Jacob Graf Invitational

Kokomo Tribune, August 24, 2020

Western’s boys cross country team won the 15-team Jacob Graf Invitational on Saturday at Logansport’s Berry Patch, the site of this year’s sectional and regional rounds.

The Panthers put four runners in the top 10 en route to an impressive score of 40. Wabash was a distant runner-up with 79.

On paper, while it looks like we really took it to the field, we could have performed a lot better than we did,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “We made a couple tactical errors during the race and some of our guys aren’t quite where they need to be. The weather also affected us a little more than anticipated. The temperature shot up rather quickly.

From the area, Carroll (187) was fourth, Northwestern (202) was sixth, Eastern (215) was seventh, Tipton (223) was ninth, Peru (271) was 11th, Kokomo (303) was 13th and Cass (322) was 15th.

Western runners Joseph Packard and Brayden Curnutt finished 1-2. Packard covered the course in 17:02 for his first cross country 5K win and Curnutt followed in 17:10.

I was surprised by Joseph’s win but then again I wasn’t I wasn’t surprised at all. It was a typical J.P. performance,” Jewell said. “He ran a shrewd, tactical race where he was patient early on and let the race come to him. He knows that the winner isn’t necessarily the one who leads the most or who is leading at the mile but who leads the last step.

The Panthers’ next three finishers were Drew Caldwell (eighth, 17:39); Pete Bradshaw (ninth, 17:46); and Matthew Edison (20th, 18:35).

Carroll’s top runner was Mason Ray in 13th. He covered the course in 18:03.

Northwestern was led by Caleb Champion (18:31) and Isaiah Kanable (18:34). They finished 18th and 19th

Eastern had a pair of runners in the top 10 — Brayden Richmond (third, 17:19) and Caleb Vogl (seventh, 17:32).

“The boys really did a nice job,” Eastern coach Ben Cox said. “Brayden and Caleb looked especially good; they are both well ahead of where they were at this time last year, and we don’t think they’re done improving. The other returning runners are ahead of last year as well.”

Tipton’s Evan Long took fourth place in 17:23. Peru’s top runner was Kayden Gee (33rd, 19:35). Kokomo’s top finisher was Collin Keesling (17th, 18:27). Cass’ lead runner was Enoch Hines (37th, 19:45).


Western's Pete Bradshaw, right, and Eastern's Brayden Richomond, shown in the Northwestern Combinational on Tuesday, had top-10 finishes in Logansport's Jacob Graf Invitational on Saturday. Kelly Lafferty Gerber | Kokomo Tribune

GIRLS RACE

Fishers posted a miserly score of 32 to win Logansport’s 14-team invitational. Cass (106) edged Western (115) for second place.

Cass was led by Makenna Leicht (ninth, 21:46), Odessa Vest (11th, 21:59) and Liberty Scott (16th, 22:21).

Western’s top runners were Lauren Bradley (12th, 22:00), Cami Caldwell (20th, 23:00), Sarah Manuel (23rd, 23:25) and Destiny Herr (24th, 23:26).

Eastern took fifth place with a score of 157. Ella Kantz led the Comets with an 18th-place run in 22:40 and Eastern’s next four runners all finished between 31st and 41st.

“The girls had a really good day,” Cox said. “Most of the returning runners are ahead of where they were at this time last year, and our new runners all really had a good first 5K race. We also still have plenty of room to improve, so we’re pretty excited about how things went [Saturday]. Alivia Salkie had an especially good race, setting a new PR [23:50] by over a minute.”

Other area teams in the field were: Carroll (seventh, 186); Kokomo (ninth, 236); Northwestern (13th, 319) and Peru (14th, 353).

Kokomo and Northwestern had the area’s top individual showings. Kokomo’s Julynne Spidell was third in 19:43 and Northwestern’s Hannah Moore was fourth in 20:17.

Carroll’s top runner was Chloe Goodrich (sixth, 20:43). Peru’s top runner was Brianna Bennett (58th, 25:30)