MARION INVITE

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, September 9, 2018

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

Western's boys and girls cross country teams each took third place at the Maconaquah Invite Saturday to lead the nine local schools involved in the 18-team meet.

Western's Brayden Curnutt took third overall in the boys race to clock in as the top individual among local boys, and Maconaquah's Karli Miller took third in the girls race to post the top local finish in the girls meet.

BOYS RACE

Western posted a score of 111 to finish behind meet winner Eastbrook (55) and Delta (107). Eastbrook runners took the top two individual spots.

Curnutt led Western in 18:53.8, followed by Pete Bradshaw (17th, 19:53.6), Joseph Packard (20th, 19:57), Taylor Rathbun (27th, 20:20.9) and Evan Kretz (44th, 21:20.3).

"It's a good indication of what Brayden's capable of. He was in the front the entire way," Western coach Gary Jewell said, noting Curnutt ran with the lead Eastbrook contingent. "Another guy who ran great was Taylor Rathbun. He was 37 seconds faster than last week under these conditions.

Jewell and Kokomo coach Ricke Stucker estimated that due to the rain and mud, Saturday's conditions cost runners somewhere between 50-80 seconds.

"Our goal was to finish top three, which we did," Jewell said. "When you have a team this young you want to give them goals they can achieve. We wanted to finish ahead of Hamilton Heights. We were happy with that."

Hamilton Heights finished fourth. Cass' Bailey Scott finished fourth overall (18:58.1) to lead the Kings to a fifth-place finish.

Sam Bourne finished 11th (19:34.7) to lead Maconaquah to sixth. He was followed by Jacob Edwards (37th, 20:58.4), Jonah Loshnowsky (42nd, 21:13.6), Feenix Kile (46th; 21:28.6) and Zach Alvarado (54th; 21:53.9),

Jacob Myers led Northwestern (18th, 19:54.5) to seventh in the team race. Jeremy Bell was 36th (50:53.8), Isiah Kanable was 41st (21:13), Mitchell Harrell was 47th (21:30.4) and Mason Correll was 55th (21:59.9).

"In an eight-day period they ran in blazing hot, hard-to-breathe weather in bright sunshine and then eight days later they ran in a deluge and it never stopped raining," NW coach Dave Stevens said. "That's a testament to how the kids want to do this sport, because there are other things that didn't play [Saturday].

"Not a one of them looked at me and said 'coach I'm not feeling it.' Every one of them ran what they could [Saturday] in this kind of weather."

Caleb Vogl took 10th (19:24.3) and Brayden Richmond was 12th (19:37.1) to lead Eastern to eighth. Owen Taylor was 51st (21:43.2), Nick Hillman 61st (22:30.8) and Seth Snyder 68th (22:53.5).

"We really wanted to enjoy ourselves and have a good race and the guys came off the course feeling happy and confident and muddy," Eastern coach Ben Cox said. "Pretty happy with how we fared with the team scoring overall."

Adam Garner took eighth (19:11.3) to pace Peru, which finished 11th.

Nat Elkin finished 52nd (21:48.3) to lead Kokomo, which finished 13th. Travarion Corbin was 74th (23:52.7), Isiah Marden 77th (24:39.5), Ethan Poole 78th (24:58.7) and Isaac Elkin 79th (25:21.1).

Brody Brack (19:35.7) led Tipton, and Konner Boley (23:24.6) led Taylor. The Blue Devils and Titans were incomplete.

GIRLS RACE

Twin Lakes won a close girls race with a score of 82, followed by Hamilton Heights (84) and Western (90).

Olivia Lushin and Natalie Nicholson finished close together to pace the Panthers with Olivia Lushin finishing 10th (22:16.4) and Nicholson 11th (22:19.4). Hannah Lushin was 16th (22:38.9), Megan Hampshire 23rd (23:25) and Emma Marley 30th (23:45.9).

Miller finished in 20:55.3 to lead fourth-placed Maconaquah, followed by Annie Isenburg (14th, 22:27.6), Bailey Hays (18th, 22:45.9), Haley Salinas (20th, 22:51.9) and Madison Wilson (48th, 25:02.8).

"They showed much mental toughness on the course today and had strong finishes," Mac coach Allen Sayger said, noting how difficult the muddy conditions were.

Miah Martin took fifth (21:22.1) and Makenna Lecht was eighth (21:50.1) to give sixth-placed Cass two runners in the top 10.

Lauren Longshore finished fourth (21:00.2) to lead Northwestern to seventh in the team race. Casey Lechner was 15th (22:31.8), Ella Deck 31st (23:48.9), Sophia Yager-Motl 40th (24:21.4) and Kaylynne Fernandes 69th (29:09.7).

"Lauren did an outstanding job and Casey on the girls side, and Jacob on the boys side," NW coach Stevens said. "I'm not so worried about the times [Saturday]. I did have two or three of my younger kids set PRs, which is quite impressive."

Eastern took ninth, led by Ella Kantz (19th, 22:48.2). Victoria Leeder was 29th (23:43.5), Molly Hapner was 53rd (25:45.5), Gracie McClain 65th (27:52.1) and Alivia Salkie 66th (28:07.6).

"It can be a lot of pressure to run in a big race. Certainly some great competition and we wanted to come off the course and say that was fun and still compete well," Eastern coach Cox said. "I think we were able to do that, which was nice."

Julynne Spidell took 27th (23:34.1) to lead Kokomo to 11th.

"We had a rough race as a team and had only two of our seven run well. Freshman Evan Gonzales and junior Brook Reaves set personal bests on the season and I am proud of how these two first-year runners responded to the adverse conditions," Kokomo coach Chad Salinas said.

Peru's lone runner was Sadie Carter (24:58.3). Gracie Phillips led Tipton in 25:17.4. Sierra Fritch led Taylor in 28:25.7. The Bengals, Blue Devils and Titans were each incomplete.