Kokomo Tribune - Wednesday, September 19, 2007

Elliott, Martinez both grab second to lead the Panther charge

TIPTON -- The Western girls and boys teams swept multi-team cross country meets Tuesday at Tipton.

On the girls side, Western put four runners in the top 10 on its way to a solid team score of 34. Marion (53), Kokomo (66) and Tipton (76) rounded out the field. Wabash fielded an incomplete team, but came away with the individual winner. Katherine Wilhelm covered the course in 21:16.

Western showed its usual good balance. Jenn Elliott (21:30) was runner-up, Corianne Myer (22:19) came in sixth, Kayla Gaskins (22:39) and Lacey Myer (23:05) came in ninth and 10th, respectively, and Bre Nicholas (23:22) finished 13th to round of the Panthers’ top five.

“Overall, the girls all ran really strong races,” Western coach Heather Yentes said. “Kayla Gaskins had a really great race. She did a really good job finishing ninth. Corianne Myer did a really job finishing sixth. And obviously Jenn Elliott, getting that second-place finish in a time of 21:30, was amazing considering the [weather conditions].”

Yentes likes how her team is developing. The Panthers have a solid No. 1 in Elliott and good depth.

“Corianne, Kayla, Lacey and Bre start out together and then after that second mile, they break off. They could finish in any order depending on the kind of race they are having. It’s nice to have that pack,” she said.

Nicky Parry led Kokomo with a time of 22:12, which was good for fifth place. Also for the Kats, Hailey Butchart (23:21) finished 12th, Katie Klein (24:03) was 16th, Libbi Brown (24:55) was 23rd and Kellie Miles (25:49) came in 25th.

“The girls did not have a good day at all,” Kokomo coach Ricke Stucker said. “We had one girl, Katie Klein, who set a season best and that was excellent on a hot day like [Tuesday].”

Eroica Stackhouse led Tipton with a third-place finish. She covered the course in 21:45.

On the boys side, Western (38) edged Kokomo (44) for first place and Marion (68), Tipton (97) and Wabash (117) rounded out the field.

Marion’s Matt Lakes turned in a time of 17:02 to lead all runners. Western’s Zac Martinez followed in second place, 10 seconds off Lakes’ pace.

Also for Western, Corey Scott (17:38) finished fifth, Kody Harmon (17:46) took seventh, Chris Love (18:08) made it four Panthers in the top 10 with a 10th-place finish and Austin Young (18:48) came in 14th.

“It was a good meet for a Tuesday night,” Western coach Joe Orr said. “I think all the kids probably ran a little tired after their weekend meets. It’s always good to beat the NCC schools [Kokomo and Marion], even though they may not have been at full strength. It was a good win for us.”

Kokomo put its top five runners in the top 12: Devin White (17:32) in fourth, Brandon Sheline (17:57) and Ian Holtson (18:01) in eighth and ninth and Jordan Lee (18:12) and Mason McGovern (18:44) in 11th and 12th.

“It was hot and times were about 30 seconds slower than they were Saturday on the same course,” Stucker said. “Western’s kids ran pretty well. Kokomo ran so-so. We had maybe three out of seven run well. It was a tough day to run well.”

Brady Butler led the host Blue Devils with a time of 17:44, which was good for sixth place. Aaron Crawford was second-best for the Blue Devils with a time of 18:47, good for 13th place.