H.S. cross country: New Prairie's Zelasko breaks 18-minute barrier

Tim Creason
·8 min read

Northridge put on an amazing display of cross country pack running Saturday during the Northern Lakes Conference championships at OxBow Park.

The Raider boys not only won their conference title, they exhibited something close to team perfection with their pack running. All five scoring Northridge runners finished the 5,000-meter (3.1 mile) course in less than 16 minutes, 35 seconds.

The first Northridge finisher, Jaxon Miller, was fourth overall, clocking 16:11. But in the next 23 seconds, four more Raiders crossed the finish line, with eighth-place Marc Hernandez wrapping up their scoring in 16:34.

Even the No. 6 and 7 runners for Northridge came home in less than 17 minutes.

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Meanwhile, in front of them all, Mishawaka sophomore William Bauschke won the boys individual championship, his first, in 15:47.95.

Northridge scored 30 points for the NLC boys title, with Goshen second at 56.

The NLC boys race was part of the annual Northern Indiana Conference-Northern Lakes Conference cross country doubleheader at OxBow.  Penn won both the NIC boys and girls championships, while Warsaw took the NLC girls title.

At Sunset Hill Park in Chesterton, Valparaiso won Duneland Athletic Conference boys and girls championships.

Northern Indiana Conference

New Prairie's Lilly Zelasko, shown at last year's Northern Indiana Conference meet, won the NIC title again Saturday, this time breaking the 18-minute barrier with a 17:46.69 time.
New Prairie's Lilly Zelasko, shown at last year's Northern Indiana Conference meet, won the NIC title again Saturday, this time breaking the 18-minute barrier with a 17:46.69 time.

New Prairie senior Lilly Zelasko claimed her third consecutive girls individual championship by over a minute.

Her winning time, 17:46.69, is reported to be the third-fastest ever recorded by a high school girl at OxBow.  It is the first time she has broken the 18-minute barrier.

Zelasko won her race by over a minute. Penn’s Mary Eubank was second in 18:53. 

Penn won the girls title with 22 points, placing five scoring runners among the top seven finishers. Adams was second with 87.

Penn’s boys also won, 27-54 over Adams.

Penn’s pack wasn’t quite as tight as Northridge, but it wasn’t far off.  Only 27 seconds separated the five Kingsmen scoring runners, with Nicholas Probst finishing second in 16:16.

Bol Agwick of Adams won the boys individual title in 16:07.03.

Duneland Athletic Conference

La Porte’s girls finished third and boys were fourth at Sunset Hill Park.

The Slicers claimed a pair of third-place individual finishers.  Jay Pillai was third in the boys race and Brenna Sobecki third among girls

Northern Lakes Conference

Warsaw’s girls topped Northridge, 38-56, for the NLC girls team title.

Josefina Rastrelli took the individual championship in 18:21.09. She finished 35 seconds ahead of second-place Tame Baylis from Northridge.

CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS 

NORTHERN INDIANA CONFERENCE 

At OxBow Park, Goshen 

GIRLS 

TEAM SCORES: Penn 22, Adams 87, Saint Joseph 107, New Prairie 109, Riley 123, Elkhart 145, Bremen 193, Marian 203, John Glenn 241.  These teams incomplete:  Clay, Jimtown.

TOP 21 FINISHERS: 1, Lillian Zelasko (New Prairie) 17:46.69.  2, Mary Eubank (Penn) 18:53.34.  3, Julia Economou (Penn) 19:15.83.  4, Ellie Stabnik (Penn) 19:37.38.  5, Lexi Lawwill (Adams) 19:45.02.  6, Ali Balinnang (Penn) 19:50.90.  7, Belle Rebolloso (Penn) 20:13.23.  8, Morgan Collins (Penn) 20:15.97.  9, Deirdre Tomasek (Marian) 20:43.24.  10, Aubrey Morgan (Penn) 20:46.89.  11, Annika Retana (Riley) 20:49.36.  12, Ashlyn Anderson (Elkhart) 20:52.77.  13, Morgan Wittrock (Riley) 21:04.01.  14, Emily Shepherd (Adams) 21:12.06.  15, Hallie Klockow (Bremen) 21:20.18.  16, Megan Lanchsweerdt (New Prairie) 21:22.65.  17, Ava Rousseve (Saint Joseph) 21:27.77.  18, Izzy Frabutt (Saint Joseph) 21:36.11. 19, Mia Ritschard (Saint Joseph) 21:42.22.  20, Cecilia Frazee (Adams) 21:44.76.  21, Michaela Berger (Bremen) 21:50.30.

BOYS 

TEAM SCORES: Penn 27, Adams 54, Elkhart 75, Saint Joseph 109, Riley 127, New Prairie 175, Marian 210, Bremen 221, Jimtown 282, John Glenn 282.  These teams incomplete: Clay, Washington.

TOP 21 FINISHERS: 1, Bol Agwick (Adams) 16:07.03.  2, Nicholas Probst (Penn) 16:16.60.  3, Max Malloy (Elkhart) 16:27.21. 4, Hudson Kaser (Penn) 16:30.37.  5, Grayson Wilson (Adams) 16:38.06.  6, Matthew Givens (Penn) 16:38.92.  7, Jack Ryan (Penn) 16:39.30.  8, Brandon Mueller (Penn) 16:43.75.  9, Aaron Richter (Elkhart) 16:46.18.  10, Michael Camilleri (Adams) 16:57.23.  11, Gabe Polaniecki (Saint Joseph) 16:58.10.  12, William Mickelson (Penn) 17:05.29.  13, Isaac Howk (Adams) 17:19.89.  14, Carmelo Russo (Saint Joseph) 17:22.14. 15, Austin Witrock (Riley) 17:22.77.  16, Matt Urbina (Bremen) 17:23.15.  17, Riley Fuerbringer (Riley) 17:25.89.  18, Mikel Cox (Penn) 17:27.13.  19, Francisco Rosales (Elkhart) 17:28.81.  20, Logan Mann (Elkhart) 17:40.81.  21, Logan Thibodeau (New Prairie) 17:41.90.

DUNELAND ATHLETIC CONFERENCE 

At Sunset Hill Park, Chesterton 

GIRLS 

TEAM SCORES: Valparaiso 36, Lake Central 63, La Porte 77, Crown Point 95, Chesterton 110, Portage 117. This team incomplete: Michigan City.

TOP 21 FINISHERS:  1, Cheyanne Stock (Valparaiso) 18:41.6.  2, Grace Thomas (Valparaiso) 19:11.1.  3, Brenna Sobecki (La Porte) 19:38.8.  4, Alyssa Dunlap (Chesterton) 19:44.4.  5, Addie Roth (Lake Central) 19:48.1. 6, Nicole Vollrath (Lake Central) 19:53.7. 7, Lila Gillisse (La Porte) 19:57.4.  8, Elizabeth Ehrhardt (Valparaiso) 19:58.8.  9, Sydney Churilla (Lake Central) 19:59.6.  10, Madisyn Mikels (Portage) 20:02.6.  11, Destiny Lopez (Crown Pt.) 20:03.1.  12, Brooke Byvoets (Valparaiso) 20:04.3.  13, Anika Anderson (Valparaiso) 20:05.3.  14, Liv Hatch (Valparaiso) 20:09.8.  15, Nadia Brumbaugh (Crown Pt.) 20:10.2.  16, Faith Spain (La Porte) 20:13.2.  17, Jenny Diesem (Crown Pt.) 20:21.5.  18, Meredith Isley (Valparaiso) 20:25.8.  19, Mackenzie Smith (Lake Central) 20:32.6.  20, Brooklyn Reed (Portage) 20:38.6.  21, Tatum Bumgardner (La Porte) 20:39.2.

BOYS 

TEAM SCORES:  Valparaiso 52, Chesterton 59, Lake Central 82, La Porte 89, Portage 112, Crown Point 132, Merrillville 174, Michigan City 252.

TOP 21 FINISHERS:  1, Jimmy Dillabaugh (Valparaiso) 15:53.9.  2, Jackson Tuck (Chesterton) 16:05.6.  3, Jay Pillai (La Porte) 16:09.4.  4, Conroy Shane (Portage) 16:14.3.  5, Evan O’Connor (Chesterton) 16:15.2.  6, Brayden Sobecki (La Porte) 16:17.2.  7, Joshua Tuck (Chesterton) 16:20.3.  8, Mason Nobles (Valparaiso) 16:22.8.  9, Weston Hulen (Crown Pt.) 16:22.9.  10, Austin Wojcik (Lake Central) 16:27.2.  11, Sammy Sienkowski (Valparaiso) 16:33.7.  12, Ben Perschon (Lake Central) 16:38.1.  13, Robert Berger (Chesterton) 16:38.1.  14, Riley Petrovich (Lake Central) 16:38.4.  15, Nathan Nova (Valparaiso) 16:40.3.  16, Bosstel Noah (Portage) 16:49.3. 17, Riley Clark (Valparaiso) 16:52.9.  18, Jayden Ramos (Merrillville) 16:54.6.  19, Nathaniel Malchow (Valparaiso) 16:56.2.  20, Drew McGrath (Lake Central) 17:03.1.  21, Nate Murphy (Crown Pt.) 17:03.9.

NORTHERN LAKES CONFERENCE 

At OxBow Park, Goshen 

GIRLS 

TEAM SCORES: Warsaw 38, Northridge 56, NorthWood 88, Mishawaka 107, Plymouth 132, Goshen 135, Concord 150.  This team incomplete: Wawasee.

TOP 21 FINISHERS:  1, Josefina Rastrelli (Warsaw) 18:21.09.  2, Tame Baylis (Northridge) 18:56.16.  3, Hanna Clyde (NorthWood) 19:08.56.  4, Dakotah Moore (Northridge) 19:13.24.  5, Sophie Wray (Plymouth) 19:24.26.  6, Haylee Hile (Northridge) 19:44.79.  7, Mikayla Minmaugh (Warsaw) 19:47.92.  8, Koryn Flick (Mishawaka) 19:49.58.  9, Mia Hodgson (Wawasee) 19:49.71.  10, Samantha Rastrelli (Warsaw) 20:10.93.  11, Elizabeth Vander Bie (Warsaw) 20:14.01.  12, Ella Laput (Warsaw) 20:17.66.  13, Zoe Roberts (Concord) 20:21.47.  14, Marissa Howett (Warsaw) 20:31.38.  15, Kassie Ortega (Goshen) 20:41.35.  16, Sydney Prenkert (NorthWood) 20:41.90.  17, Jada Rogers (Mishawaka) 20:42.71.  18, Ellianna Transparenti (Warsaw) 21:00.54.  19, Jillian Waelbroeck (Mishawaka) 21:00.90.  20, Izzy Snyder (Northridge) 21:01.16.  21, Edith Loera (Goshen) 21:02.64.

BOYS 

TEAM SCORES: Northridge 30, Goshen 56, Warsaw 82, NorthWood 92, Mishawaka 138, Concord 164, Wawasee 206, Plymouth 219.

TOP 21 FINISHERS: 1, Liam Bauschke (Mishawaka) 15:47.95.  2,  Tommy Claxton (Goshen) 15:59.58.  3, Luis Loera (Goshen) 16:03.20.  4, Jaxon Miller (Northridge) 16:11.63.  5, Baylor Miller (Northridge) 16:12.83.  6, David Gingerich (Northridge) 16:17.39.  7, Will Knox (Northridge) 16:33.23.  8, Marc Hernandez (Northridge) 16:34.24.  9, Dorian Diaz (Goshen) 16:36.31.  10, Jordan Burden (NorthWood) 16:37.30.  11, Ryun Hoffert (Warsaw) 16:43.15.  12, Jason Gackenheimer (Warsaw) 16:44.38.  13, Jon Spicher (Northridge) 16:45.70.  14, Garrett Hall (Warsaw) 16:51.95.  15, Toby Quintana (Mishawaka) 16:52.00.  16, Owen Allen (NorthWood) 16:54.81.  17, Alex Lopez (Goshen) 16:55.38.  18, Joe Keyser (Northridge) 16:59.13. 19, Tyler Mimnaugh (Warsaw) 17:12.96.  20, Trey Hall (Plymouth) 17:15.18.  21, Cole Davies (NorthWood) 17:15.46.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Some eye-popping times at Saturday's conference cross country meets