New Prairie Invitational Preview
By Colin Altevogt
Girls Coordinator
September 17, 2009
Participating A schools: Bethany Christian, Boone Grove, Bremen, Calumet, Carroll (Flora), Clinton Prairie, Culver Community, Eastern (Greentown), FW Canterbury, Fremont, Hammond Noll, Hebron, Kouts, LaCrosse, Laville, Lafayette Central Catholic, Michigan City Marquette, Morgan Township, North Judson, North Miami, Oak Hill, Oregon-Davis, Pioneer, River Forest, South Central (LaPorte), Tri-County, Triton, Washington Township, Westville, Whiting, Winamac
Participating AA schools: Andrean, Angola, Bellmont, Brown County, Culver Academy, Edgewood, Fairfield, FW Concordia, FW Dwenger, Gary Roosevelt, Gary Lew Wallace, Griffith, Hammond Clark, Hammond Gavit, Hanover Central, Indianapolis Chatard, Jimtown, John Glenn, Kankakee Valley, Knox, Mishawaka Marian, New Prairie, Northwestern, Peru, Plymouth, Rensselaer, Rochester, Tippecanoe Valley, Twin Lakes, Western, Wheeler
Participating AAA schools: Chesterton, Concord, # 15 Crown Point, DeKalb, East Noble, Elkhart Central, Elkhart Memorial, #3 FW Carroll, FW Northrop, Harrison (West Lafayette), Highland, Hobart, LaPorte, #11 Lake Central, Lawrence North, Logansport, Lowell, McCutcheon, Marion, Martinsville, Merrillville, Michigan City, Mishawaka, Munster, Northridge, #25 Penn, #12 Portage, Richmond, SB Adams, SB Clay, SB St. Joseph’s, SB Riley, SB Washington, #16 Valparaiso, #21 Warsaw, West Lafayette
Last year’s AAA team results
1. Lake Central 128
2. Northridge 130
3. FW Carroll 131
4. Valpariaso 164
5. Indianapolis Chatard 199
Last year’s top returners
2. Waverly Neer (11) Culver Academy, 18:51
3. Autumn Beachy (12) DeKalb, 18:54
1. Jordan Chester (11) Boone Grove, 19:00 (A race)
3. Kaisa Goodman (11) West Lafayette, 19:08 (AA race)
4. Dana Payonk (12) Lake Central, 19:10
Serving as much more than just a semistate preview, the New Prairie Invitational will bring together over 100 teams from Indiana as well as a handful from Michigan on one of the country’s best courses. Scheduled to compete are a plethora of elite individuals as well as a handful of ranked teams, including some of the state’s best small schools.
Last year’s battle was incredibly tight, and a great precursor for the state meet. Lake Central, en route to their second straight runner-up finish at the state finals, held off two good New Haven Semistate teams. The Indians again look to be among the favorites but could have difficulty holding off Fort Wayne Carroll, not to mention a half dozen or so other solid teams.
TEAMS TO WATCH
#3 Fort Wayne Carroll
The Chargers were one heartbreaking race away from a runner-up finish last year at the state finals after a trying season. Still, they have returned with a vengeance and, at this point, seem to be one of two strong contenders to dethrone defending champion and top-ranked Carmel. Carroll has a great front three but questions still remain in terms of the squad’s depth. A resounding win in a big field here could answer those doubts.
#11 Lake Central
The Indians had the season Carroll was hoping for last year, rebounding from some early setbacks to finish second at the state finals. Like the Chargers, LC has a great frontrunning trio. However, the depth is even more suspect after that. Still, it will have been two full weeks since the Harrison Invitational, giving the Indians much time to develop a final scorer from its arsenal of young runners.
#12 Portage
The Indians surprisingly knocked off semistate rival Lake Central early in the season before falling to the other Indian team a week later. The potential return of frontrunner at Preseason All-Stater Terra Norman could certainly help Portage in its quest to be the northwest’s top team.
#15 Crown Point
The Bulldogs may be secretly the best team in the New Prairie Semistate. Times from a reportedly short course at the new Purdue Invitational certainly point to CP as the dominant team in the area, and the ‘Dogs will have a chance to prove that this Saturday against all the other teams ranked in the top six in the semistate.
#16 Valparaiso
Tabbed as the second best team in Indiana at the start of the season, the Vikings have yet to post any stellar results. Still, Valpo is hanging on to a ranking based on tradition alone, and conventional wisdom says we’ll see the Vikes in Terre Haute in October. This meet should be telling, though it is unknown if key runners missing from recent results will be in the line-up.
#21 Warsaw
The Tigers are led by freshman phenom Ashley Erba. Though in the New Haven Semistate, Warsaw will got a shot at Northridge, Penn, and Fort Wayne Concordia—all teams ranked ahead of them in the semistate rankings—which could be telling in terms of state meet dreams.
#25 Penn
The Lady Kingsmen have been a little missing in action for a while but were impressive in early meets. With some previously absent runners now back, Penn certainly has the potential to be among the top teams in the state.
INDIVIDUALS TO WATCH
‘A’ Race
Jordan Chester, Boone Grove (New Prairie Semistate #5)
Kate DeSimone, FW Canterbury (New Haven Semistate #10)
Ali Hochstetler, Bethany Christian
Hope Jordan, Bremen (New Haven Semistate #16)
Elaine Schmitz, Laville (New Haven Semistate #20)
‘AA’ Race
Cailey Daluga, West Lafayette (New Prairie Semistate #17)
Mary Davis, Indianapolis Chatard (Carmel Semistate #6)
Kaisa Goodman, West Lafayette (New Prairie Semistate #8)
Hannah Osborne, FW Concordia (New Have Semistate #11)
‘AAA’ Race
Autumn Beachy, DeKalb (New Haven Semistate #4)
Laura Bess, Harrison (New Prairie Semistate #3)
Cierstien Deardorf, FW Carroll (New Haven Semistate #3)
Christina Delturco, Portage (New Prairie Semistate #6)
Ashley Erba, Warsaw (New Haven Semistate #1)
Brianna Johnson, FW Carroll (New Haven Semistate #2)
Waverly Neer, Culver Academy (New Prairie Semistate #1)
Dana Payonk, Lake Central (New Prairie Semistate #2)
Katelyn Devries, Valparaiso (New Prairie Semistate #7)