Loaded Panthers eye strong showing at semistate

Kokomo Tribune - Thursday, August 14, 2008

-- On the surface, Howard County’s three regional-qualifying girls cross country teams in 2007 seemed to closely resemble each other.

Kokomo, Northwestern and Western were all paced by a senior who finished in the top 10 at the Culver Academies Regional, with all three leading six underclassmen apiece.

That would bode well for all three again this season, right? Well, a closer inspection of what Wildkats coach Ricke Stucker likes to call "The Gap" reveals why only the Panthers advanced beyond regional and why they are odds-on favorites to win their sixth straight sectional championship.

Nicky Parry was third overall for Kokomo in 19 minutes, 50 seconds, but No. 2 runner Hailey Butchart finished more than two minutes behind in 22:09 and Kokomo finished sixth as a team.

"We had a two-minute gap between [Nos.] 1 and 2 last year, so we’re just dead in the water [this year]," Stucker said in preparation for this season. "Even if you have a pack [but] your pack is minutes behind everybody else, you’re not going to beat anybody."

Northwestern’s Jennifer Claudio was fourth at Culver in 20:00, only to see teammate Hannah Ault cross in 21:34 and the Tigers place a disappointing seventh.

Western, on the other hand, put five runners between 10th and 18th places to finish second behind the host Eagles. With six regional performers returning, the Panthers hope to improve vastly on their 14th-place New Prairie Semistate finish.

"We’re looking good so far and are excited about this year," coach Heather Yentes says. "One of the goals [the girls] have set for themselves this year is to go to state with a top six spot [at semistate]."

The following are capsules of the five county teams, in order of their Logansport Sectional finish:

Western

The Panthers know the only thing that can slow them down this fall is injury, which hampered No. 1 runner Katie Hollingsworth, as well as freshman standout Ashley Gaskins, last season.

To that end, Yentes reports her girls have added yoga to their training regimen: "Hopefully that’ll help ward off injuries," she said.

Seniors Jenn Elliott and Lacey Myer return with a chance to earn the fourth sectional titles of their careers.

Elliott has been especially integral to Western’s success. A former Marion Sectional champion as a sophomore, she’s never finished worse than fifth in a sectional race.

Also returning with another year of experience is the outstanding sophomore class of Ashley Gaskins, Kayla Gaskins, Corianne Myer and Bre Nicholas. Myer was most consistent among them a year ago, placing seventh at sectional and 11th at regional.

Junior Jessy Smoker also spent time on the varsity last season while Ashley Gaskins and Hollingsworth were laid up, and classmate Kelsey Durr returns from an injury plagued 2007.

Freshman Krissy Durr was Western’s top middle-school runner last season and could have an impact, while newcomers junior Allison Jewell and freshman Danielle Bloom add depth.

Other recent Panther teams have carried hopes of a state berth into semistate only to be turned away. Their best finish was sixth at New Haven in 2005.

Only last season the IHSAA began taking the top six teams at each of four semistates to the state meet, while at the same time Western was moved to always-difficult New Prairie.

"Up north, we don’t know much of what they are going to do this season," said Yentes. "We just know last season they were so strong and probably will be just as strong this year, so there’s a lot of tough teams to compete with."

Northwestern

The Tigers hate to lose Claudio but are happy to welcome back senior Nikki Hendricks, who sat out last season.

Hendricks, along with Ault, a sophomore, were members of the school record-setting 4x800 relay team this spring. Coach Dave Stevens expects those two, plus sophomore Gretchen Catron, to be the backbone of the team.

Also out this season are junior Lauren Dewhurst, a member of the record-setting 4x400 team, and sophomore sprinter Jacque McClane.

"Hannah should work her way to the front," Stevens said. "She’s working really hard and wants to take Jennifer’s place.

"Nikki is working really hard and Gretchen is pulling along some of the other girls. Once the sprinters from the track team figure out they can do this, they will do well."

Other returnees include senior Ruby Sanchez and juniors Morgan Hullinger and Allie Combs. They will be challenged by freshmen Laura Wiley and Jenna Jordan and sophomore Amy Reed.

Stevens hasn’t shied away from letting his girls know he believes they are capable of improving last year’s results at Culver and being one of the top five to advance one more step.

"In our summer runs I didn’t hesitate to ever talk about [making it to semistate]," he said. "It was always ‘when’ and not ‘if’ we get to the next level.

"At first they looked at me kind of funny because I’m not a person who talks like that, but I told them when we went to Culver for a summer run that we were going to qualify for semistate right here. I think once they get a few races in they will see in themselves what their coach sees."

Kokomo

The Kats pleasantly surprised their coach in 2007 with a fifth-place finish at Logansport and sixth at Culver, but he knows this season will be more of a battle without Parry out front.

"Our girls are just going to have to scratch and bite to get anything at all," said Stucker. "They will work hard and we will improve. We’ll just see if we can improve enough."

Stucker said that Butchart, a senior, will "probably run hurt all season" with a knee injury. Juniors Maddie Cassidy, Kelsey Griffin, Katie Klein and Kellie Miles all return, with Miles probably running No. 1 for now.

Freshmen who could contribute include Courtney Conwell, Annika Taber and Christian Lawhead, while senior Andrea Simon is out for the first time.

Eastern

The Comets will suffer from low numbers to start the season until coach Brandon Mink can recruit a fifth runner.

"We have some other girls who are a possibility, so we’ll know more about that [this] week," he said. "We don’t really know where we’re at yet until we get more girls out.

"The first goal for us is to get a complete team out, then win some duals and be competitive. We have our work cut out for us."

Mink does have three returning letter winners in juniors Lindsey Reprogle and Alyssa Summers and sophomore Emily Wilcox. Freshman Sarah Willis is the fourth.

Taylor

The Titans lost four girls through graduation and attrition from an already thin roster last season.

Their only runners are returnees senior Leslie Maple and junior Mary Troyer. Like Eastern, first-year Taylor coach Matt Carlile will have to beat the bushes once school begins.

"Turnout for the girls wasn’t that great," Carlile said. "The girls we did get to come out have been running all summer."