|
October 31, 2004 Celebration or heartbreak?Stichter
2nd, Banfich 3rd in state finals
TERRE HAUTE -- A reason to celebrate, or the pain of a near miss? Hard to tell what Wawasee senior Rachel Stichter was feeling after Saturday's IHSAA girls state cross country finals in Terre Haute. Running on a broken right foot, Stichter finished second to Fort Wayne Concordia's Adele Mitchell in a rough 4,000-meter (2.5 mile) race at the Wabash Valley Sports Center. The season-long favorite to win it all, Stichter assumed an early lead, but was unable to respond when Mitchell surged to the front with a half-mile to go. The Concordia senior sprinted to victory 14:34.5. "My legs were just dead," said Stichter, who hung on to finish in 14:40.6. "I haven't been able to train for two weeks, and when Adele took off, I just couldn't respond. The energy wasn't there." On one hand, Stichter was fortunate to even be in the race, considering the stress fracture diagnosed in her right foot after the Elkhart regional would have knocked out almost any other runner. Viewed in that light, second place was a tremendous accomplishment. On the other hand, after gearing so long for a state championship run, her disappointment was understandable. "It has been extremely frustrating, but that's life," said Stichter. "I really didn't feel it much during the race. This (injury) is one of those things you just have to deal with, and I've dealt with it as best as I could." Meanwhile, behind Mitchell and Stichter, both seniors, the future for Indiana girls cross country may have been on display. Culver Academy freshman Alex Banfich raced to third, clocking 14:43.4 despite awful running conditions. A fierce headwind, with gusts over 30 mph, and warm temperatures meant lots of runners were dehydrated. Times didn't mean much. Many girls struggled to finish the LaVern Gibson Championship Course. That included Banfich, who moved into position behind the lead pack at the 1,000-meter mark and then tried to surge over the final mile. "The wind was horrible," she said. "It was so hard at the end. I was just trying to get done." Banfich was the only freshman in the top five. Though, technically, she suffered the first loss of her high school career, Banfich was like a kid at Christmas when she was called to the awards stand. "I'm so happy for the two girls in front of me," said Banfich. "They are both seniors and they are both so good. I feel lucky to finish as high as I did." Luck was nowhere to be found for the Northridge girls team. Ranked No. 1 early in the season, the Raider girls finished sixth with 170 points. A dominant Valparaiso team claimed its third consecutive girls state title and fifth in the last six years. The Vikings placed four runners among the Top 25 individual finishers and scored 87 points. Westfield was runnerup at 112 and top-ranked Indianapolis Cathedral finished third. Northridge had 170. Penn and Culver Girls Academy each scored 298 points, but Penn was awarded 10th place and Culver 11th. That was because Penn's No. 6 runner, Carlie Matz, finished seven places in front of the Eagle No. 6, Kelly Norton. Northridge was led by junior Megan Jackson, who ran with the leaders most of the way before finishing sixth in 14:58.7. However, Raider No. 2 runner Jessie LaFree dehydrated and collapsed a few yards in front of the finish line, and lost several places as she crawled into the chute. She ended up 39th. Aimee Gingerich was 43rd, Lynn Pezzanite 65th and Stephanie Swendsen 81st for Northridge. "We got too far back early, but we really didn't have a bad race," said Northridge coach Ryan McClane. "I can't be unhappy with our effort." Penn was lifted by Laura Carr, whose 26th-place finish just missed All-State recognition from the Indiana Association of Track and Cross Country Coaches. However, after the meet, Carr was named winner of the IHSAA mental attitude award. Freshman Sarah Hutchings was 67th for Penn. Christine Cummings placed 84th, Nina Chaudhary 99th and Whitney Cullen 122nd. "I thought the girls ran pretty well," said Penn coach Tom Miller. "Our pack was spread out pretty far, but we wanted Top 10 and we got it." Culver Girls Academy got an 83rd place finish from senior Ashley Clifford. Freshman Kiley Trennepohl was 88th. Michigan City's Anna Weber finished 21st to earn All-State honors. Caity Lauer of Adams was 69th.
GIRLS Team scores: Valparaiso 87, Westfield 112, Indianapolis Cathedral 123, Carmel 145, Columbus North 155, Northridge 170, Chesterton 204, Carroll (Fort Wayne) 208, Lawrence North 272, Penn 298, Culver Girls Academy 298 (sixth runner tiebreaker), Portage 300, Fort Wayne Concordia 319, Silver Creek 351, Fort Wayne Snider 370, Terre Haute North 405, Bloomington North 409, Homestead 427, Jasper 486, Bloomington South 560.
Top 25 finishers: 1, Adele Mitchell (Fort Wayne Concordia) 14:34.5. 2, Rachel Stichter (Wawasee) 14:40.6. 3, Alexandra Banfich (Culver Girls Academy) 14:43.4. 4, Sarah Kehe (Chesterton) 14:53.7. 5, Lauren Hardesty (Valparaiso) 14:57.5. 6, Megan Jackson (Northridge) 14:58.7. 7, Stephanie Greer (Indianapolis Roncalli) 14:59.5. 8, Maggie Bingham (Westfield) 15:06.8. 9, Chelsea Blanchard (Carroll-Fort Wayne) 15:07.0. 10, Kristina Krasich (Westfield) 15:09.3. 11, Bridgett Blair (Carmel) 15:11.2. 12, Rachel Stark (Columbus North) 15:12.6. 13, Kayla Alexander (Terre Haute North) 15:12.6. 14, Rose Flomin (Indianapolis Cathedral) 15:12.7. 15, Bethany Scruton (Columbus North) 15:12.8. 16, Amanda Hardesty (Valparaiso) 15:14.2. 17, Mary Ballinger (Chesterton) 15:14.6. 18, Andrea Kent (Valparaiso) 15:16.1. 19, Kelsey Page (Silver Creek) 15:16.2. 20, Crystina Aburto-Martinez (Wheeler) 15:17.4. 21, Anna Weber (Michigan City) 15:20.5. 22, Kelsey Pence (Columbus North) 15:22.6. 23, Breanne Ehrman (Westfield) 15:22.8. 24, Christina Blackwell (Portage) 15:23.5. 25, Ashlee Karp (Valparaiso) 15:23.8.
PENN FINISHERS: 26, Laura Carr 15:28.2; 67, Sarah Hutchings 16:01.0; 84, Christine Cummings (Penn) 16:10.2; 99, Nina Chaudhary 16:23.1; 122, Whitney Cullen 16:46.3; 133, Carlie Matz 16:57.6; 144, Morgan Malone 17:16.3.
CULVER GIRLS ACADEMY FINISHERS: 3, Alex Banfich 14:43.4; 83, Ashley Clifford 16:09.3; 88, Kiley Trennepohl 16:14.5; 113, Hannah Martin 16:39.5; 114, Elise Hoover 16:40.3; 140, Kelly Norton 17:06.1; 147, LaurenKelly Livingston 17:22.2.
NORTHRIDGE FINISHERS: 6, Megan Jackson 14:58.7; 39, Jessie LaFree 15:43.5; 43, Aimee Gingerich 15:47.0; 65, Lynn Pezzanite 15:59.6; 81, Stephanie Swendsen 16:08.8; 101, Aubree Draper 16:25.3; 102, Vanessa Lantzer 16:27.7.
WAWASEE: 2, Rachel Stichter 14:40.6.
ADAMS: 69, Caity Lauer (Adams) 16:03.2.
MICHIGAN CITY: 21, Anna Weber 15:20.5.
MENTAL ATTITUDE AWARD: Laura Carr (Penn) |
Northridge runner
Jessie LaFree is attended to by a trainer after completing her
race Saturday at the IHSAA State Cross Country Championship in
Terre Haute, Ind.
