Sectional 11 - West Noble
Teams: Angola, Central Noble, East Noble, Churubusco, DeKalb, Fremont, Eastside, Hamilton, Lakeland, Prairie Heights, West Noble, Westview
Girls: Last year it was the Tyler Schwartz show at this sectional, now the reigns have been passed to Kayla Mcculloch of East Noble. Mcculloch is the only girl to have gone sub-19 and actually she's close to sub-18 as well. The next closest girl is her own teammate, Olivia Smolinske. It may be in her best interest to just pace her teammate and dial it back a little this week to get ready for a tougher challenge at the regional next week. East Noble could also potentially rest her if they wanted, but the rest of the squad would have to be on their A-game to be sure they advance as a team to the regional.
On the team side of things host team, West Noble, has a pretty good 1-5 split of just about 60 seconds. They look like the team to beat, and East Noble has the potential to do that. East's down fall comes with their 4 and 5 runners, who look to place somewhere between 25th-30th place. If those two can find themselves finishing closer to their #3 runner, they may be able to pull of the upset. Westview, DeKalb and Angola all three look to have no issues advancing on the the regionals either.
Boys: Spencer Carpenter has been on fire this season and should easily be able to win it here. But just like Mcculloch in the girls race, Carpenter could potentially just hang with teammate Kent Yoder and conserve a little bit of energy and pace him to a sub-16 time.
The Westview boys look to take that team title once again, and having that 1-2 in Carpenter and Yoder really helps keep anyone else from being able to snag the win away from them. West Noble is the only team that could potentially challenge, but it doesn't look like they will be able to this year. East Noble, DeKalb and Angola will all three battle it out to see who takes what place as they all look to advance to next week's regional.
Sectional 12 - FW Northrop
Teams: Carroll (Fort Wayne), Columbia City, Fort Wayne Bishop Dwenger, Fort Wayne Blackhawk Christian, Fort Wayne Concordia Lutheran, Fort Wayne North Side, Fort Wayne Northrop, Fort Wayne Snider, Garrett, Homestead, Lakewood Park Christian, Leo, Whitko
Girls: This girls race is tough to call. Since we're still unsure of the status of Abby Green. Although Erin Strzelecki of Dwenger appears to be the one to beat, holding a season PR of 18:12. If Green is healthy and races Saturday, she could challenge her for the #2 spot, same goes for Meagan Hathaway.
With or without Green, Carroll still looks like the team that won't be beat. They are loaded up this year and hold just about a 60 second 1-5 split. Dwenger should easily be the #2 team, with that low stick in Strzelecki. Homestead, Concordia, Leo and possibly Columbia City will all look to grab one of the three remaining spots to the regional meet.
Boys: The man of the FW area, Reece Gibson, looks to be the guy to beat. And if anyone could do that, it looks like Jesse Hamlin of Snider could be the one. Both guys have PR's this season in the 15:30's and it could be anyone's race.
Snider and Concordia will battle it out for that individual title as well as the team title. Homestead shouldn't be to far behind with Carroll right there with them. Columbia City looks like they can steal that 5th advancing spot away as well.