The Mail-Journal, Volume 29, Number 36, Milford, Kosciusko County, 17 October 1990 — Page 12
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THE MAIL-JOURNAL — Wed., October 17,1990
Sports
Lady Warriors
I By MITCHELL STINSON Sports Writer It seems like the Lady Warriors have always lived in somebody’s cross country shadow. They went 7-4 last season, but it was the undefeated Wawasee boys' team that got most of the attention. They recorded a 9-2 dual meet record this season, but the Northridge Lady Raiders went undefeated en route to winning the Northern Lakes Conference championship. Then the Warsaw Lady Tigers overshadowed everybody when they won the NLC meet on October 6. But the Lady Warriors stepped out of the shadows and into the spotlight at the Elkhart Sectional last Saturday. They finally earned their day in the sun by winning their first sectional championship since 1982. ■V J\' QUALIFIES FOR REGIONAL — Wawasee High School junior Matt Johnson will be the Warriors’ sole entry in the Elkhart Regional cross crountry meet on Saturday. Wawasee's team didn't advance but Johnson was an individual qualifier for regional action. (Photo by Mitchell Stinson) Although many observers thought the Wawasee victory was a big upset, coach Jerry Minton wasn’t surprised by his team's fine performance. He felt pretty confident on his way to the meet at Oxbow Park in Dunlap. "We planned on winning it," he said. “I knew we could beat Warsaw and Northridge; eventually." The Lady Warriors used a deep team effort to win the meet, just as they had been doing all season long. Only this time, they took “team effort" to new heights, as their first five runners finished within 30 seconds of each other. Senior Lori Gargett led the victorious effort, taking ninth place in a time of 17 minutes, six seconds. Fellow teammates Angie Garner, Tiffany Titus. Cassie Bonner and Gina Minton followed in 11th, 13th, 17th and 20th place, respectively. The Lady Warriors also received solid efforts from Trisha Hostetler and Mel Hobbs, who took 28th and 29th place. Only 54 seconds separated Gargett from Hobbs. “We don’t really have an outstanding number one runner that can go out and win a meet." Minton said. “Our strength is in the team and the way they come together.” The top five teams earned the right to advance to this Satur day’s Elkhart Regional at Oxbow Park. The top 10 individual finishers not on a qualifying team also earned a trip to the regional Wawasee recorded a low score of 70, en route to the victory They were followed by Warsaw <B2 >. Elkhart Memorial (84), Concord (92), Elkhart Central (97), Nor thridge (112), Goshen (172) and Fairfield (178). Northridge's Lady Raiders were the big disappointment of the meet, failing to advance out of the sectional after winning the NLC championship Although Northridge's Star Yoder won the meet, most of the Lady Raiders seemed to have left their best races behind, while the Lady Warriors were just beginning to hit their stride. Wawasee sophomore Angie Garner thinks that her team still has room for improvement
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“Basically, we haven’t reached our peak yet,” she said. “We re getting better as the other people have already reached their peak.” Tiffany Titus is one of those runners who didn’t hit her stride until late in the season. The 17-year-old junior wasn’t in great condition at the start of the season, but now she's one of the team's top performers. She says the mental, as well as the physical, aspect played a big part in the team’s success Saturday. “I think we were more mentally prepared for sectional (than the NLC meet),’’ she said. Sophomore Gjna Minton recalled that the bus trip to Oxbow Park was a quiet one, as the team worked on their mental aspect in a state of near meditation. But the girls were a bit more boisterous after the meet. “It was very loud on the way back,” she said with a smile. That exuberant bunch of bus passengers included both rookies and veterans of the high school cross country scene, ‘■After limiting her running to track and field in junior high, freshman Cassie Bonner was a relative newcomer to the sport and she didn’t really know what to expect at the sectional. “I thought we’d probably take second or something.” she recalled. “I wasn’t really sure.” But as the sole senior on the squad, Lori Gargett had a different perspective of things. She's seen the changes in the evolution of the team in her four
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MILFORD SPIKERS — Members of the eighth grade Milford volleyball team took time out recently to pose for a team photo. Kneeling in front, from left, are: Karena Zimmerman, Crystal Stump. Kara Singrey, Rachel Beer and Stephanie Bender. In the second row are: coach Cheryl Walker. Kathy Roose, Lisa Charlton, Jenny Sorensen, manager Jamie Levernier and Carolyn Baker. Third row: Becky Morris, Renee Wuthrich and Naomi Vanlaningham. Fourth row: Kari Strieby, Brandi Levernier and Holly Beer. (Photo by Linda’Musselman)
Track club to host cross country meet The St. Joe Valley Track Club will host a T.A.C. 'The Athletic Congress) Junior Olympic cross country meet Sunday, Oct. 21, at 2 p m at Wawasee High School. Registration for the event will begin at 1 p.m., with the course walk scheduled for 1:20. The meet is open to any boy or girl in the following age groups: eight and under (1.500-meters), nine to 12 (3,000-meters), 13-14 14.000-meters ) and 15-18 (5.000-meters) More information on the event can be obtained from Bruce Dougherty at 457-5478 or Jim Mills at 457-4014
capture cross country sectional championship
years at Wawasee High School. “I think everybody wants it more than in past years,” she explained. “And we’ve got a lot more talent this year.” Warriors Fall Short The boys’ team missed out on advancing to the regional by one spot. Needing to crack the top five for a trip to Dunlap, the Warriors finished in sixth place. The Warsaw Tigers won the sectional title with a low score of 51. Jay Hicks led the victorious effort, winning the 3.1-mile race in a time of 16 minutes, 36 seconds. The other four qualifiers included North Wood (77), Fairfield (90), Elkhart Central (96) and Goshen (101). Goshen's Redskins beat Wawasee for the final regional berth by a convincing 19-point margin. “We didn't run bad, we just didn’t have the firepower to get out,” Minton said. Wawasee junior Matt Johnson had plenty of firepower to advance to the regional level, however. He took seventh place overall and earned an individual qualifying berth. The Warriors posted a 5-6 dual meet record in an injury-plagued 1990 season. With no seniors on the squad, Minton is expecting a strong and healthy group of returnees for next year's team. “They’ll have a great season next year.” he predicted. "We won't have as many injuries and they'll be better.” Shooting For The Regional The Lady Warriors will face a
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FATHER/SON SCRAMBLE — The Big Boulder Golf Course in Milford recently hosted its annual Father/Son Scramble. Shown above are the top finishers from the event. In front, from left, are Jason Haab and Andy Doctor. In back are: Dana Haab, Steve Doctor, Jay McClarnon, Ed McClarnon, Wayne Slabach and Marc Slabach. The Doctors captured first place in the “Kid” division while the Haabs teamed to take second. In the “Adult” division, the McClarnons took top honors while the Slabach team finished second. Also. Jason Stidham fired the longest drive in the kids’ division while Haab had the closest-to-the-pin shot. In the adult division, Marc Slabach had the longest drive and Alan Coy was ciosest-to-the-pin.
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true Cinderella team in their bid to capture the regional title at Oxbow Park. Although the Dekalb Lady Barons may enter the meet as favorites, they have an underdog’s story that could but the Milan basketball legend to shame. This is the first year that Dekalb High School has ever had a girls’ cross country squad, and coach Tim Rayle was barely able to recruit enough girls to field, a team. He ended up with three freshmen and three sophomores. But much to everyone’s surprise, the Lady Barons have turned out to be one of the finest teams in Indiana. They have a 10-2 dual meet record and are ranked 12th in the state. Rayle’s girls won the East Noble Sectional last week and captured the Northeast Hoosier Conference championship the week before. Rayle looks forward to the challenge of meeting the Lady Warriors in battle. He says his girls haven’t faced very tough competition lately, and that it would help them to face a team on the rise like the Lady Warriors. “I'm glad Wawasee is coming on,” he said. “Our girls have been lucky that they haven’t had much competition. But that could hurt them later.” The top four teams at the regional will earn the right to advance to the North Manchester Semi-state 6n Saturday, Oct. 27. In addition to Wawasee and
Dekalb, the list of regional teams includes: Angola, Concord, East Noble, Elkhart Central, Elkhart Memorial, Warsaw, West Noble and Westview. Boys’ Team Results lst-Warsaw, 51; 2ndNorth Wood, 77; 3rd-Fairfield, 90; 4th-Elkhart Central, 96; sthGoshen, 101; 6th-Wawasee, 120; 7th-Elkhart Memorial, 156; BthConcord, 184; 9th-Northridge, 196; lOth-Bethany Christian, 303. Top 10 Individuals Ist-Hicks (Warsaw), 16:36; 2nd-Long (Warsaw), 16:48; 3rdHunt (Central), 17:02; 4th-Snook (North Wood 17:03; sth-Solyom (Goshen), 17:13; 6th-Kovatch (Goshen), 17:15; 7th-Johnson (Wawasee), 17:17; Bth-Hanson (Fairfield), 17:18; 9th-Cripe (North Wood 17:18; lOth-Goebel (Central), 17:19. Girls’ Team Results ist-Wawasee, 70; 2nd-Warsaw, 82; 3rd-Elkhart Memorial, 84; 4th-Concord, 92; sth-Elkhart Central, 97; 6th-Northridge, 112; 7thGoshen, 172; Bth-Fairfield, 178. Top 10 Individuals Ist-Yoder (Northridge), 15:53; 2nd-Nidiffer (Concord), 16:29; 3rd-Call (Concord), 16:34; 4thMcGowen (North Wood 16:45; sth-Johnston (Central), 16:46; 6th-Davis (Memorial), 16:49; 7thLoughlin (Warsaw), 16:50; BthAlderfer (Warsaw), 16:57; 9thHaskins (Warsaw), 17:02; 10thGargett (Wawasee), 17:06. Other Wawasee Finishers: 11thGarner, 17:11; 13th-T. Titus, 17:26; 17th-Bonner, 17:33; 20thMinton, 17:36.
Volleyball team finishes regular season 2-22, prepares for sectional
I By SCOTT DAVIDSON Sports Writer Close but not quite. Closing out the 1990 regular season, the Wawasee varsity volleyball squad suffered its 22nd consecutive loss with a tough 15-10, 8-15, 12-15 defeat at the hands of visiting Tippecanoe Valley last night (Tuesday). “Tonight was probably the best that we’ve hit the ball all season but we just lost our intensity and made a few mistakes in the third game that cost us,” said coach Joy Swartzentruber as she saw her team finish the regular season at 2-22. After coming out and playing aggressive to win the first game, the Lady Warriors slowed in the second game as the visiting Lady Vikings evened the match with the 15-8 win. Wawasee came out aggressive and strong in the third game, grabbing an early 6-2 lead.
After Valley battled back to tie the game at 9-9, the Lady Warriors ran off three points to take a 12-9 lead and, seemingly, control of the match. From there, however, a couple of service errors combined with some problems on defense let Valley reel
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SECTIONAL CHAMPS — The Wawasee Lady Warriors cross country team won the Elkhart Sectional championship at Oxbow Park in Dunlap last Saturday. They will return to Dunlap this Saturday to take a shot at the Elkhart Regional title. Pictured in the front row with the sectional trophy, from left, are: Mel Hobbs, Angie Garner and Cassie Bonner. Standing are: Gina Minton, Tiffany Titus, Lori Gargett and Trisha Hostetler. (Photo by Mitchell Stinson)
off the game’s final six points to earn the 15-12 win and the victory in the match. “I thought that we did some good things tonight with our hitting and now we just have to concentrate on the positives and get ready for Goshen,” said Swartzentruber. “I thought that Brandi (Bray) did a real nice job for us and April (Bouse) had one of her best passing efforts of the season.” Bray led the Lady Warriors with six kills on the evening to go with two stuffs. Lisa Mikel had five kills and two stuffs while Lori Stiver had 16 spikes, which included five kills. Bouse contributed six digs for the team. The junior varsity team closed the season at 9-12 after posting a 15-7,15-9 victory over Tippecanoe Valley. “The JV team had a good season — that’s the best record the team has posted since I’ve been here," remarked Swartzentruber. Lisa Klotz led the JV attack with six assists while teammate Niki Corbat added five assists. Angela Leamon had four kills for the squad while Crystal Clipfell recorded two service aces.
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A SURE SET — Wawasee junior Trisha Mikel prepares to set the ball while junior teammate April Bouse looks on during the team’s 15-10, 8-15, 12-15 loss to Tippecanoe Valley at home last night (Tuesday). The Lady Warriors closed out the regular season at 2-22 with the defeat and will now battle Goshen on Saturday in sectional action at Northridge High School. Wawasee and the Lady Redskins (21-3) will square off at 1 p.m. (Photo by Scott Davidson)
Lose To Northridge The Lady Warriors slipped to 2-21 on the season, including an 0-6 mark in the Northern Lakes Conference, after a 9-15, 7-15 loss to Northridge last Thursday evening. Wendy West paced the team with three kills while Lisa Mikel had five digs to go with one service ace. The JV team fell to 8-12 on the season with a 13-15, 7-15 defeat at the hands of the Lady Raiders. Clipfell led the JV effort. Sectional Time Is Here After finishing what has been a “long" regular season, the Lady Warriors start with a clean slate and an 0-0 mark heading into sectional play. Wawasee, 2-22, drew a firstround bye but will face sectional favorite Goshen at 1 p.m. Saturday at Northridge High School in Middlebury. The Lady Redskins, 21-3 on the season, will be a very tough order for Wawasee. according to Swartzentruber. “They’re the favorite in the sectional field for good reason and we really have our work cut out for us,” she said. On September 6 at Goshen, Wawasee dropped a 1-15, 7-15
match to the Lady Redskins. “Goshen is a tough, senior-laden team, but if we beat them then we’re in the championship game,” the coach added. “Right now we have to work on the mental part of our game because I’ve seen the improvement that we’ve shown skillwise,” commented Swartzentruber. “Goshen is strong but if we hit the ball and make them play defense then we’ve got a chance.” Action begins at Northridge tomorrow (Thursday) evening with first round matches. At 6 p.m., Fairfield will face host Northridge while Bethany Christian will square off with North Wood at around 7 p.m. Wawasee will battle Goshen at 1 p.m. on Saturday with the survivors from Thursday returning to action at approximately 2 p.m. for the other semifinal matchup. The championship match will begin at 7 p.m., with the winner advancing to the Mishawaka Regional October 27. “I think that if we play with intensity and communicate, we can play with anyone in our sectional,” Swartzentruber concluded.