NEW CARLISLE -- It's been a season to remember for Lake Central girls cross country, with wins in every meet except one and a second-place finish in the other.
Coach Morgan Kleinaman sensed there was something special cooking back in the summer, and she planned accordingly when the temperatures were warm for some Nov. 2 plans.
"In years past, we'd try to peak at the regional, the old semistate, to get out to go to state," she said after Saturday's New Prairie Regional. "We have a chance to win, so we worked that into how we want to be peaking for state. We weren't peaking to get out. It was an adjustment for the veterans, a whole new ball game. I feel they truly believe in the training. They trust what we're doing. That plays into the season. It's been a phenomenal season."
Lake Central edged Penn, 76-80, for the regional title, buoyed by individual champion, sophomore Macey Thompson, freshman Lana Bruggeman (fifth) and Chloe Neal (sixth). Freshman Aubrey Neal finished 26th and Mackenzie Smith 38th.
"I figured it would be close, but I wasn't thinking it would be four points," Kleinaman said. "We knew Penn and Valpo were gunning for us. We talked a lot about that. I feel, coming off the sectional, the competition was completely different. We focused on different things. We knew there would be more people closer than what were used to the last few weeks. You have to be aware all the time. Every girl matters, it doesn't matter what jersey they have on, what number they are on the team. When it's only four points, that totally shows how important it is."
A podium finish seems like a good bet for the Indiana, it may just be a question of where.
"Our goal is top five," Kleinaman said. "We've been ranked in the top five pretty consistently all season. That's good goal. Anything can happen. Teams have gone into the state meet ranked 19th and medaled."
Portage's Madisyn Michels, Highland's Jolie Burleson and Morgan Township's Isabella Bryan race during the New Prairie Regional.
LC leads a trio of local teams to advance, joined by Valparaiso (third, 125) and Morgan Township (fourth, 175).
"Lake Central's a juggernaut this year," Vikings coach John Arredondo said. "We knew Penn was super good. We've gone back and forth with them. They ran awesome. Our goal was run the best we can and hope we get out. We thought maybe second, a solid third. We were right where we need to be. Some girls were down, they thought we should have done better. We get to come back and train next week. That's what it comes down to."
Whitney Anderson was fourth for Valpo, with Meredith Isley 25th, Ena Gilliana 27th, Eavan Daly 29th and Ani Gilliana 40th.
"It was not our best race," Arredondo said. "Ena (Gilliana) fell within the first 400 meters, Ani fell at like the two-and-a-half mile mark. We've been so fortunate to be so good lately, just to advance, it's like, oh, OK. We need to celebrate that. It's been 11, 12 years in a row. It's a big deal."
The state meet presents a wide range of possibilities for Valpo.
"High end, probably top 10 if we run well, 15, 18," Arredondo said. "We have a tradition of going down there and running well. I'm excited to see what Whitney can do. Macey and (runner-up) Jenna (Walker of Kankakee Valley) ran awesome. Whitney's running well. She's in the right mindset. I hope she can go down there and finish in the top 10. That's still the goal. We'll see what happens."
Morgan's finish marks the third straight state berth for the Class A Cherokees
"It never gets old," coach Joel Davis said. "It's still fun. It doesn't get old for the girls either. The girls coming up, the one freshman, they haven't experienced it. It's a feeling you can't describe. We (graduated) two. A school our size, that has a big impact. We don't really have a stud in the pack. We packed it into 30 to 45. They worked their tails off. A lot of them have been sick all season, so it was great to come back and have a good race. With a small school, only one has to be down and out. They work so hard to stay healthy. The bar was we were hoping we'd get back to state."
Isabella Bryan (18th), Shae Bucher (21st), Peyton Bucher (31st), Dana Abbring (41st) and Vanessa Parsons (70th) scored for Morgan, which ran just one senior.
"It's become a cool thing," Davis said of the sport's interest level at the school. "They want to be a part of something successful. They see the success, they want to join. There's also families, siblings, they see what the sister did. The ones who don't play basketball, I work with them all winter, high school and middle school. They're in sixth grade, they know what these girls have accomplished. The kids are excited to be a part of the high school program. They adjust to what we want to do, like, all right, this is normal."
Morgan's middle school teams, coached by Kellee Hitz and Mike Bailey, won state, so the Cherokees aren't going anywhere any time soon.
"We're hoping to keep going four, five, six years," Davis said.
As for state...
"Every year, we try to get better," he said. "19th, 18th, we'll see if we can touch 15th."
Lake Central's Macey Thompson won the New Prairie Regional, leading the Indians to the team title.
Walker, a freshman, leads local individual qualifiers, a list that includes La Porte's Faith Spain and Caitlyn Carnes, Illiana Christian's Ella Olthof, Hobart's Cassie Cohen, Crown Point's Sophia Brezden and Everly Pycraft, Portage's Madisyn Mikels, Chesterton's Jessica Martin, Highland's Jolie Burleson, and Munster's Elora Bliss.
La Porte's Caitlyn Carnes and Munster's Elora Bliss both qualified for state in Saturday's New Prairie Regional.
On the boys side, Valpo (third, 98), Lake Central (fourth, 163) and Portage (fifth, 170) earned team berths.
"We were fourth in the ratings, so I thought that's where we should finish." LC coach Jeff Rhody said. "We had to replace four guys (from last year). It helped we had our top three back. It would have been easy to say, oh, our teammates are gone, we're not going to be able to do it. Our four through seven really stepped up."
Ben Perschon was 10th for Lake Central. Kris Garner recovered from a slow start to take 23rd, with Evan Smith 33rd, Patrick Ryan 53rd and Dominic Negrete 62nd.
"(Garner) got caught and was a long way back, halfway," Rhody said. "He probably passed more people than anybody. He's a tough kid. He's a senior, it's just his second year running. He's done great things or us. I can't say enough about him. The big thing for us was our four, five ran well. That's where all the points are."
Rhody, a Portage grad, was happy for the red Indians and friend, coach Tom Erickson, who had a five-senior lineup qualify for state for the first time as a team. Portage, sixth last season and ninth in 2022, hadn't advanced since 2016.
"Too long," Erickson said. "They've worked their tails off for four years, it's really nice to see this moment, to see some things happen that they've been working for all year. The mantra we have, if they run well, it's on them; if they don't run well, it's on us. Every time you race, you have choices you can make, you can make positive choices or you can make negative choices. They made positive choices in those moments. I'm proud of 'em. The seniors have been great leaders in a number of ways, not just on the course."
Portage's Shane Conroy finished fifth in the New Prairie Regional, leading the Indians to their first state finals berth since 2016.
Shane Conroy, a medalist (sixth) last season, led Portage in fifth. Josh Bosstel (40th), Weston Stilwell (41st), Landon Miller (44th) and Aiden Farley (55th) packed up well to get the Indians through.
"Shane's goal all year was to not be running alone," Erickson said. "He's been saying every week, I want everybody with me. We really improved at closing gaps on other team' twos and threes. We knew if we did, great things were going to happen. It's the best we've run all year. It feels good to go on."
Valpo was four points behind Penn for second, with Northridge (76) winning the title. The Vikings rode the strong senior trio of Mason Nobles (seventh), Thomas Krueger (11th), and Sammy Sienkowski (13th). Otto Leake placed 32nd and Sam Carpenter, a fourth senior, 47th.
Liam Lilly of La Porte qualified for state by placing 16th in the New Prairie Regional.
Area individuals include Jalen Strietelmeier (Highland), Ryan Sandberg (Hanover Central), Daniel Frevert (Lowell), Liam Lilly (La Porte), Spencer Martin (Chesterton), Jacob Metzger (Crown Point) and Matthew Hoffman (Kankakee Valley).