PREP CROSS COUNTRY: Bontrager wins boys semistate; others from area advance to state

Austin Hough, Goshen News, Ind.
·7 min read

Oct. 22—MARION — He might be just a freshman, but Westview's Noah Bontrager doesn't run like it.

Facing his toughest competition to date, Bontrager raced past the competition to win the boys cross country semistate race Saturday at Indiana Wesleyan University. Bontrager's time of 15:20 was six seconds better than Mishawaka sophomore Liam Bauschke, breaking the school record in the process as well.

"It means a lot to me," said Bontrager of winning the semistate race. "I can't believe I'm doing it as a freshman."

Bontrager joins both the Northridge and Goshen boys teams — along with Northridge girls individuals Tame Baylis, Haylee Hile and Dakotah Moore — as qualifiers from The Goshen News coverage area for next weekend's state championship meet at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute.

The Northridge boys finished in second place, falling just five points short of semistate champion Fishers. The Goshen boys snagged the final state spot, finishing sixth.

The Northridge girls fell one spot short in the final standings, taking seventh place. Baylis, Hile and Moore's individual performances were good enough for them to advance to the state meet as part of the 10 runners moving on from non-advancing teams.

BONTRAGER WINS AGAIN

The Westview freshman won individual sectional and regional titles the last two weeks, and his regional time of 15:45 put him amongst the best times going into the semistate.

Bontrager stayed near the front of the pack the entire race. With about 1,000 meters to go, him and Bauschke had pulled slightly ahead from the rest of the group, setting up a showdown between the two underclassmen across the final stretch of the race.

It would be Bontrager who would win that race, crossing the line first and yelling out an audible celebration.

"Just after the 4K in the far corner, I thought I had enough of a gap on him," said Bontrager of when he felt like he could win the race.

Bontrager now enters next weekend's state meet with a lot of momentum.

"It gives me a lot of confidence," Bontrager said.

NORTHRIDGE, GOSHEN BOYS ADVANCE

Behind a record performance from Baylor Miller, the Raiders' boys team nearly pulled off a semistate championship after winning sectional and regional crowns the past two weekends.

Miller's time of 15:48 was good for fourth overall, setting a program record for a freshman in the process.

His older brother, senior Jaxon Miller, finished 11th with a time of 16:05. Junior David Gingerich was 23rd (16:23), senior Will Knox 31st (16:31) and Baylor Miller's twin brother, Xavier, 42nd (16:45).

Although Northridge coach Ryan McClane felt like his team could've ran better, he was still proud of how they finished the race.

"Honestly, 3,000 meters in, Fishers looked like they were putting a hurt on us," McClane said. "By the time we came back with 400 meters to go, we were back in the race. ... Our boys I felt did really, really well in the second half of the race."

Goshen finished in sixth place as a team comfortably, as their 196 team points were 44 clear of seventh-place South Bend Adams.

The RedHawks were once again led by senior Tommy Claxton, who placed sixth individually with a time of 15:54. Classmate Luis Loera-Arambula was 38th (16:40), freshman Dorian Diaz 53rd (16:51), sophomore Peter Moser 87th (17:15) and junior Alexander Lopez 89th (17:17). It's the second-straight season Goshen has qualified for the state meet, finishing 10th a season ago.

NORTHRIDGE GIRLS FALL JUST SHORT

In a tightly-contested battle for the final two spots, Fort Wayne Carroll tallied 125 team points, Fort Wayne Concordia 142 and Northridge 149 to fall only seven points short.

Despite Northridge not advancing as a team, Baylis (6th place, 18:29), Hile (11th place, 18:53) and Moore (13th, 19:04) will all run at the state meet next weekend as individuals. Baylis' time is a program record.

"I'm extremely excited for Tame, Haylee and Dakotah," McClane said. "They did exactly what they were supposed to. It's easier to get themselves up in the front of the race; they can kind of see what's going on."

------

2022 CROSS COUNTRY SEMISTATE AT INDIANA WESLEYAN UNIVERSITY

Below are the top six teams advancing to the state meet, the 10 individuals advancing to state from non-advancing teams and the times of the other runners competing from The Goshen News coverage area. Complete results can be found online at ihsaa.org.

GIRLS RACE

1. Homestead, 79 points — Addison Knoblauch 17:19 (2nd), Elise Peckinpaugh 18:40 (8th), Lauren Saddington 19:15 (18th), Caterina Perego 19:15.5 (19th), Alexis Goebel 20:00 (54th).

2. Penn, 90 points — Mary Eubank 18:11 (4th), Julia Economou 19:09 (15th), Ellie Stabnik 19:26 (26th), Arianna Balinnang 19:39 (34th), Morgan Collins 19:46 (40th).

3. Hamilton Southeastern, 109 points — Margaret Powers 18:23 (5th), Elizabeth Butler 19:19 (21st), Catherine Campbell 19:33 (31st), Anaya Lammie 19:50 (44th), Addisy Smith 19:55 (47th).

4. East Noble, 119 points — Addison Lindsey 18:11 (3rd), Lydia Keihn 19:24 (23rd), Macey Colin 19:25 (25th), Chloe Gibson 19:58 (52nd), Rae David 20:03 (56th).

5. Fort Wayne Carroll, 125 points — Haile Schiffeneder 18:47 (9th), Hadley Snell 19:10 (16th), Megan Lanning 19:28 (27th), Mayabeth Hall 19:55 (48th), Maura Sloffer 20:16 (64th).

6. Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, 142 points — Sarah Maple 18:30 (7th), Alexa Panning 19:36 (32nd), Lilly Schlicker 19:51 (45th), Hannah Clark 19:56 (51st), Elisse Walters 20:06 (58th).

7. Northridge, 149 points — Tame Baylis 18:29 (6th), Haylee Hile 18:53 (11th), Dakotah Moore 19:04 (13th), Addy Long 20:41 (82nd), Gretchen Ludwig 20:46 (91st).

11. NorthWood, 350 points — Hanna Clyde 19:40 (36th), Sydney Prenkert 20:45 (90th), Savannah Slone 21:04 (108th), Faith Towler 21:22 (122nd), Marli Hartman 21:50 (135th).

Individuals advancing from non-advancing teams: Baylis; Hile; Moore; Nicki Southerland, Delta (17:05, winner); Maren Wilson, Fort Wayne Northrop (18:52); Ava Jarrell, Pendleton Heights (19:02); Hannah Suvar, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian (19:08); Charlee Gibson, Blue River Valley (19:14); Deirdre Tomasek, Mishawaka Marian (19:17); Sophie Goodwin, Lapel (19:20).

Other TGN area performances: Elkhart Christian Academy: Sheridan Maxwell 19:55, Hannah Schramm 20:26, Leah Huber 21:06; West Noble: Trinity Parson 20:04, Elizabeth Christlieb 20:16; Concord: Zoe Roberts 20:18; Goshen: Edith Loera-Arambula, 20:25; Westview: Bailey Manns, 20:58.

BOYS RACE

1. Fishers, 79 points — Sam Quagliaroli 15:56 (7th), Tate Meux 16:13.1 (16th), Matthew Kim 16:13.8 (18th), Austin Wilson 16:18 (20th), Ethan Nix 16:49 (49th).

2. Northridge, 84 points — Baylor Miller 15:48 (4th), Jaxon Miller 16:05 (11th), David Gingerich 16:23 (23rd), Will Knox 16:31 (31st), Xavier Miller 16:45 (42nd).

3. Hamilton Southeastern, 120 points — Ashenafi Caylor 16:00 (9th), Liam Powers 16:21 (22nd), Andrew Smith 16:38 (37th), Nicolas Vega 16:45 (41st), Tate Wilson 16:51 (54th).

4. Penn, 161 points — Hudson Kaser 16:11 (14th), Nicholas Probst 16:20 (21st), Brandon Mueller 16:36 (34th), Jack Ryan 16:58 (68th), Matthew Givens 17:13 (83rd).

5. Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, 176 points — Vaughn Hendrickson 16:24 (25th), William Schlegel 16:28 (30th), Benjamin Bentz 16:46 (44th), Hunter Panning 16:56 (64th), Nicholas Spielman 17:07 (73rd).

6. Goshen, 196 points — Tommy Claxton 15:54 (6th), Luis Loera-Arambula 16:40 (38th), Dorian Diaz 16:51 (53rd), Peter Moser 17:15 (87th), Alexander Lopez 17:16 (89th).

11. Elkhart, 295 points — Max Malloy 16:26 (27th), Aaron Ritcher 17:09 (76th), Denis Kale 17:15 (86th), Francisco Rosales 17:34 (104th), David Sefu 17:42 (112th).

14. West Noble, 327 points — Grant Flora 16:24 (24th), Isaac Silva 16:58 (67th), Nathan Shaw 17:33 (103rd), Evan Rodriguez 17:44 (115th), Nathan Troxel Gonzalez 18:05 (136th).

Individuals advancing from non-advancing teams: Noah Bontrager, Westview (15:20, race winner); Liam Bauschke, Mishawaka (15:26, second); Nick Cook, Wapahani (15:35, third); Luke Shappell, Leo (15:51); Seth Price, Liberty Christian (15:59); Owen Jackson, Oak Hill (16:03); Andrew Blake, Pendleton Heights (16:06); Cameron Smith, Lapel (16:10); Sam Yarnelle, Angola (16:12); Conyer Wilson, Fort Wayne Northrop (16:13).

Other TGN area performances: NorthWood: Jordan Burden 16:50, Owen Allen 17:16; Bethany Christian: Jesse Bontrager, 17:01; Concord: Colyn Chris 18:48.

Austin Hough can be reached at austin.hough@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2360. Follow him on Twitter at @AustinHoughTGN.