New Prairie senior Braden Bachmann captured the individual Northern Indiana Conference championship this Saturday at Oxbow Park, leading the Cougars to a second-place team finish at the NIC Championships. The victory marked another step forward for Bachmann during his outstanding senior season. His 15:47.26 is now sixth on New Prairie's all-time away-course list and was his fastest performance of the season. Behind Bachmann, the Cougars put together a strong team performance against a deep NIC field, placing second with 62 points. New Prairie placed four runners among the top 15 finishers earning all conference awards and all five scoring runners finished inside the top 21. Ayden Carpenter continued his strong season by finishing 11th in 17:06.35, followed by Aidan Jaronik in 14th at 17:22.50 and Evan Thibodeau in 15th at 17:22.66. Isaac True rounded out the scoring five in 21st at 17:47.02. Lukas Hannewyk finished just outside the scoring group in 28th at 18:31.20, while Mitchell Walls ran 18:37.00 to finish 31st. The Cougars also had a strong showing in the JV race, led by Chase Shelton's 18:37.06, good for 20th overall. Ricky Corbett followed in 18:45.35, while freshman Owen Otwinowski continued his rapid development with a 19:05.00. Ryese Lake ran 19:24.75, Sullivan Young finished in 19:51.23, and freshman Jackson Firanek crossed the line in 19:55.08. New Prairie placed five runners under 20 minutes in the JV race. The Cougars' progress over the past several seasons was also evident in the individual performances. Braden Bachmann has steadily lowered his NIC time from 18:41 as a freshman in 2023 to 17:02.90 as a sophomore, 16:23.47 as a junior and now 15:47.26 as a senior, nearly three minutes faster than his freshman performance. Aidan Jaronik has made an even larger improvement, dropping from 22:52 as a freshman to 17:22.50 this year, a five-and-a-half-minute improvement. Isaac True has gone from 22:44.70 as a sophomore to 20:49.99 as a junior and 17:47.02 this season, nearly five minutes faster. Ayden Carpenter has dropped from 20:55 as a freshman in 2024 to 17:33.63 as a sophomore and 17:06.35 this year. Evan Thibodeau improved by more than two minutes from his 2025 NIC performance, dropping from 19:44.88 to 17:22.66, while Chase Shelton has gone from 22:11.90 as a sophomore to 20:23.48 as a junior and 18:37.06 this season. For our seniors, the NIC Championships also marked the final conference race of their high school careers. Bachmann, Jaronik, True and Walls helped lead the varsity team, while Shelton, Corbett, Lake and Young represented the Cougars in the JV race. Although several of the seniors will have the opportunity to continue competing in the IHSAA postseason, Saturday marked an important milestone for a group that has spent years representing New Prairie Cross Country. New Prairie will now turn its attention toward the sectional championship at home on October 17th! Full results: https://in.milesplit.com/meets/782118-northern-indiana-conference-2026/results?type=formatted Check out the all time away list (and other historical data): https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1aVM63H2RBD-YZLgUFo_qlZjiEBLNKc8RUS0QWuEf4vg/edit?usp=sharing We also have NIC Championship Results from 2015+ so that you can compare your performance to past, current, and future teammates when they were in the same grade! Name Race 5k Time Year Grade State Qualifier Braden Bachmann NIC Meet 15.47.26 2026 12 X Jacob Corbett NIC Meet 16.21 2018 12 X Jarrod Michael NIC Meet 16.22 2017 11 Braden Bachmann NIC Meet 16.23.47 2025 11 X Tim O'Laughlin NIC Meet 16.26 2019 12 X Logan Thibodeau NIC Meet 16.29.1 2024 12 X Ethan Walden NIC Meet 16.42 2021 12 X Tim O'Laughlin NIC Meet 16.46 2018 11 X Gavin Gresham NIC Meet 16.47 2015 12 X Joshua Baltes NIC Meet 16.50. 2020 12 X Jackson Sanford NIC Meet 16.51 2023 11 Jacob Corbett NIC Meet 16.54 2016 10 X Jarrod Michael NIC Meet 16.56 2018 12 Jacob Corbett NIC Meet 16.56 2017 11 X Brandon Corbett NIC Meet 16.58 2018 12 Josh Baltes NIC Meet 16.58 2019 11 X Braden Bachmann NIC Meet 17.02.9 2024 10 X Quinn Beall NIC Meet 17.04 2019 12 X Ayden Carpenter NIC Meet 17.06.35 2026 11 Logan Thibodeau NIC Meet 17.07 2023 11 X Tim O'Laughlin NIC Meet 17.12 2017 10 X Jackson Sanford NIC Meet 17.18.3 2024 12 Collin Babcock NIC Meet 17.22 2015 12 Aidan Jaronik NIC Meet 17.22.50 2026 12 Evan Thibodeau NIC Meet 17.22.66 2026 10 Tristan Balmer NIC Meet 17.29 2020 12 Ethan Piergalski NIC Meet 17.30. 2017 12 Dan Reshan NIC Meet 17.30. 2021 12 Tom Wykoff NIC Meet 17.31 2019 12 X Ayden Carpenter NIC Meet 17.33.63 2025 10 Jarrod Michael NIC Meet 17.35 2016 10 Lukas Hannewyk NIC Meet 17.36.04 2025 10 Quinn Beall NIC Meet 17.36 2018 11 X Brenden Oden NIC Meet 17.36 2021 12 X Lucas Pavlick NIC Meet 17.40. 2023 12 Logan Thibodeau NIC Meet 17.41 2022 10 X Brandon Corbett NIC Meet 17.42 2017 11 Mitchell Walls NIC Meet 17.43.28 2025 11 Justin Baltes NIC Meet 17.44 2015 12 Alex Cicero NIC Meet 17.44 2019 11 X Tom Wykoff NIC Meet 17.45 2018 11 X Brenden Oden NIC Meet 17.45 2020 11 X Isaac True NIC Meet 17.47.02 2026 12 Jacob Corbett NIC Meet 17.47 2015 9 X Dan O'Laughlin NIC Meet 17.52 2021 12 Daniel Reshan NIC Meet 17.54 2020 11 Ethan Piergalski NIC Meet 17.54 2016 11 Evan Wiesemann NIC Meet 17.55.47 2025 12 Logan Thibodeau NIC Meet 17.56 2021 9 X Blake Kirkham NIC Meet 17.59 2015 12 Brenden Oden NIC Meet 18.03 2019 10 X Daniel O'Laughlin NIC Meet 18.03 2020 11 Jacob Hughes NIC Meet 18.06 2015 11 Ethan Walden NIC Meet 18.06 2019 10 X Aidan Jaronik NIC Meet 18.07.18 2025 11 Ethan Piergalski NIC Meet 18.07 2015 10 Evan Wiesemann NIC Meet 18.07 2022 9 Joshua Baltes NIC Meet 18.08 2018 10 X Kyle Newcomb NIC Meet 18.08 2021 12 Alex Cicero NIC Meet 18.08 2020 12 X Quinn Beall NIC Meet 18.11 2017 10 X Tristan Balmer NIC Meet 18.15 2019 11 Rhys Sebasty NIC Meet 18.19.2 2024 12 Dan Reshan NIC Meet 18.21 2019 10 Brandon Corbett NIC Meet 18.21 2016 10 Kyle Newcomb NIC Meet 18.28 2020 11 Jon Mondientz NIC Meet 18.29 2019 11 Lukas Hannewyk NIC Meet 18.32.20 2026 11 Frank Turley NIC Meet 18.34 2016 9 Rhys Sebasty NIC Meet 18.36 2023 11 Mitchell Walls NIC Meet 18.37.00 2026 12 Chase Shelton NIC Meet 18.37.06 2026 12 Roman Piergalski NIC Meet 18.37 2019 10 Quinn Beall NIC Meet 18.38 2016 9 X JC Turley NIC Meet 18.40. 2016 9 Braden Bachmann NIC Meet 18.41 2023 9 X Lucas Pavlick NIC Meet 18.43 2022 11 Ben Pilarski NIC Meet 18.45 2016 12 Ricky Corbett NIC Meet 18.45.35 2026 12 Lukas Hannewyk NIC Meet 18.46.1 2024 9 Joe Tuszynski NIC Meet 18.50. 2021 12 Joe Wykoff NIC Meet 18.52 2019 9 Sully Young NIC Meet 18.58.98 2025 11 Jackson Sanford NIC Meet 18.59 2022 10 Dan O'Laughlin NIC Meet 19.04 2019 10 Sully Young NIC Meet 19.04.5 2024 10 Owen Otwinowski NIC Meet 19.05.00 2026 9 Tom Wykoff NIC Meet 19.05 2016 9 X Kyle Newcomb NIC Meet 19.07 2019 10 Tim O'Laughlin NIC Meet 19.19 2016 9 X Jake Phillips NIC Meet 19.23 2022 12 Ryese Lake NIC Meet 19.24.75 2026 12 Ryese Lake NIC Meet 19.24.9 2024 10 Myles Aerts NIC Meet 19.28 2021 10 Jackson Sanford NIC Meet 19.28 2021 9 Myles Aerts NIC Meet 19.33 2022 11 Aidan Jaronik NIC Meet 19.35.8 2024 10 Ricky Corbett NIC Meet 19.38.66 2025 11 Ryese Lake NIC Meet 19.39.13 2025 11 Lucas Pavlick NIC Meet 19.40. 2021 10 Matt Keith NIC Meet 19.40. 2022 12 Evan Thibodeau NIC Meet 19.44.88 2025 9 Myles Aerts NIC Meet 19.46 2023 12 Rhys Sebasty NIC Meet 19.48 2022 10 Maddox Waltz NIC Meet 19.49.6 2024 9 Sully Young NIC Meet 19.51.23 2026 12 Jackson Firanek NIC Meet 19.55.08 2026 9 Dan Lukowski NIC Meet 19.59 2019 10 Kaleb Bacztub NIC Meet 20.03 2021 10 Jacob Dockery NIC Meet 20.04 2016 10 Aidan Alander NIC Meet 20.15 2021 9 Tyler Bacztub NIC Meet 20.19 2021 10 Chase Vann NIC Meet 20.22.56 2025 9 Chase Shelton NIC Meet 20.23.48 2025 11 Matt Keith NIC Meet 20.23 2021 11 Robby Smith NIC Meet 20.26 2019 10 Tyler Albano NIC Meet 20.26 2023 12 Jacob Wood NIC Meet 20.35 2019 12 Worek Bowman NIC Meet 20.41 2019 11 Sam Ringer NIC Meet 20.47.85 2025 9 Isaac True NIC Meet 20.49.99 2025 11 Ayden Carpenter NIC Meet 20.55 2024 9 Jacob Wroblewski NIC Meet 21.15 2016 10 Eli Mougin NIC Meet 21.28 2022 9 Joe Tuszynski NIC Meet 21.37 2019 10 Chase Shelton NIC Meet 22.11.9 2024 10 Henry Klein NIC Meet 22.30. 2023 11 Joey Smith NIC Meet 22.42.84 2025 10 Isaac True NIC Meet 22.44.7 2024 10 Rocco Blaisdell NIC Meet 22.48 2022 9 Aidan Jaronik NIC Meet 22.52 2023 9 Joey Smith NIC Meet 23.23 2024 9 Ian Kraus NIC Meet 24.03 2024 11 Alex Spencer NIC Meet 24.51 2023 12 John Sarbo NIC Meet 25.18 2022 12 Jacob Wood NIC Meet 27.07 2016 9 Mason Skoglund NIC Meet 27.46.95 2025 9