Penn, Northridge sweep NIC, NLC boys and girls cross country championships
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GOSHEN — While the usual suspects – Penn and Northridge – were dominant from a team perspective at Ox Bow Park Saturday, Oct. 3, all four Northern Indiana Conference (NIC) and Northern Lakes Conference (NLC) boys and girls cross country individual champions came from different schools.
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First up was the NIC girls race, with Kingsmen senior Lila Van Hoveln continuing her dominant season with a first place finish at 18:15.38. She helped Penn make history by sweeping the top five at the NIC Championship meet for the first time ever, posting a perfect team score of 15.
The last part of Penn’s dominant unit was fifth place junior Sami Pentelow, who was ecstatic with her 19:55.90 finish. She crossed the finish line just three seconds before sixth place New Prairie junior Janice Felker.
“We had to persevere to get through this race. I persevered, kept working hard and kept going through the race step by step,” Pentelow said. “We’re working for our seniors – to make them proud – this season.”
Van Hoveln said there was no stress or pressure for Penn leading up to the meet. The Kingsmen had fun listening to music together while preparing for the race, which helped them relax once competition began. The emotions, aside from joy and pride, weren’t showing yet for Van Hoveln shortly after her race, but she was confident they would once Penn recognized its senior class after the awards ceremony at Ox Bow.
While she still has three more races to go in the IHSAA state tournament, Van Hoveln was already talking about how excited she was to come watch Penn race in the regular season next year during her freshman campaign with Central Michigan’s cross country program.
“I feel like I have to go out with a bang,” Van Hoveln said. “Being committed, I’m excited to get to college. There’s no stress anymore. I’m just running free and running for myself. I wanted it to be my best time, because it was my last time.”
Boys NIC championship
New Prairie senior Braden Bachmann ran a flawless race to capture the boys NIC individual championship, setting a new personal best time of 15:47.87 to beat out second place Penn sophomore Jacob Sullivan by nearly 30 seconds. This was Bachmann’s third major win of the season after capturing first place at the NIC Stomp and the Class AA New Prairie Invite race.
While Penn picked up the team win thanks to their runners claiming the second-seventh place spots, Bachmann proved that come sectional and regional time, it is more than a possibility for a non-Kingsmen to walk away with an individual title.
“This was definitely a ‘Go for it’ kind of race,” Bachmann said. “I know I’m fit, and my workouts this week were tough – my legs were pretty heavy – but I was still able to run fast. Go for it, and if it hurts, I know I’m still going to be able to run fast. Those guys have a big reputation of being able to run fast. I’m grateful that they’re as good as they are, because they’ve definitely pushed me and motivated me to keep pushing.”
Penn finished with a team score of 20 despite not claiming an individual championship, easily winning the team crown instead. Head coach Chad Wetzel officially accomplished his goal of leaving every meet with a trophy in the regular season, and the Kingsmen very well may do the same in their first two meets of the state tournament, too.
Although he didn’t get a chance to watch much of it, Wetzel was glad both the NIC and NLC championships were held at Ox Bow Saturday, as it gave him a chance to get a gauge on how strong many of Penn’s upcoming regional opponents will be. Last season, the Kingsmen were beat out of a regional championship by Northridge.
While the Raiders look much different than last season, Saturday proved the Raiders will still be a threat against Penn.
Northridge, Goshen claim NLC championships
Northridge freshman Andyn McClane led almost the entire way in the boys NLC championship race, but Goshen senior Levi Schlegel began to match McClane’s pace in the closing mile. In the final straight away toward the finish line, the two were side by side nearly the whole way before Schlegel pushed ahead to win the individual title.
The RedHawk raised his arms over his head triumphantly as he dashed across the finish line at 15:57.06.
“It 100% just comes down to trusting your ability, trusting your training and the work you put in,” Schlegel said. “Knowing you have that speed and that extra gear to where, when it comes down to it, you can come through. It’s a dream come true, really.”
The NLC championship marked Schlegel’s second major individual title in a row, as he also won the Class AAA New Prairie Invite championship at 30 seconds slower. While Goshen got the better of Northridge individually, the Raiders still won the team championship with a score of 39.
Head coach Ryan McClane, Andyn’s father, was thrilled with Northridge’s performance. The Raiders had four runners in the top 10, but Andyn McClane’s race was particularly remarkable. Even withstanding the fact that he raised him, Ryan McClane refused to take credit for Andyn’s ability in just his first year competing in high school.
“It’s a little bit indescribable,” Ryan McClane said. “He’s got something that every coach dreams about. That kid is so focused and so driven, you can’t tell him there’s something he can’t do. His finish today was ungodly. I’ve never seen him sprint like that at the end of a race.”
Northridge did take the individual and team championship in the NLC girls race as sophomore Brayleigh Adams crossed the finish line at 18:44.09. The Raiders had four runners finish in the top 10 to help earn a team score of 29.
Adams improved on her time from the Class AAA New Prairie Invite by nearly 90 seconds, a disappointing race affected negatively by the weather, which she used as motivation heading into Saturday.
“Going into the race today, I had a set goal knowing I put in all this work just to come to this meet,” Adams said. “Whatever happens, good or bad, you just know the team is going to be proud of you no matter what. They know you’ve put in all the work through hard workouts and the lows and bads.”
Exactly two weeks away from the IHSAA state tournament beginning, Ox Bow truly was as much of a sectional and regional preview as it gets for a regular season meet. While there weren’t many surprises as far as champions are concerned, it was a reminder that the South Bend Tribune coverage area should be well represented on the boys and girls side at the state finals on Halloween.
Kyle Smedley is a sports reporter at the South Bend Tribune. Contact him via email at [email protected] or follow him on X @KyleMSmedley.
This article originally appeared on South Bend Tribune: Penn, Northridge sweep NIC, NLC boys and girls cross country championships