Eastern girls win Western CC Invite

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, August 26, 2012

Eastern's girls cross country team put five runners in the top 18 to win the championship of the Western

Invitational Saturday morning. The 12th-ranked Comets took first with a score of 37 Fishers followed in second with 51.

Eastern's Bethany Neeley was first in a time of 18:57 Brittany Neeley was fourth in 19:44. Carly Jones was

sixth in 20:06. Sarah Wagner was eighth in 20:14. And Avery Ewing was 18th in 21:10.

"It was a very, very strong outing for us this early in the season," Eastern coach Brandon Mink said. "Our team average was just over 20 minutes for our top five per girl, and that's really good this time of year.

Bethany in particular Iooked very controlled up front. She was with a couple of other girls from Rochester and Eastbrook at the two-mile mark, and she pulled away and put over 20 seconds on both of them in the last mile.

"Carly Jones was our top freshman. It was her first 5K at the high school level and we were very impressed with how she ran. She really helped us secure the win."

Western was fifth (129), Northwestern was sixth (133), Maconaquah was seventh (207), and Kokomo was eighth (240). Eight complete teams and three incomplete squads competed.

Emma Nixon led Western in 16th (20:52). Nicole Hampshire was 22nd (21:43). Erin Knepley was 24th (21:46). Sophie Page was 32nd (23:23). And Sam Luginbuhl was 40th (24:10).

"We had put some pretty aggressive goals at them to see where they're at at the beginning of the season, and really for the beginning of the season where it is, we were pretty pleased with how they did," Western coach Joni McCracken said. "Three of the top five are freshmen, so we're still at that phase of feeling out where they are. It gives us a good starting point."

Alyson Rohlfing led Kokomo in 43rd (25:05), followed by Molly O'Keefe in 47th (27:10), Erica Goodman in 49th (28:07), Hannah Reecer in 50th (28:34), and Hannah High 51st (29:25).

"I thought Molly O'Keefe ran an outstanding race for her first varsity race ever, first cross country race ever," Kokomo coach Dave Barnes said. "Alyson Rohlfing led us again and paced herself and made great improvements from the first meet."

Taryn Thor led the Purple Tigers with a seventh-place finish in 20:10, the second-fastest 5K time in program history.

"Taryn is in her third year of competitive running, and it's starting to work out for her," NW coach Dave Stevens said. "She's really learning more and more every day, and I think she's going to be much, much faster as the year goes on. She put in a very good summer and it's showing"

Karly Sprouse added a 21st-place showing for Northwestern in 21:37, while fellow newcomers Kindra Gingerich (33rd, 23:27), Jensen Freeman (38th, 23:59), and Megan Bunch (42nd, 24:22) rounded out the Tigers' card.

"Karly, Kindra and Jensen were outstanding for their first varsity 5K," Stevens said. "I was pleased with their effort. We had nine personal bests out of 14, so that's quite an accomplishment for the team. The girls have high goals like the boys do, and if we keep working there's no doubt we can get there."

BOYS RACE

Westfield won the 10-team boys meet with a score of 21, far ahead of second-place Rochester (82). Western took fifth (118), Northwestern was seventh (194), Kokomo eighth (229), Peru ninth (270) and Tipton 10th (272). Eastern was incomplete. The boys individual winner was Colin Rinne of Westfield, who clocked 16:14.

Western's Matt Grider was fifth, covering the course in 16:45. Also for the Panthers, Riley Worl was 12th in 17:26, Jacob Bradshaw was 27th in 18:10, Austin Elliott was 40th in 18:56, and Mark Boss was 45th in 19:07.

"I thought we ran pretty well considering the conditions - it was a little hot," Western coach Gary Jewell said. "Grider ran in the lead pack for the first two miles and then the two guys that went 1-2 from Westfield kind of broke away from him. It's kind of a learning experience for him.

"I thought Riley Worl ran probably our best race of the day. He ran a little conservatively early on and was able to pick up a lot of places late in the race."

Northwestern's top five boys finished within a minute of each other in the Tigers' first 5K race of the season.

Charlie Neher finished 32nd in 18:29 to lead the Tigers. Zach Duranto followed in 38th in 18:50, while Andrew Fackler (42nd, 18:59), Bradley fakes (48th, 19:22) and Taylor McLain (49th, 19:23) rounded out the top five.

"Our top five guys were within 54 seconds of each other, and that's extremely good," Stevens said. "That's the way we've been practicing, and it didn't surprise me. When they finished, we realized we need to go faster as a pack, and I know they will. For our first 5K of the season I was very pleased with the outcome.

They know they have more work left to accomplish their goals. They understand what we have to do, but have a pack like that all under 19:30 is really good."

The Comets were incomplete but had highlights regardless. Lewis Duke led Eastern with a sixth-place finish in 16:50. Adam Schaaf was eighth in 17:01, Kevin Zhang was 58th in 19:57, and Sam Higdon was 59th in 20:00.

"First of all, it was an excellent day overall for us," Mink said. "Lewis Duke took nearly a minute off his personal best from last year, and Adam took over 10 seconds off his personal best from last year. They really moved up strongly over the last half of the race. I'm looking forward to what they do in the weeks ahead, but great start for the first 5K."