well.”

NorthWood senior Cynthia Medina finished fourth (19:12) to lead her team. She was the defending individual champion.

Freshmen Courtney Linnemeier placed ninth (20:02) to lead Wawasee and sophomore Lindsey Stout 13th (22:34) to lead Concord.



NLC Summary

Warsaw (34) — 1, Ashley Erba 18:09; 2, Anna Bearss 18:36; 7, Brooke Kline 19:40; 10, Kristin Quick 20:05; 14, Creigh Ogle 20:43. Also: 23, Lilly Fleming 21:06; 26, Madeline Hooks 21:10.

Northridge (43) — 3, Corinne Cominator 18:55; 5, Jennifer Schrock 19:16; 6, Olivia Golden 19:20; 12, Madeline Royce 20:34; 17, Brianna Eggleston 20:53. Also: 22, Lindsay Hostetler 21:05; 24, Kayla Rothi 21:07.

Goshen (125) — 13, Adrienne Henke 20:40; 15, Juni Schirch 20:45; 31, Andrea Kline 21:27; 32, Jessica Wynn 21:35; 34, Morgan Short 21:43. Also: 36, Megan Graves 21:58; 44, Addie Picking 22:30.

Wawasee (127) — 9, Courtney Linnemeier 20:02; 11, Brenna Robinson 20:10; 19, Jen Slabaugh 21:02; 39, Hannah Wilczynski 22:08; 49, Sarah Jones 23:06. Also: 54, Tessa Riley 24:00; 55, Kaely Bame 24:17.

Concord (141) — 18, Cassidy Field 20;54; 21, Megan LaLone 21:03; 37, Janelle Smart 22:01; 38, McKenah D’Arcy 22:06; 42, Tara Lee 22:11. Also: 45, Emily Davis 22:38.

NorthWood (141) — 4, Cynthia Medina 19:12; 20, Jen Hilty 21:02; 27, Laura Housman 21:11; 29, Karlie Kratzchmar 21:19; 41, Brittani Grove 22:11. Also: 47, Kayla Bear 22:57; 51, Melissa Berger 23:25.

Plymouth — (162) — 16, Deborah Anders 20:51; 28, Darcy Fisher 21:17; 35, Shelby Harrell 21:46; 40, Gaby Ramirez 22:09. Also: 46. Abby Patrick 22:45; 50, Megan Fisher 23:05.

Memorial (162) — 8, Sierra Moore 19:52; 30, Morgan Severeid 21:20; 33, Alisa Zoller 21:37; 43, Lauren Burket 22:28; 48, Allison Hoefle 23:04. Also: 53, Kylee Crane 23:42; 56, Julie Erwin 24:50.

All-NLC — Corinne Cominator, Olivia Golden and Jennifer Schrock of Northridge; Cynthia Medina of NorthWood, Courtney Linnemeier and Bre Robinson of Wawasee, Sierra Moore of Memorial, Anna Bearss, Ashley Erba, Brooke Kline and Kristin Quick of Warsaw.

Honorable Mention — Adrienne Henke and Juni Schirch of Goshen, Madeline Royce of Northridge, Creigh Ogle of Warsaw, Deborah Anders of Plymouth.

Coach of the year — Scott Erba of Warsaw.

Final Standings — 1, Warsaw; 2, Northridge; 3, Goshen; 4, tie, NorthWood and Wawasee; 6, Concord; 7, tie, Memorial and Plymouth.

JV Top Ten — 1, Ellie Bearss (Warsaw) 21:04; 2, Kendra Paton (Warsaw) 21:14; 3, Mackenzie Gray (Northridge) 21:17; 4, Tricia Place (Goshen) 21:31; 5, Michelle Feng (Warsaw) 21:40; 6, Carly Spirito (Northridge) 21:52; 7, Faith Frost (Northridge) 21:57; 8, Emily Stouder (Warsaw) 21:58; 9, Courtney Etchison (Warsaw) 22:15; 10, Kelsey Graber (Northridge) 22:21.