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6 Caston, 5 Valley, 2 Culver, 2 Argos striders advance as individuals
BY VAL TSOUTSOURIS
Sports Editor, RTC
NORTH MANCHESTER –- The Rochester girls and boys cross-country teams plowed through the Manchester High School course at the sectional Oct. 9 and advanced to this Saturday’s Culver Academy regional.
The Rochester girls finished second in a field of six complete teams, and the Rochester boys finished fourth in a field of eight teams.
Warsaw won both the girls and boys sectional titles. It was the 11th consecutive sectional title for both Warsaw teams.
The top five teams in each race advanced, plus the top 10 individual runners among non-advancing teams.
Perhaps the biggest drama in the girls race was whether Rochester would edge out Culver Academy for second place. But Madilyn Calloway finished second overall in 20:07 and Zoe Seward took third in 20:37. Though Culver Academy’s third runner beat Rochester’s third, their fourth beat Rochester’s fourth and their fifth beat Rochester’s fifth, the Lady Zs had enough of a buffer from Calloway and Seward’s times to beat Culver Academy by a 60-64 margin.
Warsaw scored 31 points to claim the trophy. Manchester was fourth with 93, and Plymouth was fifth with 125.
Warsaw’s boys scored 34 points. Culver Academy (57), Plymouth (73), Rochester (90) and Manchester (109) also moved on.
Among other area schools, Caston finished sixth in both the girls and boys race and advanced three runners in both. Tippecanoe Valley finished seventh in the boys race and had an incomplete girls team.
Argos and Culver had incomplete teams in both races.
Caston individuals who advanced included Delaney Strasser, Mackenzi Roudebush and Emma Stinson in the girls race and Austin Dague, Caleb Stinson and Brady Evans in the boys race. Stinson beat out teammate Stevanna Young by 16 seconds for the 10th individual girls spot while Evans beat out teammate Marshall Finke by 12 seconds for the 10th individual boys berth.
Valley individual advancing included Chesnee Miller and Bailey Bussard in the girls race and Evan Myers, Isaac Whetstone and Brady Rodgers in the boys race.
Culver advanced one runner in each gender: Rose Peterson in the girls race and Destin Green in the boys race.
Argos advanced two runners – both freshman girls. Freshman Ava Stackhouse ran a 22:22, and Savannah Lyon ran a 23:30 to advance.
Girls
While Warsaw’s Josefina Rastrelli surged to the front and coasted to the win in 19:28, Calloway separated herself early and ran mostly alone.
Her final time was two seconds faster than her time at Valley in the TRC meet.
Seward then showed off a finishing kick to beat Culver Academy’s Stella Kinney by three seconds.
Miller ran a 21:21 and finished 17th overall and second among individuals on non-advancing teams.
Rochester freshman Lucy Rangel followed right behind her at 21:26, and two places behind her, teammate Araceli Ochoa crossed in 21:59. Kendyll Bradley, a member of both the TRC champion cross-country and soccer teams, was 23rd overall in 22:18.
Stackhouse was right behind Bradley in 22:22 and would appear to be a strong threat to make semistate.
Strasser was the Caston frontrunner, taking 27th place in 22:49. Rochester’s Elena Bode was right behind her in 22:56.
Bussard, a freshman, took 29th place in 23:02. Lyon was 31st in 23:30. Peterson, the only Lady Cavalier runner, would take 33rd in 23:48. Rochester’s Maddie Heinzmann crossed in 24:04.
Caston’s Roudebush was 36th in 24:10, and that left Stinson and Young racing against each other for the 10th spot.
Stinson, a senior, will run another week after crossing in 24:42 and finishing 39th overall.
Boys
Sam Tullis of Culver Academy took an early lead and outran a pack of Warsaw runners chasing him to win in 16:44. Warsaw’s Garrett Hall, Harrison Phipps and Luke Nier finished second, third and fourth, respectively.
The battle for seventh was between Rochester’s Peyton Hiatt and Caston’s Dague. They were so close that they appeared to brush shoulders as they crossed the finish line. Both were listed with identical times of 17:47.5, but Hiatt was awarded seventh and Dague eighth.
Rochester teammates Dylan Steininger and Chris Rohr took 13th and 14th, respectively. Steininger’s time of 18:12 was 30 seconds slower than his TRC meet time, and Rohr’s 18:15 was about 23 seconds slower.
Sophomore Wes Steininger was 23rd in 19:00, or about 48 seconds slower than his TRC time.
Myers took 33rd overall in 19:54 to earn his spot, and Rochester’s Adrian Ochoa was right behind him in 20:01.
Whetstone was 36th in 20:26, and Caleb Stinson joined his sister in advancing in 20:50 and took 37th.
Culver’s Green, a junior, placed 40th overall in 20:59 and earned his first career regional spot.
Rodgers waas 41st in 21:04. Rochester’s Reece Johnson was 43rd in 21:18.
Caston’s Brady Evans, who like his teammate Caleb Stinson had to leave right after the meet in order to play in a soccer sectional final against Winamac, was 44th in 21:30.
Finke was 45th in 21:42.
The top Argos runner was senior Cameron Force-Fields, who was 54th in 23:51.
Manchester girls cross-country sectional results (points in parentheses; top five teams advance): Warsaw 31, Rochester 60, Culver Academy 64, Manchester 93, Plymouth 125, Caston 159
Incomplete teams: Tippecanoe Valley, Argos, Culver, North Miami, Triton
Rochester results (second place, 60 points)
2. Madilyn Calloway – 20:07 (2), 3. Zoe Seward – 20:37 (3), 18. Lucy Rangel – 21:28 (16), 20. Araceli Ochoa – 21:59 (18), 23. Kendyll Bradley – 22:18 (21), 28. Elena Bode – 22:56, 34. Maddie Heinzmann – 24:04
Caston results (sixth place, 159 points)
27. Delaney Strasser – 22:49 (24), 36. Mackenzi Roudebush – 24:10 (30), 39. Emma Stinson – 24:42 (32), 41. Stevanna Young – 24:58 (34), 48. Maddie Sprow – 27:04 (39), 52. Autumn Garling – 30:01
Valley results
17. Chesnee Miller – 21:21, 29. Bailey Bussard – 23:02, 49. Maria Henderson – 27:28, 51. Talia Holder – 28:40
Argos results
24. Ava Stackhouse – 22:22, 31. Savannah Lyon – 23:30
Culver results
33. Rose Peterson – 23:48
Top 10 individuals on non-advancing teams: 1. Jocelynn Faulkner (Triton) – 20:55, 2. Chesnee Miller (Valley) – 21:21, 3. Ava Stackhouse (Argos) – 22:22, 4. Delaney Strasser (Caston) – 22:49, 5. Bailey Bussard (Valley) – 23:02, 6. Savannah Lyon (Argos) – 23:30, 7. Rose Peterson (Culver) – 23:48, 8. Mackenzi Roudebush (Caston) – 24:10, 9. Allison Bowman (North Miami) – 24:35, 10. Emma Stinson (Caston) – 24:42
Individual champion: Josefina Rastrelli (Warsaw) – 19:28
Manchester boys cross-country sectional results (points in parentheses; top five teams advance): Warsaw 34, Culver Academy 57, Plymouth 73, Rochester 90, Manchester 109, Caston 175, Tippecanoe Valley 197, Triton 221
Incomplete teams: Argos, Culver, North Miami
Rochester results (fourth place, 90 points)
7. Peyton Hiatt – 17:47 (7), 13. Dylan Steininger – 18:12 (13), 14. Chris Rohr – 18:15 (14), 23. Wes Steininger – 19:00 (23), 34. Adrian Ochoa – 20:01 (33), 43. Reece Johnson – 21:18, 51. Lane Shank – 23:16
Caston results (175 points, sixth place)
8. Austin Dague – 17:47 (8), 37. Caleb Stinson – 20:50 (36), 44. Brady Evans – 21:30 (42), 45. Marshall Finke – 21:42 (43), 49. Alex Craig – 22:54 (46), 56. Max Sommers – 24:31, 58. Connor Sommers – 25:16
Valley results (197 points, seventh place)
33. Evan Myers – 19:54 (32), 36. Isaac Whetstone – 20:26 (35), 41. Brady Rodgers – 21:04 (39), 46. Eli Sterk – 22:08 (44), 50. Aaron Backus – 23:03 (47)
Argos results
54. Cameron Force-Fields – 23:51, 60. Nudtanum Sangchaitawee – 26:57
Culver results
40. Destin Green – 20:59, 57. Quaid Primm – 24:57, 59. Aleksander Stacy – 25:20
Top 10 individuals on non-advancing teams: 1. Austin Dague (Caston) – 17:47, 2. Andrew Lane (North Miami) – 19:48, 3. Evan Myers (Valley) – 19:54, 4. Isaac Whetstone (Valley) – 20:26, 5. Caleb Stinson (Caston) – 20:50, 6. Jaydon Heckaman (Triton) – 20:52, 7. Destin Green (Culver) – 20:59, 8. Brady Rodgers (Valley) – 21:04, 9. Travis Barnhart (Triton) – 21:07, 10. Brady Evans (Caston) – 21:30
Individual champion: Samuel Tullis (Culver Academy) – 16:44
Tippecanoe Valley cross-country regional qualifiers included, from left, Evan Myers, Chesnee Miller, Bailey Bussard, Isaac Whetstone and Brady Rodgers.
Caston cross-country regional qualifiers included, from left, Austin Dague, Mackenzi Roudebush, Emma Stinson and Delaney Strasser. Not pictured: Caleb Stinson and Brady Evans, who were in transit to Caston’s sectional final boys soccer game against Winamac.
Rochester’s Madilyn Calloway (133) and Argos’ Ava Stackhouse (84) run at the Manchester cross-country sectional Saturday. Calloway advanced as part of Rochester’s second-place team while Stackhouse advanced as an individual.
Rochester’s Peyton Hiatt (50), Caston’s Austin Dague (red, white and blue uniform) and Rochester’s Dylan Steininger (55) were among those who ran at the Manchester sectional Oct. 9. Hiatt took seventh, Dague took eighth, and Steininger was 13th overall. Hiatt and Steininger advanced as part of Rochester’s fourth-place team, and Dague advanced as an individual.
