DuBois cuts 48 seconds from sectional time, but season ends at Manchester regional
Javier runs 18:16; Conliff, Hayes run ‘as well as they could’ in girls race
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
NORTH MANCHESTER — The rebirth of the Rochester cross-country program reached its stopping-off point at the Manchester regional Saturday, but with freshman Warner DuBois, it has forward momentum.
DuBois cut 48 seconds off his sectional time on the same course and ran a 17:36 and finished in 105th place in a field of 245 runners Saturday. He was the only Rochester runner who was faster in the regional than in the sectional.
However, he missed the cutoff time of 16:39 for the 15th and final individual berth at the IHSAA state finals.
The other Zebra was Leandro Javier, who ran an 18:16 and finished in 166th place.
The third RTC area runner was Argos sophomore Emry Stackhouse, who ran an 18:50 and finished in 188th place.
In the girls meet, both Rochester runners did not advance. Katelyn Conliff finished in 100th place, and Adison Hayes finished in 139th place in the field of 242 runners. Conliff passed multiple runners in the waning stages of the race and finished in 21:00. Hayes ran a 21:39.
The girls cutoff time was 19:11.
This marked the first year that Manchester has hosted the regional since the IHSAA changed the state tournament format in 2023. In that year, the IHSAA added more teams to each sectional and dropped the semistate.
Pryor to DuBois, Javier: ‘Let it rip’
Rochester coach Troy Pryor said he wants DuBois and Javier to start aggressively.
“We told them to go let it rip in the first mile,” Pryor said of
the boys’ strategy. “For Warner, we didn’t know necessarily on Saturday morning last week that he woke up, and I guess he had a little bit of a chest cold and a little congested. So I think that hindered him last week a little bit, and he didn’t seem his usual self last week. The big improvement did not surprise me. He’s had a much better week of training. He’s gotten on antibiotics, and he’s gotten healthier. He was right back where we would expect him to be in that 17:30 range. … I thought patience was the key with him in his training, and he held up very well, and we were very impressed with how he handled himself in the traffic.”
Pryor said Javier was “typical Arlo,” referring to Javier by his nickname.
“He was methodical,” Pryor said. “I always worry if Arlo has any facial expression that’s anything other than just methodical and workmanlike. I’m just here to do a job, but that’s Arlo, and that’s what he’s done for four years. … I joke with him. If he chooses to run in college, 10K would probably be right up his alley. He’d have a little more time to pick some people off.”
Conliff, Hayes adopt ‘conservative’ strategy
Pryor said he did not want either Conliff or Hayes to run too hard at the start.
“The girls had the strategy coming in of being a little conservative at the start, letting the big pack of girls go and
then in the last half of the race as things string out, there’s some space that opens up (and) try and take advantage of the girls who got out too hard and start … picking them off,” Pryor said. “I thought Katelyn did a great job of that. So did Hayes. I think they both ran about as well as they could today. Katelyn was in a handful of seconds of her PR. Hayes has been in the low-21s. So for her to be in the mid-21s was a strong performance. And they both set themselves up very well for this coming track season and next cross-country season.”
Conliff described the race as “busy.” There are more than three times as many runners in the regional than in the sectional.
“I was still pretty happy with it,” Conliff said. “There was just a lot of people. It was the first time I’ve been in that type of environment with so many people, and as a freshman, I still think that’s pretty good for me. Going from the beginning of the season in the 25s to now and being really close to that 20 mark, it’s been nice.”
Hayes said she had been battling an illness and appeared to struggle to breathe after crossing the finish line.
“For the circumstances, it was pretty good,” Hayes said. “I’m very sick right now. I thought it was sinuses, but I think it’s whatever Pryor had. He’s given it to me now. But I felt good the
first half because all the adrenaline and all the girls. I just kept going and felt good … and then I hit a wall.”
The future of Rochester cross-country
Javier is the only boy on the Rochester boys team. Vivian Miller, who missed advancing to regional by nine seconds at the sectional, is the only girl.
The Rochester boys did not even have a complete team last year; this year, they finished third in the TRC.
The Rochester girls finished just five points behind Wabash in the girls TRC meet.
Pryor is also on the track coaching staff in the spring, where he will oversee many of the same runners in the distance races.
“We’re very excited for the future,” Pryor said. “I think we’ve got a little bit of a gap in the middle school of seventh and eighth grade, but coach (Peyton) Hiatt’s filling out the lower grades, so the pipeline’s starting to fill up. I think with what we have coming back, we have enough to maybe threaten to advance both girls and next year, just with our returners if they can continue to develop. If we can go find some kids – we had three or four girls who joined our team this year who had never run before and had a boy join our team who had never run before, and so I think that’s part of just growing the program is finding those kids who are available and bringing them into the fold, and they can contribute right away.
“I’m incredibly excited where the program’s moving.”
Stackhouse shines for Argos
There might not have been anybody who ran at the regional who might have been more self-reliant than Stackhouse. He is one of just two boys on the Argos boys team.
There is also only one girl – Eden Rakoczy.
Stackhouse said that he has always loved running.
“I’ve been running since sixth grade,” Stackhouse said. “In my fifth grade year, I was just practicing a little bit with the cross-country team every once in a while. I’ve always loved running since the day I started. I think it’s just fun trying to beat your PR (personal record) and beat other people, especially when you run against them often. Instead of a race, it turns into more like a fun run. You’re still being competitive, but there are friends there to help push you.”
Stackhouse said he wants to increase the numbers to join him and Jude Keller.
“We’re trying to get more people to come out to make the cross-country team bigger,” Stackhouse said.
Stackhouse ran an 18:43 at the sectional at Manchester one week earlier. He said he needed to run a little more conservatively at the start of the race.
He lowered his PR from 18:43 at the start of the year down to 18:15.
“It definitely wasn’t my best race,” Stackhouse said. “I got a cramp the last half-mile maybe, and I guess it’s just a mindset to run through that cramp and tell yourself you don’t hurt. I think that was probably the hardest part about that race.”
Team results
Homestead won the girls team title with 65 points. Fort Wayne Concordia (104), Columbia City (150), Carroll (Fort Wayne) (151) and Fort Wayne Dwenger (164) also advanced to state.
Fort Wayne Concordia junior Daphne Weller overtook Columbia City’s Kenya Leitch in the final half of the race to win in 17:08.
Carroll (Fort Wayne) put five runners in the top nine and won the boys title with 29 points. Homestead (69), Fort Wayne Concordia (111), Yorktown (116) and Fort Wayne Dwenger (205) also advanced to state.
Warsaw finished sixth in both the girls and boys meets. Wabash, who upset Warsaw to end their run of 15 consecutive sectional titles, finished seventh in the boys race.
Manchester girls cross-country regional results: Homestead 65, Fort Wayne Concordia 104, Columbia City 150, Carroll (Fort Wayne) 151, Fort Wayne Dwenger 164, Warsaw 169, Huntington North 234, Eastbrook 265, Fort Wayne Snider 300, Plymouth 311, Bluffton 330, West Noble 337, Leo 359, Yorktown 393, Angola 394, Norwell 433, Wapahani 470, Delta 477, Oak Hill 502, Culver Academy 532, Frankton 554, Mississinewa 571, Woodlan 581, Lakewood Park 598
Rochester results
100. Katelyn Conliff – 21:00, 139. Adison Hayes – 21:39
Top 15 individuals on non-advancing teams: 1. Teresina Cordes (Wabash) – 17:42, 2. Alice Friesen (Huntington North) – 17:43, 3. Rylie Paskiewicz (Yorktown) – 18:19, 4. Abigail Ramseyer (Bluffton) – 18:22, 5. Alayna Bruckner (Eastbrook) – 18:30, 6. Shiloh Bunch (Delta) – 18:32, 7. Gwen Chambers (Fort Wayne Snider) – 18:34, 8. Dani Rastrelli (Warsaw) – 18:40, 9. Georgia Leininger (Fort Wayne Snider) – 18:51, 10. Summer Ross (Angola) – 18:56, 11. Cecilia Scheetz-Holland (Warsaw) – 18:58, 12. Erin Ramseyer (Bluffton) – 19:05, 13. Rowyn Norris (Leo) – 19:07, 14. Olivia Ritter (Prairie Heights) – 19:09, 15. Vivy Miller (Plymouth) – 19:11
Individual champion: Daphne Weller (Fort Wayne Concordia) – 17:08
Manchester boys cross-country regional results: Carroll (Fort Wayne) 29, Homestead 69, Fort Wayne Concordia 111, Yorktown 116, Fort Wayne Dwenger 205, Warsaw 212, Wabash 247, Leo 270, Fort Wayne Northrop 295, Oak Hill 300, Angola 302, Norwell 308, Lakewood Park 336, Bellmont 406, Culver Academy 410, Delta 438, Lakeland 510, Monroe Central 511, Columbia City 522, New Haven 550, Plymouth 562, Muncie Central 567, Wes-Del 580, Adams Central 581, Marion 595
Rochester results
105. Warner DuBois – 17:36, 166. Leandro Javier – 18:16
Argos results
188. Emry Stackhouse – 18:50
Top 15 individuals on non-advancing teams: 1. Zander Ritenour (Lakewood Park) – 15:16, 2. Memphis Martin (Lakeland) – 15:29, 3. Brantley Blair (Oak Hill) – 15:46, 4. Kamden Oswalt (Wabash) – 15:56, 5. James Unger (Wabash) – 16:17, 6. Chase Wilson (Fort Wayne Northrop) – 16:19, 7. Peyton Engle (Delta) – 16:23, 8. Emmett Glenn (Bellmont) – 16:31, 9. Graysen Ruch (West Noble) – 16:33, 10. Robert Schiek (Hamilton) – 16:34.2, 11. Jaxon Lehman (Warsaw) – 16:34.4, 12. Colin Elam (Daleville) – 16:35.3, 13. Hugh Robertson (Angola) – 16:35.7, 14. Jordan Perez-Yenna (Fort Wayne Northrop) – 16:36, 15. Jaiden Gould (Leo) – 16:39
Individual champion: Zander Ritenour (Lakewood Park) – 15:16
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