Sunday, October 19, 2003
MARION -- Though thrilled that their season would continue, it Was still a somewhat disappointed group of Western Panthers who left the campus of Indiana Wesleyan University Saturday afternoon.
Western went into the IHSAA Marion Girls Cross Country Regional with the lofty goal of winning the team championship. But, after finishing second to Carroll of Allen County, 54-58, the Panthers wondered what could have been.
It's that attitude, Western coach Dana Neer said, that shows what the program's future holds.
"A couple of years ago, they would have been happy to run in the regional. They've advanced to the point where they're unhappy they didn't win the regional," he said. lhat's a great place to be:'
There will be plenty of friendly faces traveling to the campus of Indiana-Purdue Fort Wayne for the New Haven Semistate Saturday. Following Huntington North's third-place finish with 117 is the surprising fourth-place effort of the Kokomo Wildkats. They tied Northwestern at 128, but took fourth based on the sixth-runner tiebreaker.
Taylor sophomore Danielle Glick ran the strongest race of her young cross country career and took second place behind individual champion Amy Kempf Of Carroll, who ran a course-record time of 14 minutes, 46 seconds. Easterfrs Laura Boltz also qualified for the semistate by finishing sixth.
Western's charge was led - appropriately enough - by senior Brittany Stellhorn, who finished third with a career-best time of 15:45 on the four-kilometer course,
"I knew Brittany was ready," Neer said. "She loves this type of atmosphere. As a senior, she went out to get it done and she showed great leadership. At the gun, Brittany was off and running."
Close behind Stellhorn was freshman teammate Anna Hurlock as she finished fourth in 15:58. Sophomore Annina Gruber claimed 10th at 16:12.
"I believe Anna is one of the top freshmen in the state and she's going to be proving that as she gets older. She has the heart for this sport and is only going to improve and get better" Neer said. 'hnnina didn't have a perfect race so to finish 10th was a great accomplishment
"I think, across the board, the girls ran their hearts out. A place here or there and maybe there would have been a different outcome, but we have a freshman and a sophomore in our top three and we had two first-year runners at 6 and T
Megan Clearwaters ran fourth for the Panthers in 28th while Becky Elliott wrapped up the scoring in 30th. Running in their first regionals were junior Jessi Muehr and freshman Liz Hoppes.
A sophomore at Taylor, Glick looked like a veteran distance runner rather than someone in her first year of cross country. She finished the race in 15:33 and looked strong throughout the race.
"I wanted to break 16 minutes and wherever that put me, it would be a good place," she said.
The Titan surprised even herself with her performance.
"I just went out and mentally took over and started passing girls," Glick said. "I tried my best. I ran great interval times this week and that helped me out a lot."
At the start of the season, Kokomo coach Ricke Stucker was just hoping that his team would grow and improve.
"I didn't know if we would beat anyone," he admitted.
Finishing fourth in Tuesday's sectional was a huge accomplishment and that make's Saturday's semistate berth performance "unbelievable," according to Stucker,
"Wow. They don't know when to quit. I love these girls. I like them more than any group I've had," the veteran coach said. "There isn't a lot of natural talent here. Leg speed? Nope, maybe one. They. earned this through sweat and determination.
"Six of our seven ran well. We ran our season best time. Sarah Lee is only about 80 percent coming back off a quad. injury and was 29th. Sarah McDonald cut 53 seconds off her season best time. These girls came out of nowhere:
Stucker credited the offseason work of seniors Kristine Bolinger, Lisa Madsen and Sarah Goodnight for the Wildkats' finish. "They were our three slowest gifts last season, but they worked hard and improved over the summeg" he said.
Freshman Adrienne Shepherd earned her own berth into the semistate by coming in 15th at 16:18.
"We felt she had a chance at the top 157 Stucker said. "She cut 22 seconds off her season best on a slow course in the wind?
Lee was 29th with Summer Hickey 34th, McDonald 37th and Bolinger was 47th.
Northwestern coach Pete Schroer looked at the Marion Sectional teams and saw the Kats waiting to pounce.
"Going in, of all the teams behind us, Kokomo concerned me the most because of all those girls [finishing] in the 20s," Schroer said. 'Tm proud of the way we raced and improved as the race went along. At 1,000 meters, Lauren Sewell and Sarah Bauson were back a bit. They were in the 50s and moved up to the 20s by the time they finished with a strong middle race."
Senior Katie McCool turned in a good race, finishing 14th in 16:19, and Sewell was next at 23rd while Bauson was 25th. Laura Bauson was 44th and Drew Schoenian moved up and ran fifth for the team by finishing 55rd.
"My good feeling started with Katie finishing in the top 15. That's great because it's been a struggle for Katie since her sophomore year. She's worked hard and kept a positive attitude," he said. "Then, back there in the group, Drew stepped up and filled in as our fifth and Carmen Malin moved up and ran sixth," he said. "Since the MIC, Katie Tryling has had ,a rough road with her back. That s unfortunate because she was on a roll then and running fourth most of the time."
Also running as individuals were Tri-Central's Addle Rayl, who finished the race in 22nd, and Tipton's Andrea Harper, who came in 32nd.