Panthers, Kats once again tops in CC

Loss of graduated seniors felt by top teams

Kokomo Tribune - Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Little has happened to alter the local boys cross country landscape as 2009 could look a lot like 2008, with the exception of a change at the top for Western.

The Panthers say goodbye once again to longtime head coach Joe Orr, who came out of retirement two years ago to lead the team to back-to-back semistate appearances and a regional title last season.

In his place will be Gary Jewell, a six-year assistant who ran for Orr in the late 1970s during his first term as coach.

Jewell went on to run for Mike Poehlein at Purdue University.

“Between those two I learned a lot of things we can use to make our team better, and that’s really what it’s all about — better than they are, better than they were and getting them to progress,” said Jewell. “I’m very fortunate to have worked with two very good coaches.”

Kokomo’s Ricke Stucker, the dean of Howard County coaches, brings back a strong nucleus of the team that earned the Kats their fourth straight semistate berth.

As usual, though, Stucker is reserving his enthusiasm for what the team looks like once the postseason arrives.

“We just don’t have any studs,” Stucker said. “We need a gap time of 25 or 30 seconds if we’re going to be any good, and I don’t know if we can do that. By October, if we can, maybe we’ll surprise some people.”

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

Western

The Panthers should be on the prowl again despite the loss of two outstanding seniors, Corey Scott and Zac Martinez.

Scott was the keystone of the team, finishing 29th in the state.

“We’re losing two pretty good athletes, but like any other successful program, guys are moving up to fill those spots,” Jewell said, pointing to senior Austin Young, who ran fifth at sectional and 14th at regional.

“Austin has been putting in some very good training this summer. It’s been a continual effort on his part to get better,” said Jewell. “He’s just a much stronger runner and he’s running with some patience he didn’t have before. He learned a lot watching Corey compete.”

Also back from the semistate are senior Kody Harmon, juniors Chris Love and Ben Bradshaw and sophomore John Capps. Junior Joe Whitmore also saw action as Western swept through county, conference, sectional and regional titles.

That leaves senior Nathan Lyons, juniors Kyle Starich, Christopher Nunan and Brice Sheets and freshman Braxton Bagwell competing for varsity spots.

“Right now, a lot of people are going to say we’re the team to beat, and I guess that’s true,” said Jewell. “But at the same time I tell our guys don’t assume we’re going to win.

“It takes a lot of work to put yourself into that position, and if you’re in that position you should go into these meets expecting to win.”

Kokomo

The Wildkats also lost their top runner, Ian Holtson, but bring in a possible replacement in Adrian Glover, a junior first-time cross country runner from the track team.

“We hope we can get him to follow our instructions,” Stucker said of Glover. “Right now he’s running way too many miles.”

Glover will mix well with seniors Jordan Lee, Matt Wyss and Vince Calabro and juniors Dylan Walker and Kyle Wysong. They all helped Kokomo place third at sectional and fifth at regional.

Stucker also singled out freshmen Waylon Coulter and Minh Pham as possible roster fillers on the varsity.

“We have a few more bodies to work with and some good young kids for a change,” said Stucker. “By October we may be decent but we’re not in the league with Western, Logansport or Oak Hill.

“We may have a little bit of a pack. I’m not sure we’re going to have a frontrunner, but I think we’ll have a decent pack before it’s over with.”

Eastern

The Comets soar back in 2009 with high expectations, having finished eighth at sectional.

Coach Brandon Mink welcomes five regulars, seniors Hansen Martin, Brett Buckmaster and Mitch Padfield and juniors Ryan Horner and Luke Kimmel.

Horner led the cross country team much of 2008 and Martin is coming off a terrific track season, qualifying for regional in the 800 meters.

Newcomers sophomore Sam Clark and freshman Grant Cole complete the roster.

“Ryan has put lots of miles in and I’ve been impressed with his work ethic this summer,” Mink said. “It’s a great group of guys and we’re looking forward to seeing how they step up.

“Overall we’ve got a better team that we had last year but with a small team as we are we’re always leery of injuries. We got burned with it last year and we’re trying to get through some early season nicks and things.”

Northwestern

The Tigers slumped to 10th at sectional last year but look forward to better results this season, despite the graduation of semistate runner Kory Kennedy.

Junior Sam Freeman is charged with the duty of filling Kennedy’s leadership role.

“This is Sam’s team,” coach Dave Stevens said. “This is his season to get out there in front, especially on the [race] course because it’s no more Kory out in front. I think he’s up to the challenge.”

Also returning for Northwestern are juniors Hayden Jarvis, Alex Fruth, Jeremy Catt and Gary Burns, along with sophomore Kyle Condon.

Newcomers senior Jordan Wilson and junior Nolan Cockrell round out the roster.

“The boys are coming around,” said Stevens. “It may take us a little longer than the girls to get real competitive, but I think they’re going to work hard and go after it. They’ll get better as the season progresses.”

Taylor

Second-year coach Matt Carlile managed to resurrect the Titans last season and has another full crew again this year.

“I’ve been trying to align our middle-school and high-school programs to make it a more cohesive unit, trying to build that tradition back at Taylor,” Carlile said.

Senior Justin Anderson and sophomore Julian Nieto have been the early leaders, along with juniors Anthony Rentz and Shane Arnold. Newcomers senior Leslie Boyles, juniors Craig Yard and Billy Jones and sophomore Allex Barrik will all vie for spots.

“We’re focusing on personal-bests, just becoming better runners all-around,” said Carlile. “Wherever the results are as far as the team goes, that’ll come with meeting those personal goals.”