Kokomo Tribune - Wednesday, October 13, 2010

LOGANSPORT — Just one year removed from a season which saw them capture a first-ever sectional championship, the Eastern girls have begun to make success look rather ho-hum.

The Comets, with 37 points and behind the 1-2 punch of Bethany and Brittany Neeley, easily outran runner-up Oak Hill (78) to claim back-to-back Logansport Cross Country Sectional titles.

Northwestern (94) was third with Lewis Cass (96) fourth and Western (101) fifth. All five teams earned a spot in Saturday’s Culver Academies Regional.

“We’re pretty excited,” said Emily Wilcox, the lone senior on the team. She finished fourth for Eastern, 10th overall. “We just knew what we needed to get done [Tuesday]. We had to stay focused if we wanted to repeat.”

Sophomore Bethany Neeley defended her individual title in 20:09.61, more than 10 seconds slower than last year’s time and just a tick faster than twin sister Brittany (20:10.61).

Oak Hill’s Jenna Norris (20:14.85) was third and Cass’ Ashley Baber (21:00.15) was fourth, followed by Eastern sophomore Sarah Wagner (21:16.90).

“The times are a little off but place-wise we got what we needed to do,” Comets coach Brandon Mink said. “[The girls] got the job done and that was the main thing. They just step up and rise to the occasion.”

Freshman Ari Rinaldo was 21st overall to round out the scoring for Eastern, which was third at regional a year ago — something the Comets wish to improve upon.

“We keep telling the kids we’re not done yet,” said Mink. “I know they’ll be hungry on Saturday to give our best performance. We’re looking forward to that.”

The Tigers, minus sophomore Heidi Freeman, the fourth-place finisher in 2009, were paced by the leadership of seniors Hannah Ault and Gretchen Catron.

Ault (21:44.49) led Northwestern with a ninth-place finish while Catron ran third for the team in 23rd place on a leg so sore she had to have it immobilized afterward.

Also for the Tigers, Britanny Jocius was 12th, Taryn Thor 28th and Karly Sprouse 29th.

“All seven of [the girls] ran hard [Tuesday] to make sure they could advance,” NW coach Dave Stevens said. “Our seniors, Gretchen and Hannah, ran their hearts out. I don’t know how Gretchen finished with her bad leg.”

The Panthers were without their No. 1 runner, Corianne Myer, yet qualified for their 12th consecutive regional as Krissy Durr (21:42.02) finished eighth.

Erin Weber was 16th, Gina Jakubowicz 24th, Cara Love 25th and Bre Nicholas 35th.

“We had a momentum shift and we struggled in recovering from that,” coach Joni McCracken. “We’ve got three days to pull together and get the momentum back in the right direction.

“[The girls] did an OK job. They know they could have run better. Krissy did a nice job and ended up where we needed her to be.”