Baron Classic Preview
By Colin Altevogt
Girls Coordinator
August 27, 2009
Participating schools: #23 Columbia City, DeKalb, East Noble, #5 FW Carroll, FW Concordia, FW North, #15 FW Northrop, FW Snider , Garrett, Goshen, #8 Huntington North, #17 Northridge, Warsaw
Last year’s team results
1. Northridge 75
2. DeKalb 113
3. Huntington North 118
4. Fort Wayne Snider 128
5. Fort Wayne Concordia 129
Top individual returners
1. Autumn Beachy (12) DeKalb, 18:58
2. Skylair Hilton (11) Northridge, 19:20
3. Renee Menzie (11) Columbia City, 19:26
5. Jordyn Rogers (10) FW Snider, 19:41
8. Natalie Spahr (11) Huntington North, 19:59
The Baron Classic basically serves as an early season semistate preview for the Fort Wayne area. Of the top ten teams in Mike Slaubaugh’s New Haven Semistate rankings, eight are scheduled to compete here. Individually, some freshmen have begun to make their mark early and look to challenge experienced veterans on some of Indiana’s best teams. The course is flat with half of the race taking place in the woods, though rain can slow things down quite a bit.
TEAMS TO WATCH
#5 Fort Wayne Carroll
The Chargers look as if they have yet to really release the hounds. At the DeKalb Invitational early last week, the frontrunning trio of Brianna Johnson, Kaylee McClanahan and Cierstien Deardorf ran a relaxed 21:30. That weekend, Deardorf sat out but Johnson and McClanahan ran just over 20 minutes at the Huntington Invitational where the Chargers won handily.
#8 Huntington North
The Vikings have an emerging frontrunner in Molly King, who broke 20 minutes on a sloppy course at the DeKalb Invitational. Huntington will be looking to rebound from a 14 point loss last weekend to Carroll and to legitimize itself as a podium contender.
#15 Fort Wayne Northrop
This is the Bruins first race over 5000 meters. Sydney Mansfield, an All-State runner last fall, has elected to play volleyball, but Northrop still returns a highly competitive squad without her, led by sophomore Emma Mirwaldt. The Bruins were 13th at the state finals last cross country season.
#17 Northridge
The Raiders were victorious over Penn last weekend by just two points at Dowagiac. As usual, Northridge has a whole crew of capable runners but no true star as of yet. Skylair Hilton, who earned All-State honors last year, could emerge as a frontrunner later in the season.
#23 Columbia City
Like Northrop, this is the Eagles’ first big test of the season. Columbia City did run at the DeKalb Invitational against many of these teams, though the performances there across the board were less than impressive.
INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH
Autumn Beachy, DeKalb
Last year’s semistate champion was second at Huntington in 19:34 on a tough course. The home course advantage could really help Beachy. It certainly did last year when she won this race in 18:58, 22 seconds ahead of the runner-up.
Brianna Johnson, FW Carroll
Johnson is a two-time state medalist and looks as if she has yet to run all-out in either of her two races this season. If she does that this weekend, she figures to be toward the front, though she was beaten by quite a bit at Huntington.
Kaylee McClanahan, FW Carroll
McClanahan just missed finishing All-State in both sports last year and has been right with Johnson in both races this season. Like her teammate, she may not have run her first all-out effort yet.
Molly King, Huntington North
King was the queen of the course at the invitational, winning in 19:55 in sloppy conditions. If her Vikings are to upset Carroll, getting a jump on the Chargers’ frontrunners would certainly help.
Ashley Erba, Warsaw
The freshman was a surprise winner at Huntington last week, besting three of Indiana Runner’s Preseason All-Staters. Another performance like that could possibly vault her to the top of the New Haven Semistate rankings.