PREP CROSS COUNTRY: State final pits area individuals and Raider boys against field
Oct. 26—TERRE HAUTE — Every runner's favorite time of the year has come, and LaVern Gibson is set for another exciting end to the cross country season.
With the state finals returning to the historic course Saturday, The Goshen News area will be represented well on both sides in an extremely tight field.
Northridge boys cross country is the only area team making the nearly four hour drive south.
The Raiders, coached by Ryan McClane have excelled this season. Winning the Elkhart sectional and placing second at the New Prairie regional this past weekend, the strong team will be headed down to represent the area as a complete unit.
Marc Hernandez leads the way for the Raiders. Joined closely behind is Baylor Miller, Joe Keyser, David Gingerich and Xavier Miller. Brady Hicks and Trevin Schlabach also add to the Northridge field competing in Terre Haute.
In the 25-team field, the Raiders find themselves slotted 20th using last week's regional times. Of course, anyone in New Carlisle last weekend knows that McClane's team was running in soaked and muddy conditions as they also did to a lesser extent at Ox Bow Park in the sectional round.
Joining the boys races, which is set to begin at noon, are three area individuals.
Westview's Noah Bontrager highlights this field but is joined by two RedHawk runners in Dorian Diaz and Lincoln Clark for Goshen.
Bontrager won first by a hair in sectionals and placed fifth at regionals, admitting it was not his best performance, albeit, even with Saturday's conditions. Dorian Diaz placed 10th at New Prairie and Clark too performed well in the field.
Following the boys ceremony, the girls race will be set to begin at 2:30 p.m. and even though no area teams made the cut, three runners will be donning their schools colors in the final race of the season.
Dakotah Moore, who won the Elkhart sectional and placed second at regionals is set to compete for a high spot in Saturday's competition. The sophomore from Northridge has had an exceptional season.
Goshen's Kassandra Ortega joins Wawasee's Mia Hodgson on the course as well this weekend.
Ortega, Goshen's first female runner qualifying for state since 2007, will too have a chance to play highly. Hodgson, meanwhile, just made the cut this past weekend to punch her ticket to state.
Fans are encouraged to buy their tickets digitally and have then pulled up when they arrive. Gates will open at 9:30 a.m.
Teams competing (boys)
Angola, Avon, Bloomington North, Bloomington South, Brownsburg, Carmel, Center Grove, Columbus North, Evansville F.J. Reitz, Fishers, Floyd Central, Ft. Wayne Carroll, Ft. Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Franklin Central, Hamilton Southeastern, Lake Central, LaPorte, Noblesville, North Central, Northridge, Penn, Valparaiso, Wabash, Warsaw, Zionsville
Area runners competing
Noah Bontrager (Westview), Dorian Diaz (Goshen), Marc Hernandez (Northridge), Baylor Miller (Northridge), Joe Keyser (Northridge), Lincoln Clark (Goshen), David Gingerich (Northridge), Xavier Miller (Northridge), Brady Hicks (Northridge), Trevin Schlabach (Northridge)
Teams competing (girls)
Bloomington South, Brownsburg, Carmel, Columbus North, Corydon Central, East Noble, Edgewood, Franklin Central, Ft. Wayne Carroll, Ft. Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Guerin Catholic, Hamilton Southeastern, Harrison, Homestead, Jasper, Lake Central, Morgan Township, Noblesville, North Central, Penn, Portage, Valparaiso, Warsaw, Westfield, Zionsville
Area runners competing
Dakotah Moore (Northridge), Kassandra Ortega (Goshen), Mia Hodgson (Wawasee)
Reach Matt Lucas at 574-533-2151, ext. 240325, or at matt.lucas@goshennews.com.
