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October 24, 2004
Eagles surprise againCROSS
COUNTRY/SEMI-STATE
NEW CARLISLE -- While the rest of Indiana's running community scratches its head and tries to figure out where these girls came from, the Culver Academy Eagles just keep doing what they've been doing all season. Winning. Freshman Alex Banfich continued her amazing state tournament run, slogging through the mud Saturday to claim the girls individual championship at the New Prairie semistate cross country meet. And the Culver Academy team, made up of runners from Plymouth, Lakeville and Culver, among other places, earned its first-ever trip to the girls state finals by finishing fifth overall. They muscled out the likes of Lake Central and Lafayette Jeff in the process. Culver Academy junior Joe Stamper also earned a trip to the state meet as an individual by finishing 13th in the boys semistate. There will be Eagles running all over the place next weekend at the LaVern Gibson Championship Course in Terre Haute. Not bad for a school with an enrollment of 755. "Well, obviously, we're pretty happy," said Eagle coach Mike Chastain. "This is exciting." Culver Academy, unranked all season, will be joined in Terre Haute by No. 15 Penn, who qualified by virtue of a fourth-place finish. The top five teams and top 15 individual finishers advanced to the state finals. No local boys teams advanced to state. Penn was the area's top finisher, placing eighth. New Prairie was 11th. However, LaPorte senior Keith Ludwig (8th) and Stamper advanced as individuals. Marian girl won't run Local girls who qualified for state as individuals are Michigan City junior Anna Weber (6th); Adams senior Caity Lauer (9th); and Marian sophomore Mary Cate Quiett (12th). However, Quiett will not run in Terre Haute. Because of a previous obligation to attend a church retreat, Quiett has decided not to attend the state meet. "This is an commitment I made a long time ago," said Quiett, who is a youth leader. "I can't just leave them hanging now." Banfich in control Banfich, who is still undefeated, ran evenly with Chesterton's Mary Ballinger and Sarah Kehe, Weber, and Valpo's Lauren Hardesty through a 5:27 opening mile. When she reached New Prairie's famed "Agony Hill," she decided it was time to go. "We do a lot of hills in practice and that really helped," said Banfich, who immediately opened a 20-meter gap. "Coming out of the woods, I was thinking I have to keep it up," said Banfich. "I didn't know if they would come back on me." They didn't. Banfich extended her lead to the finish, winning the 4,000-meter (2.5 mile) race in 14:47. Ballinger was six seconds behind. Mud, wind and rain guaranteed times would be slow. "Yeah, the footing was pretty bad," said Banfich. "I'm glad I didn't fall." Solid Penn pack Defending state champion Valparaiso handily won the girls team title with 57 points. Portage was second at 123. Penn's girls did what they always do, run smart and move up through the field. Laura Carr placed 11th to lead the Kingsmen, who scored 143. Freshman Sarah Hutchings was 22nd, senior Nina Chaudhary 32nd and sophomore Whitney Cullen 47th. "We'll go down to state and have fun," said Chaudhary. "The only pressure is what we put on ourselves." Penn's boys had a long shot to advance, but team leader Brent Snyder ran out of gas on the homestretch and collapsed 50 meters before the finish line. He half-ran, half-crawled to finish 48th, losing a good 30 places in the process. "Brent just hit the wall," said Penn coach Tom Miller. "It wasn't for lack of trying." Teammate Thor Brown finished 16th, missing state qualification by one place. "That's the story of our life in this meet," said Miller Closing it out Portage won the boys team championship with 73 points. Valparaiso was second. LaPorte finished 13th, Mishawaka 15th, Culver Academy 16th, Rochester 17th and St. Joseph's 20th in the boys meet. In the girls race, New Prairie placed 11th, Michigan City 12th, Mishawaka 14th, Adams 15th, and Bremen 17th.
CROSS COUNTRY SEMISTATE At New Carlisle BOYS Team scores: Portage 73, Valparaiso 103, Crown Point 114, Lafayette Jeff 145, Chesterton 161, West Lafayette 219, Lowell 235, Penn 257, Merrillville 269, Harrison (Lafayette) 287, New Prairie 300, Andrean 304, LaPorte 306, Munster 310, Mishawaka 372, Culver Academy 398, Rochester 406, Carroll (Flora) 438, Kankakee Valley 445, St. Joseph's 468. Top 25 finishers: 1, Tim Sirbek (Hammond Morton) 16:09. 2, Joe Rayman (W Lafayette) 16:19. 3, Stephen Hein (Crown Pt.) 16:34. 4, Tim Hennessy (Valpo) 16:35. 5, Adam Martin (Chesterton) 16:36. 6, Rob Bailey (Portage) 16:39. 7, Garrett Zambrows (W Lafayette) 16:46. 8, Keith Ludwig (LaPorte) 16:46. 9, Jason Willis (Portage) 16:46. 10, Craig Baumgarn (Lafayette Jeff) 16:47. 11, Daniel Watts (Valpo) 16:47. 12, Michael Trybula (Crown Pt.) 16:47. 13, Joseph Stamper (Culver Academy) 16:48. 14, Theodore Britton (Harrison) 16:50. 15, Steve Smith (Lowell) 16:52. 16, Thor Brown (Penn) 16:57. 17, Justin Floyd (Merrillville) 16:58. 18, Daniel Neidlinger (Plymouth) 16:59. 19, Jim Flannery (Portage) 17:01. 20, Timothy Dohner (Portage) 17:04. 21, Max Goldak (Chesterton) 17:04. 22, Kevin Nuppnau (Valpo) 17:05. 23, Andrew Caruana (Merrillville) 17:05. 24, Tito Medrano (Lafayette Jeff) 17:06. 25, Craig Locker (Lafayette Jeff) 17:08. GIRLS Team scores: Valparaiso 57, Portage 123, Chesterton 124, Penn 143, Culver Girls Academy 191, Lake Central 194, Lafayette Jeff 241, Andrean 243, West Lafayette 248, Renssealaer 250, New Prairie 321, Michigan City 348, Southmont 357, Mishawaka 362, Adams 371, Harrison (Lafayette) 376, Bremen 376, Munster 418, Hobart 422, Crown Point 446. Top 25 finishers: 1, Alexandra Banfich (Culver Girls Academy) 14:47. 2, Mary Ballinger (Chesterton) 14:53. 3, Sara Kehe (Chesterton) 15:01. 4, Lauren Hardesty (Valpo) 15:04. 5, Crystina Aburto-Martinez (Wheeler) 15:06. 6, Anna Weber (Michigan City) 15:08. 7, Allison Malone (Rensselaer) 15:11. 8, Ashlee Karp (Valpo) 15:18. 9, Caitlin Lauer (Adams) 15:24. 10, Jordan Arnold (Lafayette Jeff) 15:25. 11, Laura Carr (Penn) 15:25. 12, Mary Cate Quiett (Marian) 15:26. 13, Christina Blackwell (Portage) 15:28. 14, Jill Odom (Highland) 15:29. 15, Kyla Chapman (Rensselaer) 15:30. 16, Amanda Hardesty (Valpo) 15:33. 17, Susan Allegretti (Lake Central) 15:34. 18, Emily Robbins (Portage) 15:37. 19, Andrea Kent (Valpo) 15:39. 20, Erica Johnson (Valpo) 15:40. 21, Kelly Peller (Chesterton) 15:41. 22, Sarah Hutchings (Penn) 15:42. 23, Tiffany Calaug (Portage) 15:43. 24, Elizabeth Plaspohl (McCutcheon) 15:48. 25, Sam Eliason (Southmont) 15:49. NOTE: Top five teams and top 15 individual finishers in each race advance to IHSAA state finals in Terre Haute on Saturday, Oct. 30.
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