ELKHART – The consensus from talking with NorthWood coach Mark Mikel and Wawasee coach Doug Slabaugh Saturday was a modified form of survive and advance. Both programs were resigned that neither would win the title without an otherworldly effort, and with neither program getting that, both would be happy to take the top-five tickets and move onto the regional round of the cross country state tournament.

The Panthers were third with 86 points, trailing Northridge’s title run of 51 points and Concord’s runner-up 70 points. Elkhart Central was fourth at 127 and Wawasee slipped into the fifth spot at 135, just barely hedging Elkhart Memorial’s 139, that fifth spot the final regional ticket.

The more intriguing of the two performances came from Wawasee, where Slabaugh knew coming in that both Elkhart schools, NorthWood and the Lady Warriors were all bunched into about the same point potential. As NorthWood pulled away, the Elkhart schools and Wawasee were fighting for the final two spots. Among the reasons Slabaugh pointed to his team’s survival mode came from two bullet points.

Caitlin Wortinger had the biggest race of her career Saturday at the Elkhart Central Cross Country Sectional, running with the second wave of runners and staying there to complete her day in 17th place at 21:43. Wortinger, who has been a solid No. 2 for Wawasee for much of the season, really hit her stride keeping with a group that included NorthWood’s Kate Jarvis and Jen Martinez. Also of importance for Wawasee was the gutty performance of Aubrey Kuhn, who spent much of the morning ill – including a spell at the start line just before the starting gun. Not the eyepopping result in 30th at 22:42, but the visibly pale but determined senior scored key points for the cause.

“Caitlin Wortinger saved the meet for us,” proclaimed Slabaugh. “She was seeded 23rd and finished 17th and that really helped close the gap. Aubrey Kuhn, they are getting the race started and she’s behind everyone (sick), and as the race went on she was moving up. That was a testament of Aub’s will.

“For us, every person is critical because we don’t have that ace at the front who can win a race,” continued Slabaugh. “Every position matters. If our four or five doesn’t have a good race, we could be in trouble if Kenzie (Smith) doesn’t hang near the front.”

Wawasee’s leader was Smith, who did manage to keep up with the second wave of runners and placed 12th at 21:21. Autumn Turner (32, 22:52) and Ella Beezley (44, 23:53) made up the Wawasee scorers.

NorthWood had its ace again lurking near the front in Erica Stutsman, who couldn’t keep pace with front of the group, but was just into their shadows. Stutsman came through in the second wave in seventh at 20:49, outrunning Northridge’s Keeton LeBaron by three seconds. Jarvis was 13th for the Panthers at 21:33, holding off Goshen’s Yadira Sanchez by two steps and Martinez was a key finish in 16th at 21:41. Whitney Wolfe didn’t have her best run, but still was 23rd at 22:14 and Hannah Brubaker came in at 22:30 for 27th overall.

“All season we have talked about being patient in the first half of the race so we could make some moves in the back half of the race,” Mikel said. “If anything, we might have went out a little too hard today. When I look at the times and the positions, I’m pleased with where we were. We just want to finish strong, and we are at that point of the season where we have to. Watching the girls chase down others near the finish is a great thing for us.”

Elkhart Memorial’s Morgan Dyer carved out her name in sectional lore with a title at 19:14, running nearly unopposed for most of the course. Northridge’s Jenna Miller was within shouting distance for portions of the course, but Dyer was fantastic in maintaining her pace throughout. Miller was the runner-up at 19:40.