Cross country notes: Lowell junior Karina James answers critics with another win at semistate

Lowell junior Karina James hasn’t needed any extra motivation this season. She’s won every race.

But when she stumbled across internet comments that questioned her ability, James had all she needed for an extra edge at the New Prairie Semistate on Saturday.

“It just meant that I had a target on my back and an expectation to meet,” James said. “So I went out and executed the plan to the best of my ability.”

She finished 28 seconds ahead of the field with a first-place time of 18 minutes, 8.4 seconds, winning her second consecutive semistate title.

James said online banter is a side of the sport she typically avoids.

“I never want to be the girl that everyone is wishing would lose,” James said. “I want to be a positive runner, one who shows gratefulness for her teammates before herself, because I wouldn’t even be here without my team.”

But coach Scott Coil said it doesn’t hurt to find an extra spark this late in the postseason.

“She’s not one to get caught up in what everyone else is saying,” Coil said. “But when someone is running like she is, anything you can pull out to make the fire burn a little bit hotter always helps.”

Highland senior Lucas Guerra, a Georgetown commit, also repeated as New Prairie Semistate champion with a first-place time of 15:31 — a new personal record by four seconds.

Minutes after that win, though, Guerra — the 2019 state runner-up — already was looking toward the state meet.

“I’m ready to get out there,” he said. “The job isn’t finished. Everything has been building up to next week.”

Guerra was largely on his own at semistate but knows that won’t be the case at the state meet.

“There won’t be someone taking it out from the start and winning it,” he said. “It’ll come down to who has more at the end. I’ll lay it all on the line and hope the results are in my favor.”

Chesterton swept the team titles at New Prairie, the third straight week that both its boys and girls teams finished first.

Chesterton’s boys team — led by senior Matthew Streeter, who finished fourth — will head to the state meet for the second straight season. Chesterton’s girls team was one spot shy of qualifying in 2019, which weighed heavily on junior Bree Gentry.

“I didn’t place where I wanted to at that meet, and it made me feel like I didn’t do enough for my team,” Gentry said. “It pushed me to do better this year. I didn’t want to have that feeling ever again.”

Her mood was much different this time. Teammate Bailey Ranta finished second behind James, and Gentry placed 20th.

“It’s just disbelief,” Gentry said. “It’s crazy. Going from seventh last year to first this year — it doesn’t feel real.”

Wheeler history: The look on Wheeler senior Hailey Orosz’s face said she still couldn’t believe it.

“I’m still kind of shocked,” she said. “I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

Junior Emma Hellwege wore a similar expression.

“I saw some parents running and screaming,” Hellwege said. “And I thought, ‘It happened. We’re actually making it.’ ”

Wheeler’s girls team finished sixth in the team standings, qualifying for the state meet for the first time in school history. Joining Chesterton and Wheeler at the state meet will be runner-up Valparaiso and third-place Lake Central.

In the boys race, Crown Point was third, Lake Central was fourth and Munster was sixth to advance to state with Chesterton.

Illiana Christian’s Justin Van Prooyen runs in the New Prairie Invitational on Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020. Van Prooyen finished 14th at the New Prairie Semistate on Saturday and qualified for the state meet. (Michael Gard / Post-Tribune)

One shoe at a time: Near the midpoint of the race, Griffith senior Jonathan Baxter knew something was wrong.

“Someone stepped on me,” Baxter said. “I didn’t figure out who it was, but I felt my shoe sliding off. Then I went down a hill and felt it come off. I knew it was going to be a tough race.”

Even without his right shoe, Baxter navigated the soggy course to finish 17th in 16:34 and qualify for the state meet as an individual. Joining Baxter will be LaPorte junior Cole Raymond, Lowell junior Jackson Bakker, Merrillville junior Zach Dunn and Illiana Christian senior Justin Van Prooyen.

In the girls race, individual state qualifiers include LaPorte senior Ella Bensz, Portage senior Morgan McCulloch and Crown Point senior Jaelyn Burgos.

Dave Melton is a freelance reporter for the Post-Tribune.