Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, August 31, 2008

Western boys and girls both finish third

Both Western's boys and girls cross country teams placed third in the Western Invitational Saturday.

In the boys race, Western had 76 points, which was 36 points behind eventual winner No. 1-ranked Carmel (40). No. 20-ranked Zionsville was third (66). Kokomo was fifth (153). Maconaquah placed seventh (196).

Peru was ninth (239). Northwestern came in 11th (302), and Tipton was 12th (341).

Western boys coach Joe Orr was very pleased with his team's performance.

"Carmel is very good, and Zionsville surprised me," Orr said. "Beating West Lafayette [fourth with 97] is a good thing. "

Western's Corey Scott was the top area runner with a sixth-place finish in a time of 16:38. Close behind was a Panther pack of Zac Martinez (11th place, 16:51), Austin Young (12th, 16:52) and Kody Harmon (14th, 16:57). Chris Love rounded out Western runners with a 33rd-place finish (17:37).

"We had four guys under 17 minutes, and that really surprised me," Orr commented. "Their times were a lot better then what I expected."

Kory Kennedy led the Northwestern contingent with a 16th-place finish (17:05), followed by Sam Freeman (42nd, 17:51), Hayden Jarvis (79th, 21:18), Kyle Condon (81st, 21:52) and Steve Vas (84th, 22:21).

Northwestern coach Dave Stevens had good things to say about his team's first 5K run.

"Three out of my seven got personal best times," Stevens said. "This is the first 5K of the year, and I thought the boys did really well for the first time. Kennedy did a very good job of leading us, and Freeman ran very well."

Aaron Garretson led Peru, taking 19th in 17:08. Shannon Garrretson was 38th (17:48), Jordan Garretson was 48th (18:17), Nick Lipari was 58th (19:01), Dalton Sparks was 76th (20:58), Tyler Kintner was 77th (20:59) and Sonny Ornelas was 80th (21:20).

"We ran well," said Peru coach Gary Downing, who was impressed with the level of competition of the top squads. "It was a nice competition there. Right now, we're just struggling a bit at the four and five [positions]. No. 4 runner had a PR [personal record] today, but for us to be competitive, that needs to get a little bit quicker."

Other area top runners were Kokomo's Ian Holtson (8th, 16:47), Maconaquah's Jacob Bringham (20th, 17:12), and Tipton's Micah Woolf (60th, 19:20).

Girls race

In the girls race, Western had 79 points, and No. 2-ranked Carmel totaled 29 points to win by taking five of the top eight places. No. 12-ranked West Lafayette was second with 55. Northwestern came in fifth (165), followed by Maconaquah (sixth, 173), Kokomo (seventh, 183), Peru (ninth, 234) and Tipton (10th, 239).

Ashley Gaskins led Western with a time of 20:32 for ninth place overall. Jenn Elliott (16th, 21:26), Krissy Durr (17th, 21:28), Corianne Myer (18th, 21:38) and Kayla Gaskins (19th, 21:42) teamed up to create a pack of Panthers.

"I really like the way they ran together," Western coach Heather Yentes said. `Ashley Gaskins had a personal best, and they all ran great races. They all are improving."

After the top three teams, the scoring dropped off with Northwestern coming within eight points of Oak Hill (157) for fourth place.

Hannah Ault led the Tigers with a 14th-place finish (20:59), followed by Gretchen Catron (24th, 22:30), Nicki Hendricks (30th, 22:43), Ruby Sanchez (48th, 24:06) and Lauren Dewhurst (49th, 24:10).

"It was our first 5K, and I am proud of all nine girls," Stevens said. "Six of the nine set personal bests, and [Oakbrook Valley] is a very good course. Ault and Catron were two of those six, and they dropped their times by 25 seconds each"

Other area runners were, Kokomo's Annika Taber (11th, 20:55), Tipton's Eroica Stackhouse (12th. 20:55). Maconaquah's (23rd, 22:21), and Peru's Jessica Parkman (29th, 22:41).