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How Mishawaka sophomore William Bauschke opened some eyes at New Prairie XC Invitational

tribune staff report
·11 min read

NEW CARLISLE — As Indiana’s largest high school athletic event, the New Prairie cross country invitational is a reputation-maker.

With that in mind, what are we to make of Mishawaka’s William Bauschke, now?

The Caveman sophomore has more-or-less exploded onto the scene this season, breaking his school’s sophomore class record in a Northern Lakes Conference round-robin last week.

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But that pales in comparison to the second-place finish Bauschke raced to Saturday in the boys AAA (large school) division, against some of the best runners in the state.

His time, on New Prairie’s famed 5,000-meter (3.1 mile) course was 15 minutes, 53.4 seconds.

And the thing is, that runnerup finish was almost a win. At the two-mile point, Bauschke had a big lead, maybe 80 meters, as the field made its final turn into the woods.

But over the final 1,000 meters, Valparaiso senior Jimmy Dillabaugh closed the gap, and surged ahead as the leaders turned onto the homestretch.

Dillabaugh opened a two-second gap, winning in 15:51.4, with Bauschke a few steps behind.

“I’m still learning racing tactics. It’s different every race, every course,” said Bauschke. “But it’s been fun, I’ll tell you that.”

You don’t have to win at New Prairie for it to be a big deal. Most people will tell you just finishing in the Top 20 is a big deal.

This year’s meet drew 109 schools — and over 2,000 runners — from Indiana, Michigan, and Illinois.

As Bauschke emerged from cover at the 3,000-meter mark, a murmur went up from some of the thousands of spectators along the course, who weren’t sure who this kid was.

“I really didn’t plan on coming into the lead, it kinda just came to me and I took it,” said Bauschke. “I don’t have the best kick and I knew I had to have a pretty good lead. I tried to hold (off Dillabaugh) but he had a good race and got me at the end. It was still a good experience.”

The girls AAA race went much the same way. At the two-mile point, New Prairie senior Lilly Zelasko was in front. But by the finish, Warsaw junior Josefina Rastrelli passed her and claimed an 18:15.3 victory.

Zelasko clocked 18:28.1 in second. Penn’s Mary Eubank (18:58.9) was fourth.

“I haven’t had a lot of strong competition like that this year,” said Zelasko. “I went out harder than I normally would, and that took a toll on me.”

Girls AAA was a good one for local athletes, as La Porte’s Brenna Sobecki finished sixth and Penn’s Ellie Stabnik was 12th overall.

The battle for the girls AAA team title, meanwhile, went down to the wire, with Valparaiso edging Penn by two points, 121-123.

Julia Economou finished 18th for the Kingsmen in 20:05.2, giving them three finishers among the top 20.

Franklin Central dominated the boys AAA team standings with 67 points. Valparaiso (101) was second and Penn fourth.

Western (Howard County) took the girls AA (medium-sized school) team title, while Saint Joseph was fourth. Deirdre Tomasek of Marian placed 10th among individuals.

Illiana Christian took the boys AA title, with Saint Joseph in fifth.

An impressive Clinton Prairie squad won the boys A (small school) championship with 68 points. South Central’s Zak Kimmel clocked 16:53.8 to finish fourth in the individual race. Kouts won the girls A title.

55th ANNUAL NEW PRAIRIE

CROSS COUNTRY INVITATIONAL

At New Carlisle

BOYS CLASS AAA (Large Schools)

TEAM SCORES: Franklin Central 67, Valparaiso 101, Chesterton 126, Penn 164, Warsaw 198, Portage 221, Northridge 239, West Lafayette 247, Lake Central 252, SB Adams 286, Crown Point 308, La Porte 330, Elkhart 361, Angola 387, Harrison (Lafayette) 416, McCutcheon 424, Mishawaka 431, SB Riley 471, Munster 497, Hobart 511, Lowell 567, Lafayette Jeff 575, New Prairie 656, Plymouth 668, Kankakee Valley 670, East Noble 690, Logansport 746, Kokomo 867, Michigan City 938. These teams incomplete: Hammond Morton, Merrillville, Gary West Side.

TOP 20 FINISHERS: 1, Jimmy Dillabaugh (Valparaiso) 15:51.4. 2, William Bauschke (Mishawaka) 15:53.4. 3, Mason Nobles (Valparaiso) 15:58.5. 4, Brayden Henkle (Franklin Central) 16:01.2. 5, Ryan York (Hanover Central) 16:09.5. 6, Shane Conroy (Portage) 16:10.5. 7, Max Malloy (Elkhart) 16:12.4. 8, Jackson Tuck (Chesterton) 16:13.4. 9, Jaxon Miller (Northridge) 16:16.8. 10, Evan Farmer (Franklin Central) 16:01.2. 11, Bol Agwick (SB Adams) 16:26.6. 12, Elijah Stenberg (W Lafayette) 16:29.5. 13, Evan O’Connor (Chesterton) 16:33.2. 14, Weston Hulen (Crown Pt) 16:34.4. 15, Joey Ashman (Franklin Central) 16:35.2. 16, Kade McDermott (Franklin Central) 16:36.8. 17, Jay Pillai (La Porte) 16:41.1. 18, Goins Jaiden (Harrison) 16:48.4. 19, Austin Wojcik (Lake Central) 16:51.7. 20, Nick Probst (Penn) 16:57.5.

GIRLS CLASS AAA (Large Schools)

TEAM SCORES: Valparaiso 121, Penn 123, East Noble 142, Franklin Central 144, Morgan Township 177, Warsaw 202, Chesterton 245, Lake Central 245, Maconaquah 257, West Lafayette 274, Crown Point 291, La Porte 303, Harrison (Lafayette) 329, Portage 379, SB Adams 427, Northridge 442, Munster 483, Lafayette Jeff 515, New Prairie 523, Lowell 573, Kankakee Valley 584, SB Riley 587, Elkhart 600, Hobart 607, Plymouth 641, McCutcheon 703, Logansport 902, Gary West Side 922. These teams incomplete: Hammond Morton, Michigan City, Mishawaka, Kokomo.

TOP 20 FINISHERS: 1, Josefina Rastrelli (Warsaw) 18:15.3. 2, Lillian Zelasko (New Prairie) 18:28.1. 3, Addison Lindsey (East Noble) 18:40.7. 4, Mary Eubank (Penn) 18:58.9. 5, Cheyanne Stock (Valparaiso) 19:04.4. 6, Brenna Sobecki (La Porte) 19:20.1. 7, Abby Jordan (Maconaquah) 19:36.4. 8, Peyton Bucher (Morgan Twp) 19:41.9. 9, Dakotah Moore (Northridge) 19:52.2. 10, Annie Dunford (W Lafayette) 19:53.7. 11, Henny Schminke (W Lafayette) 19:53.7. 12, Ellie Stabnik (Penn) 19:55.9. 13, Cassandra Cohen (Hobart) 19:57.7. 14, Kylie Cline (Franklin Central) 19:59.4. 15, Grace Thomas (Valparaiso) 20:00.7. 16, Emersyn Bland (Morgan Twp) 20:02.5. 17, Lexi Lawwill (SB Adams) 20:04.2. 18, Julia Economou (Penn) 20:05.2. 19, Savana Miller (Franklin Central) 20:06.5. 20, Macey Colin (East Noble) 20:07.1.

BOYS CLASS AA (Medium-size Schools)

TEAM SCORES: Illiana Christian 131, Rensselaer 132, Culver Academies 145, Maconaquah 158, SB Saint Joseph 169, Northwestern 193, Rochester 200, Benton Central 246, Highland 250, Bellmont 263, Western 286, Manchester 286 (6th runner tie-breaker), Berrien Springs (Mich.) 293, Twin Lakes 374, Boone Grove 440, Bremen 464, Hanover Central 467, Griffith 472, Andrean 498, Mishawaka Marian 507, John Glenn 508, Frankfort 555, Knox 561, Eastern (Greentown) 619, Peru 697, Jimtown 709, Tippecanoe Valley 792. These teams incomplete: Calumet, SB Washington, SB Clay, Hammond Bishop Noll, River Forest.

TOP 20 FINISHERS: 1, Joseph Lapatra (Griffith) 16:14.7. 2, Jalen Strietelmeler (Highland) 16:42.2. 3, Luke Morrison (Berrien Springs) 16:45.2. 4, Isaiah Wittenberg (Maconaquah) 16:54.7. 5, Ian Webb (Bellmont) 16:55.6. 6, Will Ruszowski (Culver Academies) 16:55.6. 7, Hunter Miller (Culver Academies) 17:00.1. 8, Tristen Wuethrich (Rensselaer) 17:03.4. 9, Gabe Polaniecki (SB Saint Joseph) 17:15.6. 10, Elijah Obringer (Bellmont) 17:15.6. 11, Fritz Olthof (Iliana Christian) 17:22.3. 12, Jarvis Mickles (Iliana Christian) 17:27.6. 13, Tom Van Hoose (Rensselaer) 17:28.3. 14, Ryan Sandberg (Hanover Central) 17:28.6. 15, Nolan Bouwman (Illiana Christian) 17:29.3. 16, Daylen Schrock (Maconaquah) 17:32.5. 17, Raven King (Manchester) 17:42.2. 18, Rowan Hale (Western) 17:42.4. 19, Matthew Urbina (Bremen) 17:42.9. 20, Rohr Samuel (Rochester) 17:44.7.

GIRLS CLASS AA (Medium-size Schools)

TEAM SCORES: Western 96, Angola 113, Illiana Christian 120, SB Saint Joseph 131, Highland 141, Culver Academies 192, Benton Central 202, Northwestern 218, Manchester 229, Mishawaka Marian 283, Bellmont 327, Rensselaer 336, Hanover Central 347, Frankfort 357, Twin Lakes 366, Bremen 377, Berrien Springs (Mich.) 444, John Glenn 499, Griffith 516, Eastern (Greentown) 560, Hammond Bishop Noll 605, Knox 615. These teams incomplete: Jimtown, Rochester, SB Clay, Tippecanoe Valley, Andrean, Boone Grove, Calumet, River Forest, Peru.

TOP 20 FINISHERS: 1, Hannah Moore (Northwestern) 19:00.5. 2, Courtney Adams (Northwestern) 19:36.1. 3, Janell Robson (Benton Central) 19:45.1. 4, Celeste Gram (Culver Academies) 19:51.8. 5, Zoe Seward (Rochester) 19:57.4. 6, Ella Olthof (Illiana Christian) 20:10.1. 7, Kadence Fox (Manchester) 20:13.9. 8, Ayla Cashdollar (Manchester) 20:34.7. 9, Kendall Depoy (Western) 20:35.6. 10, Deirdre Tomasek (Marian) 20:40.8. 11, Avery Olthof (Illiana Christian) 20:45.9. 12, Gracynn Hinkley (Angola) 20:54.4. 13, Chesnee Miller (Tippecanoe Valley) 20:59.3. 14, Maddy Shoaf (Western) 21:10.6. 15, Faith Vanryn (Illiana Christian) 21:15.3. 16, Ava Budak (Angola) 21:17.7. 17, Hattie Harlow (Western) 21:22.8. 18, Hypatia Hamkins (Saint Joseph) 21:22.9. 19, Lauren Bradley (Western) 21:33.8. 20, Jordan Davenport (Angola) 21:37.9.

BOYS CLASS A (Small Schools)

TEAM SCORES: Clinton Prairie 68, Westview 95, Morgan Township 128, Hebron 196, Kouts 199, Buchanan (Mich.) 205, Lafayette Central Catholic 259, Bridgman (Mich.) 279, Caston 286, West Central 298, Carroll (Flora) 351, South Central (LaPorte) 351 (6th runner-tiebreaker), Trinity School at Greenlawn 374, Winamac 409, Rossville 414, Washington Township 457, Tri County 458, Frontier 477, Fremont 567, Victory Christian (Valparaiso) 587, Delphi 599, Wheeler 628, Attica 632, Beecher (Ill.) 642, North Newton 656, North Judson 667, Triton 682, SB Career Academy 700, Fountain Central 702, Faith Christian (Lafayette) 731, LaLumiere Academy 746, New Buffalo (Mich.) 753, Whiting 864. These teams incomplete: Covenant Christian, LaCrosse, LaVille, Michigan City Marquette, North Miami, North White, Pioneer, Gary Lighthouse, Lake Station, Steel City (Gary).

TOP 20 FINISHERS: 1, Noah Bontrager (Westview) 16:18.1. 2, Kolbey Wegner (Winamac) 16:40.3. 3, Hayden Kemple (Clinton Prairie) 16:42.4. 4, Zak Kimmel (So Central) 16:53.8. 5, Ty Ivanyo (Morgan Twp.) 17:08.5. 6, Neven Chasteen (Clinton Prairie) 17:10.9. 7, Leighton Dodt (Pioneer) 17:17.6. 8, Hunter Drain (Covenant Christian) 17:24.3. 9, Cody Noel (Hebron) 17:25.3. 10, Ethan Fleischhauer (Clinton Prairie) 17:36.2. 11, Lyndon Miller (Westview) 17:41.4. 12, Carson Meyer (Pioneer) 17:41.9. 13, Sawyer Richter (Frontier) 17:50.1. 14, Quinn O’Brienn (Morgan Twp) 17:55.3. 15, Andrew Mabry (Bridgman, Mich.) 17:55.9. 16, Adrian Miller (Westview) 17:59.8. 17, Dominic Vesprini (Trinity) 18:04.7. 18, David Rossa (No Judson) 18:04.9. 19, Kipp Pickerill (Lafayette Central) 18:05.3. 20, John Sanderson (Bridgman, Mich.) 18:05.3.

GIRLS CLASS A (Small Schools)

TEAM SCORES: Kouts 37, Faith Christian (Lafayette) 100, Winamac 106, Westview 135, Carroll (Flora) 204, Beecher (Ill.) 224, Hebron 242, Bridgman (Mich.) 261, Buchanan (Mich) 306, Fremont 321, Clinton Prairie 339, Lewis Cass 345, Triton 384, North Judson 390, Frontier 394, Wheeler 401, LaCrosse 453, Caston 455, Victory Christian (Valparaiso) 465, North White 486, Attica 489, Tri County 506, Pioneer 517, West Central 645, Michigan City Marquette 690, LaLumiere Academy 696. These teams incomplete: Covenant Christian, Fountain Central, North Miami, Whiting, South Central (LaPorte), Delphi, Lafayette Central Catholic, New Buffalo (Mich.), Rossville, Washington Twp., Oregon-Davis.

TOP 20 FINISHERS: 1, Aftin Griffin (Lewis Cass) 19:49.1. 2, Anyssa Heinold (Kouts) 20:00.7. 3, Kassidy Gregory (Kouts) 20:18.1. 4, Jenna Twedt (Kouts) 20:24.1. 5, Ariel Abbott (Rossville) 20:25.5. 6, Violet Montgomery (Pioneer) 20:40.5. 7, Jocelynn Faulkner (Triton) 20:40.8. 8, Maggie Smith (Winamac) 20:48.1. 9, Clara Schenke (Faith) 20:54.5. 10, Kristen South (Faith) 20:58.5. 11, Elise Byers (Wheeler) 21:04.2. 12, Adylinne Oldham (Kouts) 21:13.3. 13, Kiana Mast (Westview) 21:17.6. 14, Bailey Manns (Westview) 21:17.6. 15, Faith Dixon (Faith) 21:24.4. 16, Hallie Shrewsburg (Fremont) 21:30.3. 17, Kadence Hoover (Winamac) 21:32.2. 18, Emily Gurekovich (Kouts) 21:37.2. 19, Clara Fast (Bridgman, Mich.) 21:40.4. 20, Brailey Hoagland (Fountain Central) 21:42.5.

BOYS FRESHMAN-SOPHOMORE

TEAM SCORES: Northridge 19, Lake Central 65, Penn 110, Valparaiso 116, Harrison (Lafayette) 117, McCutcheon 196, Portage 231, Warsaw 244, Kankakee Valley 276, SB Saint Joseph 326, La Porte 342, Mishawaka Marian 347, West Lafayette 363, Crown Point 365, Chesterton 424, SB Adams 444, Culver Academies 471, Elkhart 474, Munster 543. All others incomplete.

TOP 10 FINISHERS: 1, Baylor Miller (Northridge) 17:01.7. 2, Ben Perschon (Lake Central) 17:27.7. 3, Marc Hernandez (Northridge) 17:31.4. 4, Brady Hicks (Northridge) 17:36.4. 5, Xavier Miller (Northridge) 17:46.5. 6, Joe Keyser (Northridge) 17:49.2. 7, Otto Leake (Valparaiso) 17:53.1. 8, Desmond Calhoun (Valparaiso) 17:53.9. 9, Evan Smith (Lake Central) 18:01.9. 10, Lottes Evan (Harrison) 18:08.5.

This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Mishawaka's Bauschke excels at New Prairie cross country invitational