Kokomo Tribune - Wednesday, August 13, 2008

-- The tenure of new Taylor athletic director Karen Franklin has barely begun and already it appears as though her call for greater athletic participation at the school has been heeded by a group of enterprising runners.

The last time the Titans fielded at least a single runner on the cross country team was 2004, when then-senior Christopher Stinnett finished fourth at the Marion Sectional.

It’s been even longer since Taylor fielded a complete squad of five runners, but that will change this fall as six boys are out for the team under the direction of new head coach Matt Carlile.

"It’s looking like we’re going to have a full team, and a pretty solid one at that," said Carlile, a former Titan who graduated in 1996 and now a second-year teacher there. "Nobody has really stepped up and become the frontrunner yet, but they’ve all come up with solid times."

Speaking of 2004, that was the last time Eastern reached the regional level as a team. Coach Brandon Mink is hopeful with the addition of key athletes from other sports.

"I think we can be competitive toward the end of the season," he said. "We’re looking for a shot at regional. We haven’t been there in a while. That would be a good goal for us."

Last season teams from Western and Kokomo advanced as far as the New Prairie Semistate, and with five top runners returning, the Panthers have their sights set on even more in 2008.

"We’re shooting for even higher this year," coach Joe Orr said. "We would like to get to the state meet. The guys are all working hard and we’re going to need for them to all be healthy in October."

The following are capsules of the five Howard County teams, in alphabetical order:

Kokomo

The Wildkats lost what coach Ricke Stucker called "three good ones," graduates Brandon Sheline, Mason McGovern and Devin White — integral parts of teams that made three straight semistate appearances and won a sectional title in 2006.

"We’re rebuilding," Stucker said flatly. "It’s going to be really tough to [get back to semistate]. Nobody’s going to touch Western and Oak Hill’s got some young kids who are going to be tough.

Senior Ian Holtson is the top holdover from the squad that finished third at the Culver Academies Regional. He led the team with a 13th-place finish.

Also back are juniors Jordan Lee and Vince Calabro and sophomore Dylan Walker. They will be joined by senior track standout Jeremy Gilman, a first-time runner; junior Matt Wyss, sophomores Austin Conwell and Kyle Wysong, as well as senior Drew Simon from the tennis team.

"[Simon] just called me up and said, ‘Can I run cross country, coach?’ and I said, ‘OK,’" said Stucker. "We still have a few things to work out."

Northwestern

The Tigers "pieced together a team last year," according to coach Dave Stevens and managed to finish fifth in the Mid-Indiana Conference but were ninth at Logansport.

With the 1-2 punch of Kory Kennedy and Sam Freeman back, Stevens sees an improvement in 2008.

"This group is eager to go every day," said Stevens. "We may not be there early in the season, but I think we’ll improve on our ninth place in the sectional."

Kennedy, a senior, is a threat to win any race he’s in, while Freeman, a sophomore, was a regional qualifier in track this spring.

Kennedy will be looking for redemption after last season’s 16th-place finish at regional. As an individual, only the top 15 overall qualify for semistate.

"He’s definitely the effort leader on the team," Stevens said of Kennedy. "Nobody doubts what he does and I’m looking forward to getting him past that No. 16 [slip of paper] he handed me at the regional last year.

"I carry that with me until I can hand it back to him and let him wad it up and throw it in the lake at Culver."

Sophomores Hayden Jarvis and Bryce Bousum return and will be pushed by freshman Kyle Condon for a spot in the top four. Senior Steve Vas is back and joined by sophomores Jeremy Catt, Alex Fruth and Gary Burns.

"I’m looking for improvement as a team," said Stevens. "The guys are working hard at it. They know they’re not Kory or Sam but yet they work hard and they know they can run hard."

Western

The Panthers appear primed to make an all-out assault this season, which would come on the heels of an MIC title and runner-up finishes to Oak Hill at both sectional and regional a year ago.

If they could finish in the top six at semistate, it would mark the first trip ever for a Western team to the cross country state finals.

"Last year was the best team finish any of these guys have experienced, so they want to take it one step higher," Orr said. "We’d like to run one week longer this season."

Seniors Corey Scott and Zac Martinez return as team leaders. They finished eighth and 10th, respectively, at regional. Junior Kody Harmon was 23rd and classmate Austin Young was 32nd, with sophomore Chris Love sandwiched between in 25th place. Another sophomore, Kyle Starich, also lettered last season.

That leaves Ben Bradshaw, Joe Whitmore, Nathan Lyons and promising freshman John Capps, as well as first-time runners Christopher Nunan and Kory Kirchgessner, fighting over whatever positions are left open.

Last year marked Orr’s successful return to the coaching helm at Western, and he’s looking forward to more good results.

"We’ve gotten used to each other and I know now what to expect from them," he said. "Last year coming in I really didn’t know too much about them, but now I know their personalities better. I think we’re going to gel as a team."

Eastern

The Comets were eighth at the newly aligned 2007 Logansport Sectional and among their returnees are junior Hansen Martin and sophomore Ryan Horner.

"They put in more miles over the summer than they have in the past, so we’re looking for improvement there," Mink said of Martin and Horner. "They’re looking to step it up a notch."

Senior Cody Young would have been another major asset for Mink, but he has been slowed by a back injury and his return is uncertain. Junior Brett Buckmaster is back and will split time between cross country and football.

Junior Mitch Padfield and senior Steven Boomershine will be welcome additions. Padfield is a middle-distance runner from the track team and Boomershine is a hoops standout.

First-time participants Luke Kimmel and Sean Ryan, a kicker on the football team, are also on the roster, formulating what Mink believes is a nice alchemy of runners with experience and athletes new to the sport.

"That kind of competitiveness can improve the team more than any coaching can," said Mink. "It’s your teammates that really make you better.

"They won’t necessarily run hard if you just say, ‘Run hard,’ but if you have someone running hard next to you, then it makes it a lot easier."

Taylor

Despite the enthusiasm of having a team, the Titans have a razor-thin margin of error in order to keep their numbers intact. Carlile knows he still has some work cut out for him.

"We have something to build on," he said. "There’s been a little more interest, and I’ll be working with the basketball and wrestling programs to see if any of those athletes are interested before their season starts."

Taylor’s squad includes juniors Ben Meadows, Cody Hinton, Justin Anderson and Justin Gill, sophomore Anthony Rentz and freshman Julian Nieto.