West Lafayette girls dominate semistate meet once again

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It wasn’t so much a question of whether the West Lafayette girls would defend their title at the New Prairie semistate meet. It was just a question of how easily the Red Devils would win.

Paced by a second-place finish from Bobbie Burgess, West Lafayette put six girls in the top 14 and finished with 38 points, easily outdistancing runner-up Eastern (93) and earning its expected place in next weekend’s state championship meet in Terre Haute.

The Red Devil boys will also be advancing after putting up 207 points for a fifth-place finish, narrowly keeping themselves alive. With the top six teams advancing, Lowell (209) edged Munster (210) and Crown Point (211) for the last spot.

McCutcheon’s boys moved on a bit more safely, taking third place with 189 points.

“I thought we could come in anywhere from third to 12th,” West Lafayette coach Steve Lewark said. “... so we were happy to (come in fifth).”

Burgess ran the 5-kilometer course in 17:38 but was no match for Warsaw’s Ashley Erba, whose 17:06.9 briefly held the Indiana girls’ state record before Mishawaka sophomore Anna Rohrer ran a 17:03.96 at the New Haven meet.

Grace Lachmund was the next Red Devil across the line in seventh place, finishing in 18:59.2. Lauren Johnson (8th, 19:05), Kristen Johnson (10th, 19:08.3) and Cailey Daluga (11th, 19:11.3) rounded out the team scoring, and Delaney Barber followed close behind in 14th (19:18.9).

The dominating effort only served to heighten West Lafayette’s desire to bring home the ultimate prize.

“We’re all going to bring it next Saturday, bring the best we’ve got,” Lachmund said. “It’s going to be a really exciting meet. ... I’m just excited for everything to play out.”

Twin Lakes freshman Madeline Lilly earned an individual berth in the state meet, running the course in 18:51.1 to finish in fifth place. The Indians took 17th as a team with 396 points, behind Harrison (12th, 319) but ahead of Seeger (18th, 407) and Frankfort (20th, 572).

On the boys’ side, the Mavericks punched their ticket to the state meet thanks largely to a solid effort from their No. 4 and 5 runners, Spencer Storms (17:15.1) and Justin Berryman (17:23.3). Berryman’s time broke a third-place team tie with Hobart.

“I really think that was what did it for us today,” McCutcheon coach Larry Boener said of the runs by Storms and Berryman.

Jacob Wickes (15th in 16:24.9) and Mason McKinney (21st, 16:34.8) paced the Mavs, with Jacob Wethington contributing a 42nd-place finish.

West Lafayette’s Cooper Williams was the top individual finisher for the boys, leading the Red Devils with an 11th-place effort (16:18.8). Jake Cohen (25th) and Dominic Patacsil (32nd) added solid performances.

Lafayette Jeff was 17th, Frankfort 18th, Twin Lakes 19th and Carroll 20th.