Wawasee’s Luke Griner (497) qualified for the IHSAA Cross Country State Finals after his finish at Saturday’s New Haven Cross Country Semi-state. (Photos by Mike Deak)

FORT WAYNE – Luke Griner has developed a kick Lionel Messi could admire. While not a soccer star, Griner has used his unpatented burst of speed to send himself to the IHSAA State Finals in a second sport.

The run by Griner, which had him separate from upwards of a dozen runners in the final 500 meters of the New Haven Cross Country Semi-state to finish seventh, was the highlight of the local runners taking part in Saturday’s final step in qualifying for state. Griner’s Wawasee team would land in 12th with a dash of unlucky, while three individual girls saw their seasons come to an end.

Griner’s sprint through the final woods chute and into the straightaway to the finish line had him mirror a tactic he used to earn a podium finish last spring in track in the 800 meters, and also in winning a sectional title two weeks ago. At the sectional, Griner found another gear in the last 1,000 yards to make up ground on a pair of runners to take the title by a comfortable margin. Saturday at the Plex, the Warrior junior held his pace with the second immediate wave behind the leaders and kept it. Not losing his advantage at the 4,000-meter mark, Griner continued along at a quality pace and a personal best at 16:19, 12th place overall but seventh among non-team qualifiers. His push to the finish had him break free from a herd of runners in what were crucial finishes in that wave.

The top 10 individuals not on an advancing team (along with the top six teams) advance to the IHSAA State Finals next Saturday in Terre Haute.

“I raced how I planned and raced the fastest first kilometer I’ve ever ran,” Griner said. “I knew in order to go to state I had to hold onto my position. Once I got that first K out of the way, I just kept passing people and felt good.”

Behind Griner, Wawasee had a stroke of bad luck hit the team among the race. Spencer Hare, who was interchangeable with Griner for much of the season as the 1 and 1a for the Warriors, had a lingering medical issue flare up at the wrong time. Running through the course, Hare had his feet tangled up which triggered an IT band syndrome, which paralyzes the muscle running from his left hip down through the knee. With what amounts to a very bad cramp that doesn’t allow the muscles to flex, Hare was forced to ‘peg leg it’ as Wawasee head coach Chad Hoffert tried to illustrate. Hare, who had run in the mid to low 16s this year, did gut out the finish but came home at 19:16 and did not give Wawasee a high score it hoped to have.

“Spencer hasn’t been at full strength since conference,” Hoffert said, where Hare finished second. “Even then, he said he could feel it. Sectional, regional, he was bothered by it. He said he got tangled up with a runner at the 3K mark and stepped awkwardly, which twisted his knee and his leg locked up.”

NorthWood’s Kate Jarvis competes on the front half of the course.

The Wawasee packed tried to pick up the slack, but couldn’t make much end roads as its state hopes went down with the injury. Michael Hammer and Braxton Alexander both ran good races, Hammer home at 17:31 and Alexander two seconds behind. Thomas Conley came in at 18:02 and Jace Alexander was the fifth time at 18:10. Bennett Hoffert finished at 18:31. The Warriors would place 12th overall with 339 points, behind Northridge’s 10th-place 249 and Mt. Vernon Fortville’s 283 points. Concord (13, 344) and Goshen (16, 393) also saw their seasons end.

Qualifying boys teams were champion Westview (74), Fort Wayne Concordia (103), Fort Wayne Carroll (144), Penn (147), West Noble (176) and Pendleton Heights (179). Westview’s Matthew Yoder won the race at 15:38.

The appearance by Wawasee marked a return to the semi-state for the second time in as many years, the first time the program has done that since 2002 and 2003.

Wawasee had one girl racing, that being Kenzie Smith, who ran a decent race and moved up on several runners in her grouping, but succumbed to the course at 20:59 and 88th place.

“This was an encouraging environment, and all the people are just yelling and cheering everyone on,” Smith said of her experience. “You can’t tell who they are yelling at, it’s just loud noise. You just have to assume they are cheering for you. It’s an awesome thing.”

NorthWood had a duo also running the girls race, and Erica Stutsman nearly kept the state dream alive. In a mad dash to the finish, Stutsman found herself in a group of runners all desperate to secure the final couple state tickets. The time needed was from Pendleton Heights’ Christian Magers at 19:29.39, who edged out Randolph Southern’s Leah Keesling by six-tenths and Fort Wayne Bishop Luers’ Emily McManus by .15. Stutsman came home at 19:35 and 14th overall in the individual column and that close to a state spot.

“I really enjoyed it today,” Stutsman said, who was circled by over a dozen friends and family. “I don’t think I’d like to run in an environment like this every week. But this is one of those experiences where it’s semi-state and you have all these people here cheering. I felt like I gave it my all today and did my best. No complaints.”

Stutsman’s teammate, Kate Jarvis, saw her cross country career end with a 21:12, back in 105th place.

Defending state champion Tyler Schwartz of DeKalb was in fine form again, winning going away at 18:05, 16 full seconds faster than Norwell’s Sydney Lambert in a runner-up performance. Elkhart Memorial sophomore Morgan Dyer finished fifth among the individuals at 18:47 to secure a spot next week.

Qualifying girls teams were champion Fort Wayne Carroll (77), Penn (131), Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger (161), Fort Wayne Concordia (162), Homestead (175) and Northridge (183). Concord placed 15th at 367.