NEW PRAIRIE INVITATIONAL

Kokomo Tribune - Monday, September 21, 2020

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

Western’s boys cross country team had a runner-up showing in the New Prairie Invitational’s Class AAA race Saturday.

Bellmont (93) edged Western (95) for the title with West Lafayette (107) in third.

“Unfortunately we came up just a little short,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “We had a couple things not go our way. Joseph [Packard] got stepped on at the start and got knocked to the ground and then Drew [Caldwell] stumbled just a few meters from the finish. In a race this close it’s the littlest things that can make the biggest difference. Bellmont ran a really good pack race and they were able to capitalize on good placement.

“With about 2 kilometers left in the race we were actually in third place and trailed Bellmont by 11 points. Even though Joseph and Matthew Edison passed around 20 runners over the last mile, we couldn’t quite get over the hump. We were probably less than a second from winning.”

Angola’s Izaiah Steury won the race with a course-record time of 15:08. Four of Western’s top seven runners had personal-best times.

“I can’t remember any time when we had better weather for this meet. The cool temperatures brought out some really fast times on the course,” Jewell said.

The course will host a semistate meet next month.

Western’s top five runners were: Brayden Curnutt (third place, 16:25, personal best); Packard (13th, 16:56); Pete Bradshaw (16th, 17:01, PB); Caldwell (26th, 17:24); and Edison (37th, 17:43).

“Brayden had his best race since last year at regional,” Jewell said. “He’s been a man on a mission this season. His time of 16:25 was a personal best by 8 seconds.

“Not only did we have our best cumulative of the season [1:25:32], it was our best ever on this course. Our 1-5 split [1:18] was our best so far this season.”

Peru finished in 16th place. The Bengal Tigers’ top runners were Alex Legg (68th, 18:25) and Kayden Gee (83rd, 18:42).

Northwestern ran in the Class AA race. The Tigers finished 17th in a field of 24 teams.

The Purple Tigers’ top runners were Caleb Champion (20th place, 18:09) and Caden Cothern (69th, 19:59).

GIRLS RACE

Maconaquah, Western and Peru competed in the Class AAA race.

Culver Academies topped the 18-team field with a score of 69. West Lafayette (81), Lowell (111), New Prairie (166) and Highland (172) rounded out the top five. Maconaquah (187) followed in sixth. Western (239) was 10th. Peru (498) was 17th.