It would be Fairfield’s only ‘home’ meet of the cross country season Tuesday night, as The Lodge in Syracuse served as host to a six-way meet.
Westview went one through four in the boys race to counter Fairfield’s first four in to win the meet, 21-35, to lead the way. Fairfield won the rest of the duals, sweeping Prairie Heights, Hamilton and Central Noble, and also clipped Lakeland, 24-36, to gain four NECC wins. Evan Correll led Fairfield with a time of 18:34, good for sixth overall in the meet. Carson Correll (19:19), Luke Mast (19:19) and Ethan Mendoza-Garcia (19:22) were top tens for Fairfield.
On the girls side, Fairfield earned all five wins, using key runs from Lorelei Shively and Natalie Moreland to stay clear of Westview and Prairie Heights. Lyla Dennis (22:33), Natalee Lambright (22:35) and Kaitlyn Kuhn (22:42) all packed at the front to lead the Lady Falcons. The girls team raced Saturday at the Manchester Invite, placing ninth overall as a unit among the 26 active programs. Kuhn led the ladies with a time of 21:39, good for 30th overall. Lambright (21:53) and Dennis (21:59) were also among the top 40 at the meet.
Playing in the shadows of Falcon Country, Fairfield served as a road team Monday in a trio with Elkhart and host Wawasee at Maxwelton Golf Club. Fairfield bested the host Warriors by 20, 188-208, and both beat Elkhart’s 220. Addie Mast led the field with a 39, Bella Blosser shot 45 and Mallory McGowen had a 47 as the top three scores in the meet. Adie Holsopple and Baige Horn each shot 65 to pace the Fairfield JV.
Continuing through the NECC, the Lady Falcons collected another win over Angola, 191-221, among competition at Meadow Valley Tuesday evening. Westview and Hamilton provided just individual scores short of the four-man minimum. Mast again was the medalist with an even 36, just one bogey complimented by a birdie to stay level. Blosser added a 46 for Fairfield. The ladies kept pace in the NECC race with a 194-232 win over Busco Thursday evening at Meadow Valley. Mast again led the way with a 43 and both Paige Lantz and McGowen turned in matching 50s.
Angola set the tone for potential things to come in NECC and state tournament volleyball with a resounding 3-0 win over Fairfield Tuesday night. The No. 3-ranked Hornets allowed just 25 points the entire match in the snappy victory. Maddy Miller had five assists and four digs and McKenna Fisher offered four digs and a pair of kills. Fairfield won the JV game, 2-1, led by nine digs from Shelby Cripe and five assists and two aces from Abby Graber.
Fairfield competed Saturday at the Shondell Invite, hosted by Muncie Burris. Fairfield was in the pod with Southwood, Burris and Greenfield Central, which saw Greenfield emerge from the group and win the prestigious title. Fisher was named to the All-Tournament Team after a 13-kill performance over the three matches. Graber added seven aces, seven digs and six assists and Amanda McGuire had 14 digs for the tourney. Fairfield fell in all three of its contests in two games.
Tennis plucked off another notable Northern Lakes Conference opponent Wednesday, downing Concord 4-1 to start four match days in a row. All of the singles courts went to Fairfield in straights, notably a one, love conquer by Chase Buckholz at three singles. Two dubs also got a win, one and three. Thursday was more of the same with a 4-1 win over Fremont, all four of the Falcon wins in straight sets including a shutout by Cooper LeCount at two singles.
Stoltzfus kept his mojo working in a two, two win over Pi Wellington, but that was all Fairfield could muster in a 4-1 loss at Goshen Friday night.
Stoltzfus and the crew all went undefeated on Saturday as Fairfield went 3-0 to win the Wawasee Invite. Fairfield downed Jimtown, Wawasee and Westview by 5-0 counts to claim the title and move to 11-2 on the season. Highlights included a pair of rallies by LeCount, winning 10-7 over Wawasee’s Kane Dukes in the third set and also going three with Jimtown’s Dalton Cox, winning 10-4. Buckholz and one dubs also went three in matches during the day while Stoltzfus continued his undefeated season by allowing just eight points the entire day.
Breckan Maran scored on a pair of tough rushing touchdowns and Hunter Kauffman hauled in a circus catch for another score as Fairfield dominated Central Noble, 35-6, Friday night in Northeast Corner Conference football action. Ethan Schmucker and Brooks Custer also added points to the total for the Falcons, which move to 2-1 on the season and 1-0 in the conference.
The junior high Falcons had a 95-yard kick-off return for a touchdown by Colton Faulkner, but that was all the offense it could get going in a 28-8 football loss to Wawasee Tuesday night. Drew Tobias had a fumble recovery and Gavin Lambright added an interception to pace the Falcon defense.