Published: August 20, 2008 11:02 am         

GHS runners seeking state finals appearance

A trip to last year’s semistate has left the Goshen High School girls cross country seeking even more success during the 2008 season.

Five letterwinners are back for the Redskins from a squad which placed sixth in the New Haven semistate and just missed out on a berth in the state tournament.

“The girls would like to qualify for state,” sixth-year coach Benjamin Hurst said. “They would also like to win the Northern Lakes Conference. But that is not going to be easy. I think the only schools their No. 1 runners from last year were us and Northridge.”

Rachel Hollinger-Janzen was Goshen’s No. 1 runner last season. She finished third in the sectional (19:35 for 5,000 meters).

Hollinger-Janzen will be running at Eastern Michigan University this fall.

“It’s tough losing your No. 1,” Hurst said. “I’m not sure we have anyone who can step up to that level right away.”

Goshen finished with a 9-1 record (6-1 NLC) a year ago. The Redskins were second in the team standings at sectional and third at regional.

Goshen has the non-scored Goshen Invitational on Thursday at Shanklin Park and the Elkhart Christian Academy Hokem Karem on Saturday. Goshen’s first official meet is next Tuesday at Fairfield.

Also lost to graduation were Brandy Schmucker, Caitlin Short and Kaylee Venosky.

Returnees are seniors Karla Folker, Laura Gladfelter and Laura Sorg; junior Jillian Zimmerman; and sophomore Desiree Maran.

Zimmerman placed 31st in the New Haven semistate (15:55), Folker 48th (16:15), Sorg 68th (16:33) and Gladfelter 92nd (16:56).

“One thing we might have this season is a bit stronger pack,” Hurst said. “The girls are closer together when it comes to times.”

Last season was the first with the girls running 5,000 meters. In prior years, they had competed at 3,000.

“We have a year of 5,000 meters under our belt, which should gives us more confidence,” Hurst said. “The change in distance was less of a problem than I expected.”

Others on the roster are senior Tiffany Higdon; juniors Jenica Corbett and Jennifer Good; sophomores Meghan Neff and Morgan Picking; freshmen Juni Schirch, Janessa Katzer, Sylvia Zepeda, Addie Picking and Stephanie Garcia.



GHS schedule

Aug. 21 — Goshen Invitational

Aug. 23 — ECA Hokem Karem

Aug. 26 — Fairfield T

Aug. 30 — Penn Hokem Karem

Aug. 30 — DeKalb Classic

Sept. 9 — Warsaw T

Sept. 11 — Bremen/Glenn H

Sept. 16 — NorthWood/Plymouth H

Sept. 20 — West Noble Invite

Sept. 23 — Concord/Memorial CHS

Sept. 27 — New Have Classic

Sept. 30 — Northridge/Wawasee NTR

Oct. 4 — NLC at Ox Bow

Oct. 14 — Sectional at Ox Bow

Oct. 18 — Regional at Ox Bow

Oct. 25 — Semistate at IPFW

Nov. 1 — State at Terre Haute