New look at New Haven

Joseph Boggs has set a target of breaking the 17-minute mark.

He was less than two seconds away from that goal at the sectional meet. In order to earn a state berth, he will likely need to hit his target Saturday.

Boggs is one of three Jay County High School athletes who will compete Saturday in the regional meet hosted by New Haven at The Plex in Fort Wayne.

He’ll be joined by Caleb Garringer in the boys race, with Alexis Sibray competing in the girls race, in a meet that will need a bit of a different approach compared to last season as the IHSAA has revamped the cross country tournament series.

“It’s kind of unknown,” said JCHS coach Bruce Wood. “The next step, it gets pretty mixed up with some large teams out of Fort Wayne.”

Previously, two sectionals would merge into a regional, with the top five teams and top 10 individuals not on advancing teams moving on to the semi-state. (Both Boggs and Sibray were regional qualifiers as freshmen in 2022.)

Now, five sectionals will merge into the regional at The Plex, creating a field of 25 teams and an additional 75 individuals. The top five teams and top 15 individuals not on advancing teams will earn state berths. (The semi-state level has been eliminated.)

The girls group includes second-ranked Homestead, No. 3 Concordia, No. 9 Carroll, No. 18 Warsaw and No. 20 East Noble. The boys field features No. 14 Concordia and No. 16 Warsaw.

Boggs is coming off of a freshman season in which he finished 38th in the regional and 11th among runners on non-qualifying teams, one spot short of a semi-state berth. (His time was 17 minutes, 40 seconds, leaving him seven seconds behind final semi-state qualifier Gabe Reynolds of Muncie Central.)

“Last year I was one spot away from making it to semi-state,” said Boggs while acknowledging the more difficult path the new tournament series brings. “My goal is to get under 17 (minutes). … That would be an obviously goal. … Other than that, it’s kind of just to really run how I did (at sectional), just stay fresh.”

Based on sectional times, Boggs is seeded 40th for Saturday’s expanded regional race with a state berth on the line. His sectional time of 17:01.8 leaves him just outside of the top 15 among the runners from teams not expected to qualify for state.

So, achieving his goal would also put a trip to state potentially within reach.

“If Joseph gets down in the 16s, maybe he has a crack at it,” said Wood. “He’s not that far off. … Maybe if we have nice weather and a nice course … it’s something he can go and compete for a spot. …

“Sometimes in those races, you just have to go lay it out. You’re not gonna feel good. If you want to reach this goal, you’re going to have to work through some pain. Let it all out. … Put it out there, try to accomplish it and whatever happens, happens.”

The odds of a state berth are much longer for Sibray and Garringer.

It is projected to take about a 19:50 to move on in the girls race, based on sectional times. Sibray finished her sectional race in 21:20.5 and is seeded 87th for the regional.

Garringer, a freshman, was 25th in the sectional at 17:48.2. He is seeded 114th for the regional and would need to cut about 50 seconds to have a chance to advance.

In the case of all three runners, Wood noted the need to adjust race strategy and mentally prepare for the much larger field of runners. (There were about 100 competitors in each sectional race. The regional races will feature about 250.)

“It’s just going to be really crowded,” the coach said. “If you try to go out with the lead of that race, you’re going to burn out. So you have to be really smart at the beginning of that race. That’s probably the biggest issue for us going into that race.”