Wheeler’s future arrives
Two freshmen boost Bearcats, who set sights on qualifying for state meet for first time
While watching a pair of eighth graders run at a middle school meet last fall, Wheeler’s Emma Hellwege had a thought. The Bearcats could go to state. “It’s obviously a little bit different in middle school because they don’t run a 5K,” Hellwege said. “But you could see how well they were progressing.”
Those two middle schoolers — Lucca Okeley and Elise Byers — are now freshmen and Hellwege’s teammates on a Wheeler team looking to be the program’s first to qualify for the state meet.
Wheeler’s boys team qualified for state in 1998, but the girls team has not accomplished that feat.
The Bearcats continued progressing toward that goal at the New Prairie Invitational on Saturday, winning the Class 2A race with a score of 55, well ahead of runner-up Winamac’s 133.
Hellwege, a junior, led Wheeler by finishing third in 19 minutes, 48 seconds. Okeley followed in seventh in 20:32.2, with Byers right behind her at 20:32.8. Sophomore Emily Enright placed ninth in 20:33, and senior Sarah Gerbick rounded out the Bearcats’ top five in 21:51.
New restrictions for the invitational prevented Wheeler from moving up to race against bigger schools as it’s done in previous years. But the Bearcats won their class without their top runner, senior Hailey Orosz, who was resting a lower-back injury. When Orosz has been in the lineup, Wheeler has competed against larger schools, including a runner-up finish in the top division at Lowell’s Bob Thomas Invitational on Sept. 12.
Positive results in consecutive weeks have Hellwege and the rest of the Bearcats optimistic about their postseason aspirations.
“I’m really excited,” Hellwege said. “Chesterton was the only team that beat us, and there were only a few points between us. We’ll be OK if we keep going at the rate we’re going now.”
In the Class 4A race on Saturday, Valparaiso junior Kaylie Politza made her season debut after transferring from Lemont, Illinois, over the summer. Politza finished fifth in the 3-mile course in 17:22 at the Class 2A state meet in Illinois last season but said she hadn’t raced since March after the coronavirus pandemic canceled the spring track season.
Politza was the runner-up behind Chesterton junior Bailey Ranta, who finished in 18:39.
Politza, who finished in 19:02, said she was cautious in the race’s early stages because she was unsure of her fitness level after a long layoff.
“I took the race out a little bit too slow,” Politza said. “I didn’t run the time I know I wanted to. But I know I could’ve run faster, so I know I’m in better shape than I was expecting. I’m really excited for my next race.”
Measuring stick: Highland senior Lucas Guerra faced his strongest test of the season in the Class 3A race on Saturday. He was second in 15:53 to Angola junior Izaiah Steury, who finished in 15:08.
Highland coach Rob Lukowski wasn’t worried about that result, however, with his team currently handling its most grueling workouts of the season.
“He’s running 70 miles per week and doing high-volume workouts every other day,” Lukowski said of Guerra. “The goal isn’t to be the fastest that you can be in mid-September.”
Local focus: Region runners were well represented all over Saturday’s race.
Lowell junior Karina James won the 3A girls race in 18:09, and South Central senior Adelaide Young Brust won the 1A girls race in 20:08.
LaPorte junior Cole Raymond was the runner-up in 16:00 in the 4A boys race, and Morgan Township junior Owen Thomas finished first in 16:38 in the 2A boys race.
Chesterton won the team title in the 4A boys race, while Morgan Township won both team titles in the 1A races.