Injured athletes excel at New Prairie Cross Country Regional

NEW CARLISLE — His knee was already hurting.  Running faster wasn’t going to make it hurt any worse.

So Liam Bauschke figured, well, if he was going to limp through Saturday’s regional cross country meet at New Prairie, he might as well limp in front of everyone else.

Ignoring the pain of a days-old knee injury, the Mishawaka High School junior surged to the front of the race pack, gritted his teeth and sprinted down the homestretch between a couple thousand drenched spectators.

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“I was thinking in my head, it will hurt more if I lose,” said Bauschke. “I mean, no matter what, it’s going to hurt anyway, so I figured I might as well win.”

Hobbled or not, Bauschke pulled away for a five-second victory in 15:40.6, guaranteeing himself a spot at next week’s IHSAA state finals.

And he is a realistic contender for the boys championship. But, now, about that knee …

“Last Tuesday, I was out for a normal easy run. I was about two miles away from the school and all of a sudden, it started hurting so bad that I couldn’t finish,” said Bauschke. “They (medical staff) think the patella is off a little bit.  It could have been from running in the mud (at the sectional) last week. It could have been anything. But it’s rubbing and it’s irritating when I swing through my gait and it hurts really bad.”

A cold rain fell throughout Saturday’s meet, though conditions were not nearly so awful as the sectional a week before. Elkhart’s Aaron Richter made a surprise move at the top of Agony Hill, about halfway through the 5,000-meter race, and the lead pack started to break up. Bauschke had a decision to make.

“I would have been kicking myself if I didn’t go for it,” he said. “I caught (Richter) about the 4K mark and I tried to move past him and not look back. I never did feel comfortable.”

As for next Saturday’s state meet?  “We’ll get back, take care of (the knee), and hopefully nurse it up for state,” said Bauschke.

The top five teams and top 15 individual finishers, who are not members of a qualifying team, advance to the state finals at Wabash Valley Sports Center in Terre Haute.  Boys run at 12 noon and girls at 2:30 p.m. (EDT).

Northridge, Penn and La Porte each qualified in an amazingly close boys race.

Valparaiso won with 115 points, while the Raiders were but a step behind at 119. And Penn was only four points back of that, scoring 122 for third.  La Porte had 185 in fifth.

Injured athletes also played a key role in the girls meet. Penn’s Ellie Stabnik, a previous state qualifier in both cross country and track, hasn’t raced in a month due to a stress fracture. But Saturday, she taped her leg up and gutted through the sloppy course.

More than gutted, actually. After a slow start, Stabnik powered through the second half of the race, passing other runners like a locomotive.  She worked her way up to 25^th place and was Penn’s No. 3 finisher.  The Kingsmen girls, in turn, took team runnerup honors with 102 points.

The Kingsmen girls also finished second at the semistate level a year ago.

“I’ve been cross training for the past three weeks and when I got on the starting line, the adrenaline just kicked in,” said Stabnik.”Normally, when I get to the top of Agony Hill, I’m tired, but I don’t know, today I got to the top and I just felt really good. I started passing people and that helped me kick it in.”

Penn was the only area girls team to advance.  Valparaiso, as expected, won with ease, scoring 45 points.  Morgan Township — enrollment 245 and a member of the Porter County Conference — finished third with 108.

Valparaiso freshman Whitney Anderson won the girls individual title in 18:51.5, outkicking a surprised Northridge sophomore Dakotah Moore (18:53.7) down the homestretch.  Penn senior Mary Eubank had a bad start and never fully recovered, finishing third in 19:06.8.

“I don’t know where that came from,” said Moore of her second place finish. “My coaches always say that I’ve got something more in me.  I’m just mind-blown. At one point, coming out of the woods, I was in first place and all I could think was, ‘What is going on?’”

Penn also got a 16^th-place finish from Ari Balinnang (19:42.1), a 36^th from Gabby Smith and 37^th from Aubrey Morgan.

“It was absolutely our best race of the season,” said Penn coach Michael Clements. “And Ellie, that was guts. Her attitude was, if I can help the team and make us stronger, I’m going to do it, and she came through.”

Penn’s boys don’t have a notable frontrunner, but a solid pack — only 30 seconds separated the No. 1 through 5 runners — made the difference. Senior Brandon Mueller led the way, 16^th in 16:24.2.  No. 5 finisher Jack Ryan clocked 16:54.8 in 38^th place.  The Kingsmen were moving fast at the finish.

“We kinda got smooshed at the start and a couple guys slipped,” said Mueller. “But I think we raced the last 2K very well.”

After finishing second by five points at the semistate level, a year ago, Northridge coach Ryan McClane felt some déjà vu in finishing second by four points at the regional on Saturday.  But he’s not complaining.

“Pack running has been our thing,” said McClane, whose Raiders had only a 25-second gap between No. 1 finisher Marc Hernandez (18^th in 16:25.4) and No. 5 Xavier Miller (34^th in 16:50.1). “Still, we need that low stick. Some guy scoring in single digits.”

La Porte’s boys got off to a terrible start. But just as at the sectional a week earlier, the Slicers had an amazing finish to earn a trip to state.  Brayden Sobecki led the way, placing 14^th in 16:20.6.

“We were buried in the first K. That was a scary moment there for a while,” said Slicer coach Corbin Slater. “Some of the guys moved a ton at the end.”

Among the individual state qualifiers are Bol Agwick of Adams, as well as Elkhart’s Richter, Max Malloy and Goshen’s Dorian Diaz among boys. La Porte’s Faith Spain and Goshen’s Kassandra Ortega are part of the individual girls to advance.

IHSAA REGIONAL CROSS COUNTRY TOURNAMENTS 

At New Carlisle 

BOYS 

TEAM SCORES: Valparaiso 115, Northridge 119, Penn 123, Lake Central 181, La Porte 185, Portage 208, Goshen 214, Crown Point 223, Mishawaka 240, Chesterton 242, Elkhart 271, Westview 271 (6^th runner tie-break), Trinity-Greenlawn 376, NorthWood 377, Lowell 402, Illiana Christian 415, South Bend Adams 442, Kankakee Valley 478, Hobart 489, Highland 502, Rensselaer Central 549, Merrillville 556, DeMotte Christian 600, Winamac 657, Benton Central 724.

TOP 20 FINISHERS:  1, Liam Bauschke (Mishawaka) 15:40.6.  2, Shane Conroy (Portage) 15:45.7.  3, Aaron Richter (Elkhart) 15:48.5.  4, Max Malloy (Elkhart) 15:52.2.  5, Noah Bontrager (Westview) 15:59.3.  6, Joseph LaPatra (Griffith) 16:02.4.  7, Evan O’Connor (Chesterton) 16:04.1.  8, Mason Nobles (Valparaiso) 16:05.9. 9, Sammy Sienkowski (Valparaiso) 16:06.6.  10, Dorian Diaz (Goshen) 16:08.2.  11, Wes Hulen (Crown Pt.) 16:17.1. 12, Bol Agwick (Adams) 16:20.1.  13, Jalen Strietelmeier (Highland) 16:20.4.  14, Brayden Sobecki (La Porte) 16:20.6.  15, Noah Bosstel (Portage) 16:22.2.  16, Brandon Mueller (Penn) 16:24.2. 17, Ben Perschon (Lake Central) 16:24.7.  18, Marc Hernandez (Northridge) 16:25.4.  19, Matthew Givens (Penn) 16:31.1.  20, Baylor Miller (Northridge) 16:33.7.

GIRLS 

TEAM SCORES: Valparaiso 45, Penn 102, Morgan Township 108, Lake Central 138, Portage 196, Chesterton 202, Crown Point 213, Goshen 244, Northridge 266, La Porte 276, Illiana Christian 318, Highland 327, Mishawaka 340, Kouts 366, Munster 400, Concord 415, Fairfield 426, South Bend Adams 439, Winamac 444, Elkhart 448, New Prairie 526, Benton Central 589, Tri-County 706, Twin Lakes 711, Kankakee Valley inc.

TOP 20 FINISHERS:  1, Whitney Anderson (Valparaiso) 18:51.5.  2, Dakotah Moore (Northridge) 18:53.7.  3, Mary Eubank (Penn) 19:06.8.  4, Liv Hatch (Valparaiso) 19:07.9.  5, Addison Roth (Lake Central) 19:07.9.  6, Krista Sytsma (Kankakee Valley) 19:14.2.  7, Elizabeth Ehrhardt (Valparaiso) 19:16.8.  8, Dana Abbring (Morgan Twp) 19:18.7.  9, Cassandra Cohen (Hobart) 19:21.4.  10, Peyton Bucher (Morgan Twp) 19:23.1.  11, Kassandra Ortega (Goshen) 19:23.9.  12, Emma Bell (Kankakee Valley) 19:25.9.  13, Elora Bliss (Munster) 19:32.8.  14, Ella Olthof (Illiana Christian) 19:35.2.  15, Faith Spain (La Porte) 19:35.4.  16, Ari Balinnang (Penn) 19:42.1.  17, Avery Olthof (Illiana Christian) 19:43.3.  18, Madisyn Mikels (Portage) 19:43.6. 19, Anika Anderson (Valparaiso) 19:44.3.  20, Ali Sierazy (Chesterton) 19:51.7.

NOTE: Top five teams and top 15 individuals who are not members of a qualifying team advance to the IHSAA state finals in Terre Haute on Saturday, Oct. 28.

AT FORT WAYNE: Plymouth's Wray advances

Plymouth’s season came to an end in the New Haven girls cross country regional at Fort Wayne’s Metroplex. The Pilgrims finished 18^th with 450 points.

However, Plymouth senior Sophie Wray advances to state as an individual thanks to a 13^th place effort, clocking 18:59.8.

Fort Wayne Concordia won both boys and girls team titles.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: IHSAA New Prairie Cross Country Regional for boys and girls