Eastern girls squad leads local contingent into Saturday’s meet

Kokomo Tribune - Friday, October 16, 2009

Around high school athletic circles, like cross country, the expectation of a promising set of athletes coming up from the middle-school ranks frankly sometimes pans out and sometimes doesn’t.

Just ask the folks around Eastern High School how much they’ve looked forward to the arrival of twins Bethany and Brittany Neeley and Sarah Wagner to a starving program that, off and on for the past few years, has failed to field even a complete team.

This season, those three young ladies who were expected to transform the Comets overnight have delivered Eastern’s first-ever conference and sectional championships.

Now, the Neeleys and Wagner have Eastern in prime position for another first, to be one of the top five teams at the Culver Academies Regional this Saturday.

That would earn the Comets a trip to the New Prairie Semistate, a level of the IHSAA tournament they’ve never reached.

“Before the season even began we knew that if we stayed healthy and worked hard that we had a real shot at semistate,” Eastern coach Brandon Mink said after Tuesday’s historic win.

Saturday’s meet begins at 10:30 a.m. and includes girls teams from Northwestern, Western and Lewis Cass, as well as boys teams from sectional champion Maconaquah, Western, Kokomo and Eastern.

“Now we’re at that next step and we certainly can’t take it for granted by any stretch,” Mink added. “That’s the thing about cross country — you have to have everybody clicking.”

The Comets seem to be doing just that.

Bethany Neeley captured individual titles at both the Mid-Indiana Conference and the Logansport Sectional meets with Brittany Neeley and Wagner each well within the top 10 finishers.

Brittany Neeley was fifth at Tuesday’s sectional while Wagner, a two-sport fall athlete, sprinted to finish eighth ahead of runners from runner-up Northwestern and third-place Oak Hill.

“Sarah has been doing soccer and cross country all season and she had [soccer] sectional [Monday] night before coming in [to the cross country sectional],” said Mink. “The last half of the race you better be ready because she’s coming hard. She made a huge difference for us.”

Senior Lindsey Reprogle and junior Emily Wilcox round out Eastern’s top five runners, with contributions from senior Alyssa Summers and sophomore Sarah Willis.

Ironically, former Western Middle School runner Waverly Neer wound up at Culver Academies last year and paced the Eagles to a regional title when Western finished second.

Neer once again will lead her team Saturday as the favorite to repeat. Mink is looking forward to it.

“I think some of the pressure is off [our girls],” he said. “Now we don’t have to worry about winning our first sectional. We can take care of business and see how far we can get. It’s just that much icing on the cake.”

The Tigers and Panthers both have plenty of regional experience as they advanced to semistate last season.

Northwestern will rely on the front-running tandem of Hannah Ault and freshman Heidi Freeman while Western’s pack is led by Corianne Myer. All three finished in the sectional top 15.

Kokomo senior Kellie Miles will be the lone individual from Howard County competing Saturday. She was 12th at Logansport Tuesday.

Boys regional

The Maconaquah boys have been reaching some impressive milestones of their own.

The Braves won their first MIC title this year since 1999, their first sectional since 1996 and are gunning for their first regional crown since 1991.

Six juniors on the current team helped Maconaquah finish third in the regional a year ago. Assistant coach Jeff Bingham said the Braves “absolutely” are going for the win Saturday.

“Culver [Academy] is a tough team. They have Alejandro Arroyo, who’s one of the best runners in the state, and their No. 2 is also very good,” he said. “But you know what, sectional is over and I told our guys, ‘It’s time to have fun. Let’s go up there and try to win this thing.’”

Head coach Melanie Bingham said the Braves has nothing to lose Saturday. She also explained how coaching her son Jacob with her husband has worked well for the team.

“When [Jeff and I] first started coaching I really worried because Jacob was in middle school and I wondered how I was going to be able to cheer for these guys next to cheering for [Jacob],” he said. “But getting to know them, I want to see them succeed as much as my own kid. I love these guys and want to see them do well. It’s not even an issue.”

Senior Austin Young paces the Panthers from the front. He was third at sectional and last year finished 14th at regional.

Chris Love, Kody Harmon and Ben Bradshaw all have regional experience as well from 2008.

“We should have our team up [at semistate]. I’m confident we should be able to do that,” said Western coach Gary Jewell. “I’m looking at third [place], which is fine, maybe fourth.  We’re running well right now, considering what we’ve got.  I’ll take that.”

The Wildkats were slowed by illness and injury Tuesday, but thanks to Adrian Glover’s 12th-place finish, extended their long regional streak.

The Comets, led by Ryan Horner’s sixth-place sectional finish, are making their first regional showing since 2004.