STATE BOUNDWestern boys, NW's Moore, Mac's Jordan reach state XC |
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Kokomo Tribune October 19, 2020By BRYAN GASKINSWestern’s boys cross country team earned the program’s first trip to the State Finals when the Panthers took fifth place at the New Prairie Semistate on Saturday. Chesterton won the 20-team meet with a score of 92, followed by Warsaw (118), Crown Point (119), Lake Central (165), Western (178) and Munster (222). The top six schools advance, along with the top 10 individuals who are not on an advancing team. Results weren’t tabulated and announced until roughly an hour after the meet ended. Until they were announced, the Panthers didn’t know if they’d made it through or not. “This is a goal I’ve had for quite a long time,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “There’s nothing worse than when you’re waiting for the results and they start reading through the names and they start at No. 20 and work their way up.” Brayden Curnutt led Western with a fifth-place finish in 16:17.4. “He had a great race,” Jewell said. “Entering in I told him I thought he could finish in the top five, possibly as high as second and with 600 meters to go he’s in second place. He wound up fifth but … the end of that race people are kicking like crazy, and they start from way out.” Next for Western was Joseph Packard in 40th (16:57.7), followed by Pete Bradshaw in 47th (17:06.6), Matthew Edison in 63rd (17:18.4) and Drew Caldwell rounded out the scoring five in 65th (17:19.8). Also for Western, Taylor Rathbun was 145th (18:16.8) and Charlie Conkle 152nd (18:31.7). Among local individuals, Eastern’s Brayden Richmond was 32nd (16:49), Carroll’s Mason Ray was 62nd (17:18.2), Eastern’s Caleb Vogl was 69th (17:22.4), Maconaquah’s Isaiah Wittenberg was 78th (17:28.9) and Northwestern’s Caleb Champion was 102nd (17:43.9). No locals advanced to the state meet as individuals. The last individual spot to advance was the 17th runner. Western’s runners made up ground and points late in the race’s final two kilometers. “With about 1,800 meters to go to the finish, we passed 42 people,” Jewell said. “That was mostly Pete, Matt Edison and Joseph Packard. From the 2K to the finish it was over 90. The one who does it the most is Matt Edison. If they had a statistic for runners passed in the last mile of a race I think Matt would be one of the top guys in the state. “[Former Western runner] Matt Grider said it’s always fun when you have a good team, and we have an exceptional team this year. Now we get to do it again one more week this year.” The IHSAA State Finals are this Saturday at the LaVern Gibson Championship Cross Country Course in Terre Haute. The girls race is at 11:30 a.m., followed by the boys race at 3 p.m. GIRLS MEET The Tribune area is sending two freshmen to the girls state meet as Northwestern’s Hannah Moore and Maconaquah’s Abby Jordan qualified as individuals following strong performances at the New Prairie Semistate. Moore took fifth in a time of 18:51.2 and Jordan was 13th in 19:26.6. The top 10 individuals on non-advancing teams qualify for state and the cutoff ended up being the 14th runner. |
Pete Bradshaw helped Western’s boys cross country team take fifth place in the New Prairie Semistate, and earn a spot in the State Finals. Shown in the Logansport Regional, Bradshaw took 47th place in the semistate with a time of 17:06.6.. Kelly Lafferty Gerber | Kokomo Tribune
“She ran really well,” NW coach Dave Stevens said of Moore. “She drew lane one and Hannah’s got a lot of experience in races with big [numbers of competitors]. Drawing lane 1 that means everybody at New Prairie was crushing down on her. Once she realized what was happening she took off and she was where she was supposed to be by the first 400 [meters] and definitely where she was supposed to be by the first 800. She ran a great race after that. She did what was planned and I was really proud of her to overcome that first few minutes of ‘oh, I’m not supposed to be here.’ “I’m so happy for her. For the sports like track, cross country, swimming that we don’t have three, four classes for, an athlete from a school of 600 to get to go, that’s pretty cool. There’s no doubt in my mind she’ll be ready come Saturday to execute a plan. She’ll have one.” Maconaquah was the only local school involved in the team competition and finished 16th out of 20 squads with a score of 356. Chesterton was the overall winner with a score of 110. Wheeler took the last advancing spot with a score of 190. The Braves’ second runner was Karli Miller, who took 48th in 20:26.4, followed by Lauren Driscoll (82nd, 12:00.3), Abby Heath (152nd (22:52.5), and Lauren Merritt rounded out the scoring five (161st, 23:07.4). Also running for Mac were Rachel Eby (163rd, 23:12.7) and Kaitlyn Nice (178th, 25:33.4). Among local individuals who wrapped up their seasons, Kokomo’s Julynne Spidell was 26th (20:03.7), Carroll’s Chloe Goodrich was 32nd (20:08.4), Cass’ Makenna Leicht was 60th (20:36.8), Carroll’s Siabelle Altic was 87th (21:01.7) and Cass’ Liberty Scott was 102nd (21:17.2). |