The Warsaw Lady Tigers delivered a gritty performance at the New Haven Invite, hosted at Huntington University, finishing 3rd overall against a highly competitive field. Facing Indiana’s #2-ranked Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran and #4-ranked Homestead, the Tigers showed their depth and toughness, tallying 109 points and finishing a decisive 33 points ahead of 4th place Bishop Dwenger. The Lady Tigers toed the line at 12:45 PM under unusually hot and sunny conditions for late September. Despite the challenging environment, the Lady Tigers executed their race plan and placed impressively. Leading the charge was senior Sammi Rastrelli, who claimed 4th overall with a strong front-running effort. Freshman Dani Rastrelli proved her consistency with another top-10 finish, crossing the line 9th overall. Senior Eden Metz once again provided a steadying presence in the third scoring spot, finishing 23rd overall. Fellow senior Hannah Fisher ran tough to secure the Tigers’ 4th scoring spot in 34th place, while sophomore Katie Robertson stepped up as the team’s 5th scorer in 51st. Juniors and seniors filled in tightly behind, with Savannah Purdy (54th) and Abi Marsh (56th) closing out Warsaw’s top seven. Altogether, Warsaw placed 12 runners inside the top 100 of the 217-runner field, a testament to the team’s depth and resilience. Coach Zvers praised the effort, sharing: “Given the time of day on an uncommonly hot day, the girls were able to execute many of our team goals today. We wanted to close up the gaps between runners and test our abilities to finish in hard situations. I feel the girls did that today. It is not always about the time, sometimes it’s about where you place. We’ve been talking about placement more than times these last weeks—how many more can you catch in front of you. This is the goal.” The Lady Tigers proved they can contend with some of the state’s best, even in difficult racing conditions. They now turn their attention to the Northern Lakes Conference Championship at Ox Bow Park next Saturday, where they’ll look to carry this momentum into postseason racing.