New Haven Boys Race
Regional Qualifying Teams: Warsaw Community, Wabash, Columbia City, Culver Academies, Manchester, Angola, Carroll (Fort Wayne), Leo, East Noble, Garrett, Fort Wayne Concordia, Homestead, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Fort Wayne Snider, Wapahani, Bluffton, Norwell, Bellmont, Southern Wells, Oak Hill, Marian, Yorktown, Madison-Grant, Muncie Burris
Photo by Warsaw Distance via X
The boys team race out of this regional will be tight with several competitive teams on the bubble as well as the uncertainty surrounding Homestead's top runner. Warsaw and Fort Wayne Concordia are the heavy favorites for the regional title and could be considered locks to make state. Oak Hill, Wabash, and Homestead are all favored to advance with Angola, Wapahani, FW Carroll, and Columbia City all having legitimate chances to make it out. The boys race will feature 3 teams that are in the most recent coaches poll.
Vaughn Hendrickson from Concordia Lutheran enters the meet with the top time from this season with a 15:29 which ranks him 24th in the state. Jackson Gackenheimer from Warsaw and Nick Cook should be relatively close behind as they both have run 15:38 this year. Behind these runners should be a tight pack of competitors as 10 runners have all broken 16 minutes this season.
Projected Advancing Teams
Warsaw
Warsaw has had an exceptional season having one of the best top 4 groups in the state with Jackson Gackenheimer, Tyler Mimnaugh, and Tyler Swartz all breaking 16 minutes this year with Clark Meridew close behind at 16:04. Last weekend the team had 6 individuals place in the top 13 at sectionals which allowed them to take the team title by 16 points. Warsaw looks evenly matched with Concordia with differences between both team's #4 and #5 likely being the difference for the regional title.
Fort Wayne Concordia
Concordia has the top individual of the race coming into the meet with Vaughn Hendrickson running a 15:29 earlier this season. Hunter Panning has also gone sub 16 minutes for the Cadets as well. This team had a very impressive showing at the sectional where they placed 4 runners in the top 5 to win the meet by 25 points. Expect to see this team in contention for the win and to make some noise at state.
Oak Hill
Oak Hill is one of few schools that could have top individuals in the top 10 with Owen Jackson and Trenton Sweet. The duo has run 15:41 and 15:50 respectively and ran to 1-2 finishes at sectionals last week to help the team secure a 22 point victory for the team title. Their #5 runner will be especially important as several teams are similar in strength to the Golden Eagles.
Wabash
Wabash has 4 runners under 17 minutes this year with Jonas Church having the best time of the season with a 16:12. The team was led by Isaiah Cordes at sectionals last weekend as he ran to a 4th place finish. His efforts would help the team to a second place finish where the team was only 16 points behind Warsaw which is one of the favorites to win the regional championship.
Homestead
Homestead finished second to Concordia at sectionals last week and was able to place their own pack of 4 runners in the 7-10 spots led by Aiden Waugh to secure the runner-up position by a whopping 83 points. The team appeared to be shorthanded last week with key contributor Evan McMahon not appearing in the results. He has run 16:03 earlier this season and has not raced for the past 5 weeks according to our database which could cause some concern for the team regarding their chances to advance. Their depth should help but if Evan is unable to run then it will be close.
On the Bubble Teams to Look Out For:
Angola
Angola had a dominant performance last week at sectionals where Gavin Hinkley, Sam Yarnelle, and Kaden Klink went 1-3. This would help the team to winning the sectional championship by 23 points over FW Carroll. Angola could be a darkhorse to take a spot to state especially with the situation surrounding Homestead.
Wapahani
Wapahani was one of the best runners in the meet with Nick Cook running a 15:38 earlier this season. Nick dominated the race at sectionals last week winning by nearly 30 seconds. The team also has Caleb Aber and Mason Tomboni who have also been under 17 minutes this season. It will be tough but Wapahani has a fighting chance to make it to state.
FW Carroll
Aiden Borbiev led the team last weekend where Carroll finished runner-up to Angola by 23 points. The team does not appear to have an obvious frontrunner but make up for it by having a scoring 5 that have all been under 17 minutes this season. Similar to previously mentioned teams, it could be anyone's race for the last 1-2 spots out of this regional.
Columbia City
Columbia City's Marcus Ridge has run a 15:43 this season which is the 5th fastest time for the meet coming into the weekend. Gavin Good also has had an impressive season where he has gone 16:04. This team will need a lot to go in their favor in order to advance with their #3-#5 not breaking 17 minutes yet this season will make a larger impact at regionals than at sectionals where they finished 3rd, only 10 points behind runner-up Wabash
New Haven Girls Race
Qualifying Teams: Warsaw Community, Huntington North, Columbia City, Manchester, Plymouth, Carroll (Fort Wayne), East Noble, West Noble, Leo, Prairie Heights, Homestead, Fort Wayne Concordia, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Adams Central, Monroe Central, Norwell, Eastbrook, Wapahani, Yorktown, Oak Hill, Marion, Daleville, Blue River Valley
Photo by Homestead Athletics via X
The New Haven girls race has one of the most highly anticipated matchups between two of the state's best teams. Fort Wayne Concordia and Homestead are both heavy favorites for the state title this year with both teams going back and forth all season. Fort Wayne Carroll, Warsaw, and East Noble are also looking to be near locks to advance to state as well with Huntington North, Columbia City, Fort Wayne Northrop, and Leo having a slight chance of advancing.
The girls individual race will be one of the most exciting of the weekend with several top ranked girls competing. Nicki Southerland has the second best time entering with a US #20 time of 17:01 but should be favored as she has not lost to an Indiana runner in 6 meets and has looked very consistent. Addison Knoblauch has the state's best time this season with a US #17 performance of 16:59 in a race where she beat Nicki. The chase pack behind these two could consist of Warsaw's Josefina Rastrelli, as well as a pair from Concordia with Mallory Weller and Lexi Panning. These girls have run season best times of 17:42, 17:43, and 17:55 respectively this season.
Projected Advancing Teams
Homestead
Homestead has Addison Knoblauch who has run the best time from Indiana this season with a 16:59 effort. There is some concern as her times have trended the wrong way this season, however she has won most of the meets she has ran in. She was still able to lead her teammates to a 3-5 finish at sectionals with Caterina Perego and Lucy Kramer. If Addison can come out with the lowest team score then Homestead should be the favorite for the Regional title.
Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran
Concordia put up a close fight last weekend losing to Homestead by just 3 points. Mallory Weller and Lexi Panning nearly set new PRs as both were under 18 minutes last weekend in a 1-2 finish. Last week's scoring was essentially a dual meet as the two schools made up 10 of the 11 top spots at the meet, it will be interesting to see if Concordia can take advantage of a larger field of competitors at regionals and state.
Fort Wayne Carroll
Carroll has a solid team this year that should have no problem advancing to state. Taylor Hansen and Haile Schiffeneder have both been under 19 minutes with times of 18:48 and 18:57 respectively. The team won last weekend with 29 points as they had their entire scoring 5 placing in top 9. Carroll is almost guaranteed a third place finish based on results from this season and last week's performances.
Warsaw
Warsaw's Josefina Rastrelli leads the Tigers with one of the best times coming into the weekend, running a 17:42 this season. This season the team was able to have 4 runners have their personal bests at 20:00 or faster. Josefina led her team to their 13th consecutive title with her winning her third individual sectional championship. The team won by 24 points and should be in a good spot to advance to state with relative ease.
East Noble
East Noble is led by Addison Lindsey who has ran an 18:46 this season and was the runner-up of the West Noble sectional. Her team finished relatively close behind Fort Wayne Carroll and beat out cross town rival West Noble by 56 points. Even projected to finish in 5th this team should have a high probability of advancing due to the apparent drop off after the 5th team.
On the Bubble Teams to Look Out For:
Huntington North
Huntington North also has one of the best individuals in the race with Alice Friesen running a time of 18:08 this year. Ella Colclesser and Gracie Fields have also broken 20 minutes for the team this season. The team will need a lot of help from previously mentioned teams and need to have a near perfect day if they wish to advance.
Columbia City
Columbia City's Kenya Leitch has run 18:30 this year which should put her towards the front of the pack and could help the team out as a low stick. Samantha Lickey has also run sub 20 minutes with a time of 19:39 this season. The team finished 15 points behind Huntington North last weekend.
Fort Wayne Northrop
Northrop appears to be very evenly matched with Columbia City as Maren Wilson has gone sub 19 minutes to be in the vicinity of Leitch. The rest of their runners appear to have relatively even matchups which will be interesting to see who comes out on top this weekend. The team was a distant third to Homestead and Concordia last weekend.
Leo
Similarly to the two previously mentioned teams Leo also has a girl that should be up front with Rowyn Norris. She won the West Noble sectional last week and ran a 18:17 earlier this season. Her teammates will be in competition with Columbia City and Northrop. The team finished 2 points behind West Noble last weekend but should be able to beat them this week with Rowyn's position as a low stick making a bigger difference with the larger meet.