St. Peter’s Lutheran won the boys and girls titles at the Inaugural Indiana Lutheran Schools Championships Oct. 1 at Trinity Lutheran. Team members include, front row from left, Abby Collins, Brooklyn Donner, Daphne May, Eli Hoffman, Arlo David, McKartney Waltz; second row, Nevaeh Smith, Aaliyah Miller, Sydney Madden, Lizzie Schlaudroff, Rian Strietelmeier, Cooper Harry, Zane Schlaudroff, Marquez Mendez, Mason Package, Garrett Donner, Anthony Bolte, Remington Wells, Riley Wilson, Mason Burton, Trevor Ernst, head coach Jeff Niewedde; and back row, assistant coach Shelli Carothers, Eayon Madden, assistant coach Chris Jacobi, Josh VanValkenburg, Oliver Patrick, Landon Bush, Michael Reed, Andi Carothers, Levi Carothers, Micah Wettschurack, Caleb Niewedde, Cole DeVreese, Norman Dickson, Thomas Hennessee, Daniel Banos and assistant coaches Bonnie Wittman and Carol Wettschurack.
Submitted photo
St. Peter’s Lutheran School has enjoyed plenty of success at the National Lutheran School cross-country championship over the past few years, but each time, the Lions have had to rely on an at-large bid to nationals in the absence of an Indiana state meet qualifier.
This year, St. Peter’s coach Jeff Niewedde decided to put together a state meet. On Oct. 1, the Lions hosted at Trinity Lutheran High School and swept the boys and girls titles at the Inaugural Indiana Lutheran Schools Championship.
“We’ve been mulling around the idea of doing a state meet, and this year, we talked to (athletics director) Brad Dickey down at Trinity Lutheran,” Niewedde said. “We came up with a 2-mile course, laid it out and communicated it with the rest of the Lutheran schools here in the state of Indiana. We were one of the states that didn’t have this yet, so we were like, ‘Let’s go ahead and get this going.’ It’s one way we can grow the sport. It just helps other kids grow through the companionship and through Christ. This is bigger that just St. Peter’s. It helps everybody else out, too.”
Niewedde had only about two months to put the meet together. They ended up with four boys and only one girls team, but hope to grow the event in future years.
“The reason we started the state meet is to have growth and share things with other schools,” Niewedde said. “Wisconsin, Michigan, Illinois, Missouri were all the same way. They started out small. We might have five or six or seven teams in the state, but our goal is to have 20 to 25 Lutheran schools that compete. Kids that don’t play volleyball or football can enjoy the Christian aspect and come down and enjoy it.”
Next year, St. Peter’s plans to invite all the Lutheran schools in the state for a pre-state meet early in the season.
“That way, they kind of get a feel for what the meet is,” Niewedde said. “Everybody that came this year enjoyed it.”
This season, the St. Peter’s girls team has won two invitationals at Jennings County, and the boys won one at Jennings County and finished second at the Greensburg Invitational. Both the boys and girls won Hauser’s Heritage Day Classic.
The St. Peter’s Lutheran boys cross-country team huddles prior to the start of a race.
Submitted photo
The boys team is led by eighth-graders Levi Carothers and Josh VanValkenburg, seventh-grader Norman Dixon and eighth-grader Michael Reed. Sixth-graders Cole DeVreese and Landon Bush are the No. 5 and No. 6 runners, followed by eighth-grader Micah Wettschurack and seventh-grader Caleb Niewedde. Eighth-grader Thomas Hennessee and seventh-grader Oliver Patrick are alternates.
The St. Peter’s Lutheran girls cross-country team huddles prior to the start of a race.
Submitted photo
The girls are led by eighth-grader Andi Carothers, seventh-grader Rian Strietelmeier, sixth-grader Sydney Madden and eighth-graders Abby Collins and Brooklyn Donner. Joining them on the varsity are eighth-graders Daphne May and Lizzy Schlaudroff and fifth-grader Aaliyah Miller.
“Bonnie Wittman and Carol Wettschurack started the program a decade ago, and whenever they started, it’s probably like any other small school school in the state in Indiana,” Niewedde said. “We had five or six runners. We were lucky to have a full team, and now, we have 26 boys and 10 girls. The program has really grown. I think definitely Bonnie and Carol get a lot of credit. I told Bonnie, ‘If you didn’t start this 10 years ago, I might not be coaching, and my kid might not be running and we might not have a state meet.’”
The Lions will compete in the national meet Saturday at Concordia University in Mequon, Wisconsin. Both the boys and girls teams were runner-up at last year’s nationals.
“The boys have a good chance of winning this year, and the girls do, as well,” Niewedde said. “There’s four really good girls teams from Wisconsin that they’ll have to compete against. But if they all run their best, they can come away with it. The boys, it’s theirs to lose this year.”
