GIRLS AND BOYS XC: Teams head to Logan for sectional

Western girls hope to regain title

Kokomo Tribune - Saturday, October 6, 2018

By BRYAN GASKINS Kokomo Tribune

Western raced to a second-place team finish in the 10-school event at Rensselaer with a score of 93.

Western's girls cross country team won the Logansport Sectional in 2015 and again in '16, but the Panthers fell shy of a three-peat last year. Maconaquah rose to the top for its second title in four years. The Braves beat the runner-up Panthers by 12 points.

The two teams likely will battle for the title again today on Logan's Berry Patch.

"We are looking to reclaim our sectional title this year," Western coach Joni Neer said. "This group of seniors was the ones who were affected by the illnesses last year so they are ready to come back to see what they can do this year."

Neer sees Maconaquah and also Cass as the Panthers' primary competition in the 12-team field.

"Both [Mac and Cass] hold great programs and always rise to the occasion during tournament time. We have the utmost respect for both of those programs and don't underestimate what either can do," she said.

The top five teams in the sectional advance to the Culver Academies Regional. The top 10 individuals from non-advancing teams also move on.

Western is coming off a fourth-place finish in the Hoosier Conference meet last Saturday at Rensselaer. Natalie Nicholson (11th place, 20:08) and Hannah Lushin (19th place, 20:43) led the Panthers.

"The girls are feeling good, ready to race, going into the tournament series," Neer said. "We have been healthy this year and we're in a good place."

Maconaquah had a third-place finish in the Three Rivers Conference meet last Saturday at Tippecanoe Valley. Karli Miller (second, 19:37) and Haley Salinas (12th, 21:18) led the Braves.

Neer expects a good battle for the individual title. She noted the Braves' Miller comes in with the fastest time. She sees Nicholson and Hannah and Olivia Lushin from her team, Makenna Leicht and Miah Martin from Cass and Taylor's Alli Abney as other possible contenders.

Martin is the defending sectional champion, but she is dealing with a back injury that caused her to miss the Hoosier Conference meet last week.

Abney won the Hoosier Heartland Conference meet last Saturday at Rossville with a time of 19:52.

BOYS RACE

Logansport is the two-time defending boys champion. The Berries edged Western by six points, 62-68, for the 2017 title.

Western coach Gary Jewell sees the Berries as the team to beat again.

"Logansport has some quality guys on their team. It looks like [Christian] Dawson is healthy and running pretty well. He'll be someplace in the top five or so and then they have a nice complement of runners," Jewell said.

Dawson was seventh in the North Central Conference meet last Saturday with a time of 17:17.


  

IN THE RAIN: Western’s Hannah Lushin, front, and Northwestern's Casey Lechner run in rainy and muddy conditions at the Maconaquah Invitational on Sept. 8. Kelly Lafferty Gerber | Kokomo Tribune

Jewell hopes his young team can make a push for the title.

"We think we have a shot to win. A lot of things have to go our way. We'll see how it goes," he said.

Jewell sees Winamac as another possible contender and Northwestern, Cass and Eastern as possibilities for top-five finishes and regional tickets. Kokomo coach Ricke Stucker noted the same teams and added Maconaquah as another team that could push for a regional spot.

"Everybody has strengths and weaknesses," Jewell said. "I think our strength right now is our pack got a lot better last week [in the Hoosier Conference meet] — 59 seconds from our first guy to our fifth guy. I don't think we've had a 1-5 split that close in years. It seemed like last week everything started to come together nicely for us."

Western was runner-up in the Hoosier Conference meet. Brayden Curnutt (13th place, 17:42), Pete Bradshaw (18th, 18:14) and Joseph Packard (19th, 18:19) led the Panthers.

Stucker said his Kats won't factor into the team race, but he likes how they are finishing the season.

"In our last meet, we set five of six all-time personal bests. We cut 73 seconds off of our team time and cut 16 seconds from our gap time," he said.

Individually, Cass' Bailey Scott looks like the favorite. Scott was third in the Hoosier Conference meet with a time of 16:47.

Stucker said Scott, Western's Brayden Curnutt, Logan's Dawson, Eastern's Brayden Richmond and Northwestern's Jacob Myers should contend for top-five spots.