It was an early start Saturday as the Warsaw Tigers headed to the Flashrock Invitational at Northview Church in Carmel, Indiana. Despite a hectic week of meets, homecoming events, and warm temperatures, the Tigers performed well, finishing 9th out of 17 teams in the Boys Championship division. Senior Jackson Gackenheimer led the way with a 5th-place finish in 15:36, followed by Junior Nolan Stump (87th, 17:14), Junior Jaxon Lehman (88th, 17:15), Junior Jack Boggs (110th, 17:38), Freshman Spiros Christos (122nd, 17:48), Junior Alex Hoover (134th, 18:04), and Senior Sam Allebach (135th, 18:05). Personal records were set by Stump, Lehman, Boggs, and Sophomore Keenan Lyions. In the Junior Varsity race, the Tigers placed 9th out of 20 teams. Leading the way was Junior Caleb Poorman (19:28), followed by Sophomore Federico Presteguin (19:33), Freshman Rushabh Gorhe (19:54), Sophomore Owen Aukeman (19:59), Freshman Keaton Kuhn (20:03), Junior Moses Hackenberg (20:23), and Sophomore Collin Long (20:56). Personal records were achieved by Presteguin, Kuhn, Aukeman, Hudson Roler, Mitch Warner, and Josh Martin. Coach Matt Campbell acknowledged that it had been a week of longer days filled with extracurricular activities outside of normal practice time, combined with warmer weather. Between the weekday NLC meet, homecoming float decorating, the homecoming festivities themselves, and the early Saturday bus departure, most of the athletes were tired heading into the race. However, after reviewing the results, Campbell said the boys performed better than he had anticipated under the circumstances. “Gackenheimer was coming off a two-day college visit and met us at the course Saturday morning. He looked tired before the race, and I know he wanted to perform well but just didn’t have his usual pop. He’s a competitor who always wants to be up front and win. It’s crazy to say he ran 15:36 for a top-five finish and that we consider it an ‘off day.’ Finding a college can be stressful, so we just need to adjust things on our end to make sure he’s getting plenty of rest. That might mean an extra day off here and there or more easy days. He’s got a really nice two-week training block coming up leading into the NLC Championships.” Campbell highlighted big performances in the Varsity race. “Nolan Stump and Jaxon Lehman had huge days and are so close to that sub-17 mark they’ve been chasing. Jack Boggs was solid again — I know he can be right there with them. Freshman Spiros Christos is quietly surging in the right direction. He has at least 30 more seconds in him; he just needs to trust he can get out harder. Once he does, he’s going to surprise himself with a big step forward. Keenan Lyions is also trending positively with a new personal record and seems a race or two away from a big drop. Alex Hoover is doing a great job staying consistent, and like Spiros, he could have a significant time drop coming. Freshman Eli Swinehart hasn’t caught a break with injury and illness the last month, but we’re hopeful to get him back to running well. Freshman Vander Bie has been a nice surprise this season but had some calf pain that started on Thursday; we’ll get him cross-training and resting to see if he can bounce back.” Senior Sam Allebach has now put together back-to-back Top 7 races for the Tigers, which is encouraging to see and adds another contender into the postseason lineup. He noted that there are some tough decisions coming up for lineups, which we consider a good problem to have. Right now, the staff is looking for “home runs” — who is going to go for it and give the team the best chance to advance on. Campbell emphasized the team’s progress and outlined a key focus for the coming weeks. “These guys may not realize it, but they’re trending in a positive direction and gaining on teams ranked ahead of them. At the start of the season we were on the outside looking in for Sectionals, but now we’re absolutely in the mix. With Stump and Lehman taking big steps, I think we have four or five others who can be right with them as well. A lot of high schoolers don’t realize there isn’t a lot of movement after the first mile of a race. It’s so important to get out and put yourself in the right crowd early. If you can do that and compete with the pack you’re with, good things happen. Starting slow might let you pass a few people, but you’re unlikely to catch the pack you should’ve been with from the start. It’s a 5K, not a half marathon. Most high schoolers don’t have enough aerobic strength to pass 40 people in the last two miles. Early race positioning is something we’ll be working on over the next three weeks to get better at.” Complete Results Here: https://my.raceresult.com/355861/#0_5EA56F