PREP: Local squads run in Western Invite

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, August 30, 2009

By TRIBUNE SPORTS STAFF
           

Carmel won the girls side of the Western Invitational cross country meet with a total of 20 points Saturday at Oakbrook Valley. Oak Hill was second (97), Northwestern was third (108), Eastbrook fourth (117) and Rochester fifth (118). Maconaquah was sixth (125), Kokomo was seventh (171), Western was eighth (173), Tipton ninth (200). Peru was incomplete.

Sarah Bennett of Carmel was the overall winner, running the 5K course in 19:23, while Kokomo’s Annika Taber led the local girls, taking seventh in 50:57.

For the third-place Purple Tigers, Heidi Freeman led the squad, taking ninth in 21:12. Hannah Ault was 17th (21:45), Lauren Dewhurst was 23rd (22:30), Gretchen Catron was 24th (22:34) and Britanny Jocius was 39th (23:51).

Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said it was “a very solid run for the whole team. Our top-five gap for the girls was excellent for this early in the season, this being our first 5K. We still have room for improvement but overall the girls ran really well as a team, and that’s what we need to do if we want to be successful in October when the tournaments come.

“[It was] an outstanding job for Heidi Freeman in her first varsity 5K race. Britanny Jocius, her first varsity 5K race, she ran a very solid time. Hannah, Lauren and Gretchen ran their normal solid races.”

Kimmy Lane led Maconaquah in 12th (21:22), Alex White was 20th (22:13), Meggan Adcock was 26th (22:49), Holli Walker was 34th (23:29), Abbi Jenkins was 38th (23:45).

After Taber’s seventh-place finish, Kellie Miles was 25th for the Kats (22:42), Brittany Wade was 42nd (24:06), Kelsey Griffin was 44th (24:12) and Rachel Pace was 61st (28:25).

Corianne Myer led the host Panthers with a 21st-place finish (22:22). Kelsey Durr was 33rd (23:26), Breana Nicholas was 36th (23:32), Erin Weber was 45th (24:34) and Jessica Love was 46th (24:39).

“I was real pleased with our first-year runners, they knocked a bunch of time off from last week,” Western coach Bo Britton said. “They ran a good, consistent race and I thought Kelsey Durr had a strong race for us also.”

Eroica Stackhouse led Tipton in 13th (21:23). Taylour Kintner led Peru in 22nd (22:28).

Boys race

Zionsville won the boys side of the Western Invitational, topping the 12-team field with a score of 34. Carmel, which entered a split squad as part of the team ran elsewhere, took second with a score of 45. Oak Hill and Western tied with 117 points with Oak Hill taking third on the tiebreaker, the teams’ sixth runners’ times. Maconaquah was fifth (123), Kokomo was sixth (150), Peru was eighth (232), Tipton was 10th (308) and Northwestern was 11th (327).

Austin Young led Western, racing to third place (16:42). Chris Love was 20th (17:32), John Capps was 29th (18:07), Christopher Nunan was 32nd (18:11) and Kody Harmon was 33rd (18:18).

“Austin Young ran really well for us,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “The race went out at a ridiculously slow first mile. I’d told Austin, ‘I don’t want you leading at the first mile’ and yet he’s leading at the mile [because of the slow pace]. He finished third overall, that was by far the best of the area.”

Jewell was glad to get a boost from Harmon, who was back on the course after returning from a knee injury, and noted a big time drop for Nunan. He said that among schools who will compete in the Logansport Sectional, there’s little to separate Oak Hill, Western and Maconaquah.

“It’s really close between those three teams,” he said. “It’s really going to be interesting at sectional.”

Leading Peru was Shannon Garretson in 30th (18:06). Nick Lipari was 39th (18:35), Jordan Garretson was 53rd (19:31), Dakota Barnes was 56th (19:43) and Tyler Kitner was 57th (19:51).

“I thought that my top two runners did a nice job,” Peru coach Gary Downing said. “Their times aren’t where they should be, but their times are coming down. The rest of the team are getting better, so we’re going to keep working at it.”

Nolan Cockrell led Northwestern in 58th (19:57). Kyle Condon was 68th (21:26), Jordan Wilson was 69th (21:57), Hayden Jarvis was 70th (22:22) and Alex Fruth was 71st (22:51).

“The guys showed a lot of improvement,” NW coach Dave Stevens said. “We had a hard week of practice and they did a good job. If they continue this improvement, I think our times will continue to drop and we’ll do a lot better as the season progresses.”