Our look at the top 10 teams in the area actually mixes in two teams cut of the same cloth. The Wawasee boys and girls cross country teams had a historical season, checking in together at No. 10 while their classmates on the softball team had a season for the books, taking our No. 6 slot.

Wawasee Cross Country

10. Combined Team Effort – There were many individual and team milestones for both the Wawasee boys and girls cross country teams this past season. Former runner Doug Slabaugh took over the reigns as head coach in the fall and was able to see both programs experience some very memorable moments.

In September, Wawasee did a double dip at the Marion Invitational as both teams took home first-place bragging rights. Both teams placed all of their runners in the top 25 in each race while senior Adam Doll was medalist for the boys with a time of 16:03. All five of Wawasee’s boys were in the top 10 at Marion.

The success continued in October when both teams found success in the sectional and regional meets to ultimately make it to the semi-state together for the first time since 1982. Wawasee, however, did not have either team qualify for the state finals, and experienced a little extra heartbreak at IPFW when runner Zach Cockrill missed out on the individual state by one place, outrun in the final 50 meters by Kris Wickens of Bremen by one second.

Yes, the boys and girls cross country teams shared an exciting season together all built around celebrating assistant coach Dave Stookey’s 50th year as a coach for Wawasee. The school renamed the cross country course in his honor to put the cherry on top of a very successful year.

Warsaw Swimming

9. Tigers Talking Titles – Stop the presses. Warsaw won another swimming sectional title!

Winning the 15th title in program history, and seventh in a row, Warsaw continued to assert itself in its home pool by destroying the field in February’s Warsaw Boys Swimming Sectional. The Tigers won nine of the 12 events and adjusted four records during the meet. Jayden Parrett was on fire, breaking the backstroke school record and helping two relays to meet records. Spencer Davidson led a Warsaw sweep of the breaststroke while Ethan Cook won a pair of freestyle swims.

Parrett and Davidson both swam consoles at the IHSAA state finals, with Parrett taking tenth in the backstroke and Davidson 14th in the breaststroke, improving on their sophomore numbers.

Warsaw as a whole on the boys side were 6-1 in the Northern Lakes Conference and return a good portion of its scoring core next winter.

The girls also had a good run, culminating with its first sectional title in three years after holding off Culver Academy, 352-345, in the Warsaw Girls Swimming Sectional. The title was the seventh overall for Warsaw, which saw the Lady Tigers win six of the 12 events. Warsaw had freshman Brenna Morgan win the 50 and 100, to which she also won at the NLC meet earlier in the season. Morgan would cap her spectacular season with a consolation win in the 100 at the state finals.

Ashley Van Wormer concluded her outstanding career as a breaststroker with a fourth sectional title and concluded her state finals with a 24th place spot on the list after her final swim Friday evening at the two-day event.

Warsaw will have some ground to make up in the conference, given the depth of Wawasee, Northridge and Concord as well as the graduation of key swimmers Van Wormer, Cynthia Juarez and Emily Thompson. But with Morgan as a cornerstone and several talented swimmers like Charlene Orr and Erin Sandberg in tow, coach Nate Long’s girls should be in the hunt yet again.

Warsaw Girls Cross Country

8. Youth Movement – It was a season for a lot of young ladies to shine for the Warsaw girls cross country team last fall.

The Lady Tigers made a third straight trip to the State Finals, earning a 21st place team finish. The lineup for coach Scott Erba’s squad that day in Terre Haute included five underclassmen among the seven competitors.

Warsaw’s top four finishers at the State Finals were underclassmen, led by standout freshman Allison Miller. The second through fourth individuals for the Tigers were the sophomore trio of Brooke Rhodes, Hannah Dawson and Emma Hayward.

Warsaw also got great senior seasons from the duo of Madeline Hooks and Aletheia Burritt.

The Lady Tigers won both sectional and regional championships before earning a spot at State by placing fourth in the semi state.

The future looks bright with so many still young, but now very experienced, runners set to return this coming fall.

Warsaw Boys Soccer

7. The Tradition Continues – A deep run in the postseason is nothing new for the Warsaw boys soccer team.

The amazing thing last fall was how the Tigers got there.

Warsaw erased a three-goal deficit in a sectional semifinal to continue their tradition of postseason excellence. The Tigers trailed Culver Academies 3-0 on their home pitch before scoring an incredible four goals in the game’s final 22 minutes for a stunning win.

Coach Scott Bauer’s team, which was the Class 2-A state runner-up in 2012, then went on to win another sectional title before claiming its sixth straight regional championship.

The Tigers, which lost nine seniors from the state runner-up team including the top two scorers and the star goalie, beat South Bend St. Joseph 2-1 (5-4 PK) in the semifinals and conference rival Northridge 1-0 in the title match to win the Mishawaka Regional crown. Junior goalie Peyton Long made an incredible diving stop in the PK shootout versus the Indians to secure the thrilling win.

Warsaw closed out its season with a hard-fought 1-0 loss to Crown Point in the semifinals of the Warsaw Semi-state. Crown Point went on to win its second Class 2-A state championship in the last three years one week later.

The Tigers finished with a mark of 14-3-5 and started five seniors in Zack Tucker, Matt Williams, Miguel Rivera, Alex Climaco and Stephen Kolbe.

Junior Tito Cuellar was the postseason hero for Warsaw. The talented Cuellar netted seven goals in the state tournament series, including the winner in the regional title game win over Northridge.

Wawasee Softball

6. They Have Big Plans – It wasn’t always easy for Wawasee softball, a team that lost its final three games of the regular season. But that all changed as the state tournament began. And a little out-of-the-box thinking by head coach Jared Knipper may have helped the team’s “big plans.”

Before the sectional Knipper, a kindergarten teacher, read his team Bob Shea’s children’s book, “Big Plans.” The book shows what it might be like to make it big in the world through the eyes of a child. The team adopted the book as its own and used it to fuel a fantastic run to the program’s fifth sectional title. Even Shea found out about the phenomenon and sent out a tweet to the team wishing them luck in the state tournament.

Wawasee disposed of Tippecanoe Valley in the sectional opener then used several bits of magic to eliminate defending champion Fairfield in the semis, only the second time ever Wawasee had beaten Fairfield. Wawasee then shut out Lakeland, 8-0, in the sectional championship.

That run led to Wawasee hosting its first-ever regional game against Leo in front of a crowd of more than 600 fans. Leo got the best of the Lady Warriors, winning 3-2, thus ending the storybook season. In the world of “at least,” Leo won the Class 3-A state championship this past weekend.
Wawasee loses just one senior and will have the benefit of adding talent from a junior varsity squad that went 25-0 this past season. The plans are now known for Wawasee and they are definitely big.

Honorable Mention – On the state’s biggest track stage at the IHSAA State Finals, Warsaw’s Unified Track Team put on a show it may never forget in winning the first unified state title June 7 in Bloomington. While many athletes are blessed with unbelievable talent and take many abilities for granted, these athletes – not just from Warsaw but all of the teams – performed quite admirably. Congrats to the team from Warsaw on a well-deserved state championship!