WARSAW – Ink Free News’ picks for the top five individuals for the sporting 2015-16 season.

Mia Beckham

5. No Sophomore Slump – A sensational sophomore season as one of the distance aces in both cross country and track at WCHS lands Mia Beckham in this year’s Top five.

The stellar sophomore wrapped up her year by placing 11th in the 1,600 at the Track State Finals on June 3 with a personal best time of 5:05.59, which is the fastest time by a sophomore in school history in the event. She was also 20th in the 3,200 at the season’s final meet in a time of 11:24.34.

Beckham was second in both the 1,600 and 3,200 at the Kokomo Regional after winning both races in the Warsaw Sectional and also taking top honors in the pair at the Northern Lakes Conference Meet this Spring. Beckham helped her team win its 11 straight NLC Meet title, its 10th consecutive sectional crown and its fifth regional championship in a row.

Beckham began her outstanding year last fall as one of the top performers for the cross country team. She led the team to a 12th place finish at the State Finals as its top runner, notching a 20th overall finish in the race in a time of 18:32.3. Beckham placed 40th overall in the New Prairie Semistate field as the Tigers were fifth as a team and she was the individual champion of the Culver Academies Regional in a time of 18:53.5 as Warsaw won the team title there.

Audrey Rich

4. To The Spoils Go… – She isn’t the most noticeable performer on the Warsaw girls track team or even most outspoken. But senior Audrey Rich will graduate the program as one of the most decorated.

Rich finished up her outstanding career at Warsaw with three school records in hand, including the 200-meter dash (25.44), and a bevy of NLC, sectional and regional championships to her credit. In total in 2016, Rich won 10 tournament titles and established herself as one of the premier sprinters in the state of Indiana. Rich finished 15th in the IHSAA State Finals in the 100-meter dash at 12.52, less than three-tenths from securing a finals sprint. As the anchor of the 4×400 relay, Rich came home at 3:57.33, which set the standard at Warsaw and gave Warsaw an 11th-place run at the state finals.

Rich brought the 4×100 relay at seventh-place finish at state, and will long be remembered for her finish in the 4×400 relay at this year’s Kokomo Regional, where her championship sprint to the finish secured enough points for Warsaw to win its fifth-straight regional title.

Warsaw fans repping the M&M Boys

3. The M & M Boys – Kyle Mangas and Paul Marandet simply did it all for the Warsaw boys basketball team this year.

And did it all as well as anyone anywhere as one the state’s best backcourt tandems.

Junior guard Mangas, who was the IFN Player of the Year, averaged a team-high 19.4 points-per-game while leading the Tigers in 3-pointers (45) and steals (41). He also ranked second in assists, averaged almost four rebounds per game and shot 55 percent from the field and 79 percent from the free throw line.

Mangas, who was a selection as a Junior North All-Star, scored in double figures in 26 of 27 games and scored 20 or more points 15 times. His 523 points as a junior was the 13th highest single-season mark in program history and was he was just the 15th player to score 500 or more in a season for the Tigers. Mangas, who has 817 career points, hit four shots that won or tied games, including a 3-point play with 1.6 seconds left to give his team a 38-35 win over Elkhart Central in the sectional title game.

Marandet simply was the most improved player in the area in 2015-16. The tough 6-0 guard was second on the Tigers in scoring at 13 points-per-game, more than double his 5.6 average as a junior. The three-year starter also led Warsaw in assists (3.9) and free throw shooting (86 percent).

Marandet, who was a member of the IFN All-Area team after winning Player of the Year honors as a junior, also averaged 3.8 rebounds and 1.3 steals per game and shot 52 percent from the field. He was the top individual defender on a team that ranked second in the state in points per game allowed at just 39.5.

Marandet, who will play at Spring Arbor University, had his shining moment in a double overtime win over South Bend Riley in the semifinals of the Michigan City Regional. He scored a career-high 37 points in the win, including going 21-21 from the free throw line.

Anne Secrest

2. Secrest No Longer A Secret – In somewhat of a surprising move, Tippecanoe Valley’s Anne Secrest verbally committed to Youngstown State University before the start of her junior campaign. Kosciusko’s favorite Viking was going to be a Penguin. Penguins are much less intimidating, or so we thought.

Secrest followed up her successful sophomore season with another display of excellence on the court in 2015-16, and she did that with everyone watching her. She was no longer a secret, no longer just a sophomore playing out of her mind, she was legit. Secrest’s excellence mirrored Valley’s this past season, everyone looked for them to take a step back after a run to state the previous year. They didn’t, and she definitely didn’t.

The junior stud led her team to its second-consecutive Three Rivers Conference title as well as another 25-win season, tying a school record set the year before. She did this all with, of course, an incredible stat line.

Secrest played in all 27 games and averaged on a per game basis, 16.7 points, two assists, 8.2 rebounds, 2.3 steals and 1.8 blocks. She was a force to be reckoned with once again. She was our Girls Basketball Player of the Year for the second year in a row, once again named All-TRC first team and served as an Indiana Junior All-Star.

With everyone watching and wanting more from Secrest this past season, she answered the call without a moment’s hesitation and made her junior encore look easy. The bar will be raised for her once again as she enters her last year as a Viking and we cannot wait to see the final act.

Liz Van Wormer

1. The Queen Of Warsaw Soccer – You won’t find a more humble G.O.A.T. than Liz Van Wormer.

The diminutive soccer star from Warsaw got to play alongside the best, then eventually became the best. Playing as a freshman with then-All-Time scoring leader Meredith Hollar, Van Wormer got an up-close look at what it took to succeed at the high school level. As time wore on, eventually Van Wormer overtook Hollar as the gold standard for scoring at Warsaw.

Van Wormer leaves the Tiger program No. 1 in career goals at 70, career points at 170, points in a season with 68 – achieved this season – and is tied for first in assists in a season with 14 and goals in a single game with five. Van Wormer’s 27 goals in 2015 left her one shy of Hollar’s all-time mark of 28 goals in a season, and the 14 helpers her senior season tied Hannah Cutshall on the all-time sheet. Van Wormer’s 30 assists in her four years was one short of Ashley Kitchens’ all-time program mark.

The senior midfielder was named First-Team All-State among the many regional and area accolades.

Van Wormer, who not only was consistent, but insistent, at deflecting her accomplishments to that of her teammates, viewed assists as just as important to the totals. She also put her grief aside in a gut wrenching sectional loss to Culver Academy to console goalkeeper Chloe Snow after Culver converted the winning penalty. It was about team for Van Wormer, who helped Warsaw to a 51-14-5 record in her four years, a winner of three sectional titles.

“I’ve always looked at soccer as a team game, and really wanted my teammates involved in the game,” Van Wormer said last Thursday afternoon. “It’s a great honor to be named the Player of the Year. I am so honored to have that happen. But it says a lot about the coaches I’ve had, the teammates and even the teachers that I’ve been around. They are the ones who have helped me accomplish so much.”

Van Wormer noted the five goals she scored in the sectional win against Wawasee last October – where she broke Hollar’s all-time goals record – was her most memorable moment from the season.

The star midfielder will take her exploits to Grace College to join with the highly successful Lady Lancers’ program. One of which Hollar, and former Warsaw goalkeeper Abby Schue, are still a part of. Hollar, who will be a senior this upcoming season, will again be paired with a freshman Van Wormer on the offense.

It will be interesting to see how the top two scorers in Warsaw girls soccer history do as teammates once again just miles down the road. A road they have already traveled once before.