Jeff Manes Post-Tribune correspondent
10/27/2008
NEW CARLISLE -- Lake Central's top four runners placed in the top 15, which would have qualified them for state if they were running unattached.
But that certainly wasn't the scenario as the Indians' No. 5 and 6 runners entered the chute in 16th and 17th place overall. There were a total of 157 runners in the race. LC repeated as NP semistate champs with a score of 51.
"My girls really do feed off of each other," said LC coach Denise Rush. "I could tell they were focused and ready to go. Our seniors, Rachel (Zajac) and Kailey (Jenson) had great races. We had to put seven good races together today - not just two or three."
"Big Blue" (Lake Central) not only won the team title, the Indians' Dana Payonk, a junior, won the individual semi-state championship. Payonk led from the start; she circled home plate (2-mile mark) at an 11:46 clip with a 15-second lead on Wheeler sophomore Christina Blair and Valparaiso senior Megan Ranegar.
The trio did NWI proud as they held their ground and finished one-two-three (Ranegar was second,18:38; Blair third, 18:41).
Payonk, under slippery conditions, clocked an incredible 18:17. That's four seconds faster than last year's NewPrairie semi-state champion Alex Banfich ran. A week later, Banfich became state champion.
"I think my main focus of the meet was just to work on the middle," said Payonk. "I've been getting out like I want to, and I like my finish, but the middle is where I really had to work today - especially with the hill (Agony Hill) being in that particular mile."
"Dana's goal was to get in the top four," said Rush. "I knew if she was with anybody at the end, she could beat them. That was huge for her today to push the pace, because usually Blair and Ranegar push the pace.
"The top 15 here are excellent runners," added Rush. "The Franklin Central semi-state probably has the best teams in it; New Prairie has the best individuals. Dana is running against the best competition there is."
Valparaiso finished a strong second with a team tally of 64. Also qualifying for the state meet were Portage (102), West Lafayette (131), Crown Point (146), and Kankakee Valley (163).
Part of the beauty of cross country is that with hard work and a great team effort, smaller schools can win themselves a bus ticket to Terre Haute and run against the Greyhounds of Carmel.
Kankakee Valley coach Lane Lewallen will attest that.
"We're obviously thrilled," said Lewallen. "The credit goes to our girls. This sport is just different; you need all seven - with five of those seven scoring as close to the top as possible. Fritts and Systma did their thing at No.'s 1 and 2. Osborn (Kelsey) was huge today. Swim (Lindsey) was solid as always, and Chevy (BreAnne Chevrette) ran real strong."
Area girls other than Blair who will be competing in the state championship unattached are Boone Grove's Jordan Chester (10th), Michigan City's Mary Kate Mellen (12th), and LaPorte's Rebecca Kuehn (13th).
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