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Western won the boys side of the Northwestern Combination cross country races, posting a time of 53:55 on the three-kilometer course. Carroll was second (55:21), Peru was third (57:52), Pioneer was fourth (59:24), Tipton was fifth (60:35) and Northwestern was sixth (60:54). North Miami, Taylor and Eastern were incomplete.
Austin Young of Western won the Nos. 1-2 runners’ race (9:57), Blake Mills of Carroll was third (10:17), Ryan Horner of Eastern was fourth (10:29) and Chris Love of Western was fifth (10:40).
Jordan Tooley of Carroll won the 3-4 race in 10:48. Christopher Nunan of Western was third (11:01), Brett Buckmaster of Eastern was fourth (11:23).
Western swept the top three in the 5-6-7 race with John Capps winning in 11:03, followed by Kyle Starich (11:14) and Braxton Bagwell (11:23). Brian Bordner of Carroll was fourth (11:38) and Peru’s Dalton Sparks was fifth (11:50).
“I’m pretty happy with how our guys ran,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “Austin Young, overall winner, I thought he ran a good race against the kid from Pioneer, ran a smart race.”
Jewell pointed out that the contribution from Western’s top three finishers in the 5-6-7 race “was one of the big keys to us winning the meet.” He also praised Nunan, who clipped a minute off his time from last season’s NW Combo.
Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said his crew had three personal bests.
“I thought the guys ran well for where we’re at in the season, and I’m looking forward to them improving as the season goes on,” he said.
Peru coach Gary Downing figured his team would be in the mix.
“Going in, I figured that we would be a middle-of-the-pack team and I was satisfied with a third-place finish,” Downing said. “The boys weren’t satisfied with their times, thinking that they could get better, and that is what we are striving for as a team.”
Eastern had an incomplete team, but coach Brandon Mink was happy with his team’s performance.
“Horner did a super job of hanging right in there,” he said. “His time was faster than last year. With the weather conditions the way that they were, he did a very good job. Buckmaster ran faster than last year too. They both did a a good job of leading us. We are hoping to get a complete team [soon].”
AND THEY’RE OFF: Participants take off from the starting line in one of the boys races during the Northwestern Combination cross country meet Thursday.
Girls race
The home team captured the girls competition as Northwestern took first in 66:06; Eastern was second (68:57), Western third (69:58), Carroll fourth (72:41) and Tipton was fifth (74:34). Peru and Pioneer also ran but didn’t field complete teams.
“I was very proud of the girls’ effort,” NW coach Stevens said. “They’ve been working very hard to improve and winning this meet, it’s the first time in a long time we’ve won it. They were very excited, so I’m happy for them.
“We had five of our top seven runners set personal bests, and all of my JV runners did too.”
Eastern’s Bethany Neeley won the Nos. 1-2 runners’ race in 12:03 and twin sister Brittany Neeley was second in 12:23 in the first varsity race for the freshmen. Hannah Ault of Northwestern was third in 12:27, Heidi Freeman of Northwestern took fourth in 12:46 and Eroica Stackhouse of Tipton was fifth in 13:01.
“I was really pleased with the way they ran, finishing second,” Eastern coach Mink said of the Comets. “We were hoping to get top three, and certainly finishing second to a very strong Northwestern team was a great accomplishment.
“It was really good to see the Neeley girls come out in the first race of their high school careers to finish 1-2. Brittany had a good race on her hands there, fighting it out with Hannah Ault from Northwestern. It was nice to see her hang on there. It was a good overall effort by the girls. A great way to start the season.”
Lauren Dewhurst of Northwestern took the 3-4 race in a time of 13:01. Gretchen Catron of Northwestern took third in 13:22. Emily Wilcox was fourth to lead Eastern in 13:51. Carroll’s Abby Reinke was fifth in 13:59.
Carroll’s Kaira Ragan won the 5-6-7 race in 14:05. Western’s Erin Weber took second (14:26) and teammate Jessica Love took third (14:29). Northwestern’s Laura Wiley was fourth (14:30). Western’s Gina Jakubowicz was fifth in 14:46.
“I was pretty pleased,” Western coach Bo Britton said. “It’s kind of a fun start to the season. We had six of our nine girls running for the first time, had never run a race before, and I was just really pleased with all of them. I thought they did a nice job.”
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