Western swept the boys and girls team championships Thursday in the 45h Northwestern Cross Country Combinational, in which runners are flighted into three different 3,000-meter runs. The combined times of the top five runners for each team determined the team standings.
On the boys side, Western posted a combined time of 53 minutes, 26 seconds. Carroll (54:03), Tipton (54:39), Pioneer (54:52), Peru (55:36), North Miami (57:47) and Northwestern (58:49) rounded out the standings. Eastern and Taylor fielded incomplete teams.
"It was a very competitive meet," Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. 1he weather was quite a factor in the boys race from the standpoint it cooled off and drizzled a little bit, which kind of helped."
In the 1-2 race, which featured the top two runners from each team, Pioneer's Ryan Bice (9:46), Tipton's Brady Butler (9:54) and Northwestern's Kory Kennedy (9:55) took the top three spots. Western's Corey Scott (10:11) took sixth and Northwestern's Sam Freeman (10:30) and Western's Austin Young (10:35) came in eighth and ninth, respectively.
In the 3-4 race, Tipton's Levi Bess and Carroll's Tyler Macy grabbed the top two spots. And in the 5-6-7 race, Western runners Chris Love (10:47) and Michael Ladd (10:49) finished first and second and teammate Russell Showers (11:15) came in seventh.ner-up Carroll (65:40). Northwestern (68:25), Pioneer (68:28), Tipton (72:35), Peru (72:51) and Eastern (77:59) rounded out the standings. Taylor was incomplete.
Stevens also came away pleased.
"I'm proud of all of my runners," the Tiger coach said. "I haven't had a chance to look at all the numbers yet, but I think all five of my boys ran personal bests for 3,000 meters. As a coach, I can't be disappointed with that."
Aaron Garretson was the top Peru runner. He turned in a time of 10:06 to finish fifth in the 1-2 race.
"For five of our seven runners, this was their first race," Peru coach Gary Downing said. "We will struggle, but we will get better."
On the girls side, No. 17-ranked Western won the team championship for the fifth straight season. The Panthers took the top two spots in the 1-2 race and in the 5-6-7 race, and they also ran well in the 3-4 race.
Western posted a combined time of 62:49 to easily top runner-up Carroll (65:40). Northwestern (68:25), Pioneer (68:28), Tipton (72:35), Peru (72:51) and Eastern (77:59) rounded out the standings. Taylor was incomplete.
"The girls ran in difficult conditions. It was very humid and very hot when they ran," Stevens said. "All the girls had to run hard and it looked like a pretty competitive night. Obviously, Western was pretty dominant'
In the 1-2 race, Western teammates Katie Hollingsworth (11:55) and Jenn Elliott (12:07) led the way. Tipton's Megan Harper (12:11) came in third and Northwestern's Jennifer Claudio (12:49) took seventh.
In the 3-4 race, Carroll's Hope Hayden (13:02) edged Western's Kayla Gaskins (13:04) for first place. Another Western runner, Lacey Meyer (13:30), came in third and Northwestern's Gretchen Catron (13:42) took fourth.
And in the 5-6-7 race, Western teammates Corianne Myer (12:50) and Ashley Gaskins (12:53) finished first and second, "I think the girls ran really smart races," Western coach Heather Yentes said. "We have a lot of freshmen and everyone placed in the top five"
Stevens came away pleased with the Tigers' third-place showing.
"I have a very young team and I had several personal bests, by a minute or more in some cases," he said. "We were hampered a little bit in that our senior, Jennifer Claudio, woke up [Wednesday] with a 101 fever. She probably shouldn't have run, but she said she felt OK and that she had enough fluids. She ran a smart race. I was proud of her effort, and all my girls ran well.'