FALL SPORTS PREVIEW - GIRLS X-COUNTRY: Comets set for stellar season

Kokomo Tribune - Thursday, August 16, 2012

— Eastern’s girls cross country team packed a lot of big moments into the 2011 season including sectional and regional titles, a fifth-place finish at the semistate level and the first state finals appearance in school history.

The Comets are ready for their encore.

Coach Brandon Mink returns his top four runners — seniors Bethany Neeley, Brittany Neeley and Sarah Wagner and sophomore Avery Ewing. They swept the top four spots in the Logansport Sectional last year.

“I’m seeing good things from them. They’re definitely improved from last year,” Mink said.

The Neeley sisters and Wagner will once again form the core of the lineup. They have led Eastern to three straight sectional titles. The year before their arrival, Eastern had a 10th-place sectional finish.

Last year, Bethany Neeley finished first in the sectional, first in the regional, second in the semistate and 20th at state. Brittany Neeley had finishes of second, second, 21st and 40th. And Wagner had finishes of third, fourth, 19th and 48th.

“I can’t say enough about the leadership of those three seniors,” Mink said. “Those are our captains. They’re the ones who are making our team a team. That is where I think we had our success last year — everybody was so close and everybody was pulling in the same direction. We need that again this year.

“We had a lot of success last year, but that doesn’t mean everything is going to go peachy this year. We have to step up and bring those new faces along. We have good potential to improve on last year if we can get everything to fall into place as we hope.”

Mink has several candidates for his Nos. 5, 6 and 7 spots. Senior Breann Donson and junior Megan Hedges ran in the latter two spots last year and freshmen Jessie Sprinkles and Carly Jones are receiving looks after strong middle school careers.

Also in the mix are senior Danielle Comfort, sophomore Elyssa DeAngalu, freshman Emily Richards and possibly a pair of foreign-exchange students.

Eastern opened its season Tuesday and is back in action today at the Northwestern Combo.

The following are looks at the other Howard County teams, in order of their 2011 sectional finishes.

Northwestern

Coach Dave Stevens loves what he has seen so far in the Purple Tigers’ camp.

“We have 17 kids out this year. That’s the largest number I’ve had as a coach. That’s very encouraging. There is a lot of competition in practice, but a lot of teamwork, too,” he said.

Juniors Taryn Thor and Karly Sprouse likely will lead the Tigers. Thor had a 12th-place finish at the sectional last year.

“The next 6-8 could all change places as the season goes on, as our training goes on,” Stevens said. “This is the deepest girls team I’ve ever had.”

The Tigers’ other returning runners are seniors Elise Cobb and Heidi Freeman, juniors Olivia Price and Lauren Ward and sophomores Megan Bunch and Rachel Johns. The newcomers are senior Kristina Arslain, sophomore Kindra Gingerich and freshmen Jensen Freeman and Rebecca Sims.

Northwestern had a third-place finish in the 2011 sectional but a disappointing 10th-place showing in the regional.

“Last year, we got to regional, but we were snake-bit at the end of the year by a couple illnesses. The girls gave it everything they had at regional, but we just couldn’t [make it out]. I think this year, the veterans want to take the team up to New Prairie [for semistate],” Stevens said.

Northwestern opens its season today with its annual Combination Runs.

Western

The Panthers return six runners from a squad that was fifth at the sectional and seventh at the regional, yet the bulk of the load will be carried by lowerclassmen as sophomores and freshmen are posting the lowest times.

Two returning sophomores, Emma Nixon and Nicole Hampshire, lead the Panthers on the course and are setting the pace for a promising freshmen class. Three freshmen are sure to form part of the top seven, and perhaps the top five: Erin Kneppley, Sam Lugenbuhl and Sophie Page.

“This team just has a completely different dynamic to them this year,” Western coach Joni McCracken said. “They have so much in their spirit, they have so much motivation. They have a good time together as a group and they’re running a lot as a group. We have some pack running and I’m excited about that to see how that pans out in the races.”

Hampshire was 36th at the regional last year for the top mark among returning Panthers.

Vying to round out the top seven spots are freshman Taylor Nunan, seniors Olivia Nixon, Cami Griffith and Jessica Love, and junior Faith Mooney. Madi Shepherd is sick to start the season but may return in time to participate.

“The seniors are being great leaders. They’re great mentors to the younger athletes,” McCracken said.

“I’m really excited about this group. I see great things for the future. I think they’re going to learn so much this year about racing. I have a great coaching staff that supports the girls. [The young Panthers] have that extra little hunger that’s nice to see.”

Kokomo

Dave Barnes is the Wildkats’ new coach.

“Right now, the girls are working really hard,” he said. “We didn’t get the mileage in that I would’ve liked to have had because I didn’t get the job until late in the summer. But, I like this group of girls. They’re working very hard and that’s all I can ask.

“We have a lot of seniors. We’re still trying to do some recruiting so we have some younger kids.”

Barnes’ squad has seniors Kierra Bronson, Erica Goodman, Morgan Kamper, Briel Robinson, Alyson Rohlfing and Addy Takacs, juniors Hannah High and Hannah Reecer and sophomore Mattison Floyd.

Bronson is the Kats’ lead runner. Takacs is splitting her time between soccer and cross country and will run in just a handful of meets.

Kokomo was 11th in the 12-team sectional last year.

The Kats begin their season Saturday at the Huntington North Invitational.

Taylor

The Titans have three runners, sophomores Ashley Nguyen, Alanna Hendrickson and Alyson Davis. That is two more than last year, but still an incomplete team.

“Ashley ran last year so she has some experience. Alanna is a softball player who is trying cross country. Alyson is an all-around athlete. I think she’ll be a good addition,” Taylor coach Matt Carlile said. Taylor runs today in the Northwestern Combo.