Tipp XC Places 2nd at Greenville Treaty Invitational

The #1 state ranked Tippecanoe boys’ cross country team ran fairly well against a competitive field at the Greenville Treaty Invitational on Saturday, September 30th. They finished 2nd overall in a field consisting of 24 D1 and D2 schools, losing to Cincinnati Lasalle 69-104, but edging out local rival Vandalia Butler by 4 points. Tipp’s recent history suggested that they might not do very well at the meet. They finished 19th in 2005, and 9th in both 2006 and 2007. Their 2nd place finish is a little surprising considering that this is their 3rd meet in a 7 day span.
Tipp’s Jason Salyer and Kevin Fink ran with the lead pack of six runners for the first two and a quarter miles. Travis Hawes of Lasalle and Danny Neff of Butler then put in a serge and got out to a 20 meter lead. The pack of 6 broke into three separate groups, with Salyer chasing the front two. Jason put in a late surge in the final 300 meters to close the gap, but he ended up finishing 3rd with a time of 16:08, less than 2 seconds off the winning time. Kevin finished 5th with a time of 16:32, 2 minutes and 9 seconds faster than his race last year and only one second off of Butler’s Doug Norris. Tipp’s Jason Bruns broke the 17 minute mark by posting a 16:57 for 11th place.
Tipp’s top three runners scored only 19 points to Lasalle’s 24, but their #4 runner, Tyler Fietshans didn’t have his best race, and their #4 runner from last year, Andrew Wharton, has been sidelined the last two weeks due to an ankle injury. Tyler felt dehydrated during the race and finished with a time of 17:54, 43 seconds slower than his Bob Schul time from a week before. Knowing Tyler, he’ll learn from his preparation mistakes and bounce back next week at Tiffin.
Tipp’s Luke Zerkle stepped up to his coach’s challenge of breaking 18 minutes for the team and came extremely close, running an 18:05, 1 minute and 21 seconds faster than last year. Salyer agreed to Luke’s proposal that if he broke 18 minutes then Jason would shave his head. That opportunity will have to wait another week. With Luke being so close to the 18 minute mark, Salyer will now only agree on shaving his head if both Luke and Matt Zuzolo break 18 next week at Tiffin. Matt finished 6th for the team with a time of 18:15, 23 seconds faster than last year. Tipp’s #7 runner Zach Wertz also ran a strong race, finishing in a time of 18:32.
Tipp realizes that its quest for a state title this year greatly depends on the performance of their 5th runner. They are content, but not satisfied by their performances at Greenville and are very motivated to improve on their times at the Tiffin Carnival, the largest cross country meet in the state of Ohio. Tipp has finished 2nd there the last two years and are determined not only to win it, but to make a statement and obliterate the field.