Boys Cross Country D0MIN8 at Bob Schul Invite

The Tippecanoe boys cross country team proved that their #1 pre-season state ranking was not any kind of typo by D0MIN8ing (the team’s t-shirt motto with 08 standing for the year) the field at the Bob Schul Invitational on Saturday, August 23rd. They beat both Van Wert and Alter, who tied for 2nd place, by 60 points. Tipp’s “B” team finished 4th overall at the meet which included 17 teams. Tipp’s vigorous summer training was apparent as Tipp’s top 12 runners all ran personal course records at a course they run twice a year.
Tipp finished 8th at the state meet in 2006 and 5th at the state meet in 2007. They return their top 6 runners from last season, and the consensus goal of the team is to win the team title this year and knock off pre-season #2 ranked Peninsula Woodridge, the two time reigning champs. The boys’ team met 5 days a week in the summer and ran many more miles than the summer before.
Jason Salyer and Kevin Fink finished 1-2 in the race. Salyer ran 16:14 and Fink wasn’t too far behind in 16:22. Fink’s time was 1 minute and 50 seconds faster than his race last season, a true testament as to what a summers worth of hard work can do. He and Salyer ran almost every single mile this summer together, running 50-60 miles a week. Jason and Kevin separated themselves from the front pack after the first mile and gradually increased their lead. The Troy Regional 1600 meter champion Peter Hix of Oakwood finished 3rd in 16:39, and Jake Kasperski of Valley View finished 4th in 16:45. The tandem of Tyler Feitshans and Jason Bruns worked together and finished with the same time of 17:11 to finish 5th and 6th respectively for Tipp. Tipp’s #5 runner, Matt Zuzolo, crossed the line in 14th with a time of 18:42.
Tipp scored a total of 26 points and had a top 5 average time of 17:08, which would have beaten all the teams in both the D1 and D3 fields. The Bob Schul Invite was a great start to their season, but the team realizes they still have a lot of room to improve. Their 4th runner from last year, Andrew Wharton, is currently out for another two weeks due to an ankle injury which he suffered two weeks ago. The team will have to continue to perform at a high level to make up for his absence. Tipp’s next meet is at the Greenville Invite on August 30th.