Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, October 15, 2006

MARION — As if Matt Ullmer hadn’t done enough in Saturday morning’s Marion Cross Country Regional, the Northwestern senior was already planning to put in a little overtime.

Ullmer finished fifth overall in the boys race to qualify for a return trip to the New Haven Semistate on Saturday. But because the semistate race — usually held at Indiana University-Purdue University Fort Wayne — will be held on a new course near the campus, he had plans for the rest of the day.

It’s all part of Ullmer’s ultimate goal, a berth in the IHSAA State Finals on Oct. 28 in Terre Haute.

“That’s my goal,” Ullmer said of the state meet. “Hopefully I’ll get my personal-best next week. That’s what I’m hoping for.

“It’s actually a new course, so I haven’t run on it yet. I’m going up [later on Saturday] and run that course after [the regional race].”

Ullmer completed the Indiana Wesleyan University course in 16 minutes, 26.82 seconds, 14 seconds behind winner Matt McClain (16:12.67) of Oak Hill and four seconds off his personal-best. Ullmer ran with the lead pack that included McClain and Golden Eagles teammate Cameron Balser (3rd), Columbia City’s Harrison Fausey (2nd) and Kokomo’s Ryan Perry, who was fourth in 16:21.62.

“Matt knew what he had to do and he did it,” said Tigers coach Dave Stevens. “The course will change [at semistate] but the players won’t, and you know the players. Matt just has to run with them, and he knows who he has to beat to get to where he wants to be.”

Huntington North (49) won the team race by putting five runners in the top 15 overall. Fort Wayne Carroll (70) was second and the Wildkats were third with 86.

“Ryan wished me luck right before the race,” said Ullmer. “He said we both better do our best [Saturday]. He’s a good friend.”

Perry, also a senior, redeemed himself from a disappointing eighth-place result in Tuesday’s Marion Sectional. He credited coach Ricke Stucker for always having Kokomo well-prepared.

“I definitely had something [Saturday],” Perry said. “Coach [Stucker] always does the right thing every year. I knew he would get my legs back.”

Perry said he found the pace too slow in the early going, which prompted him to take the lead around the 1,600-meter mark.

“[Everyone else] kept slowing down,” he said. “They wanted to draft and I didn’t want to run that slow because they would have had the advantage. I did what felt comfortable for me.

“We got focused this week. We were a little scared [after Tuesday’s performance]. Coach wasn’t happy with us and we weren’t happy with ourselves, so we decided we were going to what we could to make it out [of regional].”

Stucker said Saturday’s race was the first time this season Perry had beaten Ullmer head-to-head.

“[Ryan] scared me to death when he was leading because I just don’t like for Kokomo to lead until the end,” said Stucker, who has the Kats back to the semistate for the second year in a row. “But I looked at my watch and it wasn’t ridiculously fast, so he was fine.”

Ian Holtson was next across the line for Kokomo in 19th place. Devin White was 20th, Cameron Cunningham was 24th and Mason McGovern was 27th.

“We had a couple kids run negative splits in the second mile and that really helped us. We ran well. We’re happy.”

Perry and Ullmer were the only area individuals who finished in the top 15 of semistate qualifiers. Northwestern sophomore Kory Kennedy ran as an individual but finished 66th in 19:36.88. He was ninth in the sectional race in 17:01.40.

Oak Hill was the defending champion but finished fourth with 88 points. The logjam came at the fifth and final qualifying spot, which Marion (169) grabbed away from Northfield (172) and Western (185).

Sophomore Zac Martinez was 28th overall and led a group of four runners that included Kody Harmon (36th), Luke Minor (37th) and Cory Scott (40th). But the Panthers could only muster a 59th-place finish from their fifth man, Alex Sigler.

“We ran superb,” said coach Dana Neer. “We closed the gap Marion had on us [and] our [Nos.] 1-4 just took it to them. We knew we had to have that fifth spot.

“[Our runners] did a great job. We were without a doubt the youngest team here, so I’m really proud of our guys’ effort.”

Tipton placed ninth as a team with 212 points. Brady Butler was the Blue Devils’ top finisher in 34th place. Kyle Baird was 42nd and Levi Bess was 44th.

“We had four of our seven run PRs,” said coach Stacy Hare. “Unfortunately, out of our top four, only one ran his best race. That hurt us a little bit. I’m super proud of them, though. They had a great experience.

“Kyle had the best time of his life [Saturday], and for him to run under 18 [minutes] for the first time, that’s awesome.”