Records fall at Combo

Western boys, Eastern girls rule at CC meet

Kokomo Tribune - Friday, August 23, 2013

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

—Western set both individual and team records in the boys portion of the Northwestern Combo in cross country action on Thursday.

Panthers set a cumulative time of 50:19, and Panther pacesetter Matt Grider set an individual new time of 9-08. Tipton had the previous record time set in 1986.

"I thought we had a chance to get the record overall," Western coach Gary Jewell said. "It is something good for the guys to remember down the road. [This meet] gives us a chance to see where we are, and if you want to be fast in October, then you have to be fast in August. It's a long way to Halloween."

Grider was the overall winner in the 1-2 race. Auston Davenport (10:15) was tops in the 3-4 race, and Jacob Bradshaw (10:27) took first in the 5-6-7 race for Western.

"I thought Grider was capable of doing it," Jewell added. "He was 30 seconds in front of second place. Both him and EastEastern's Lewis Duke [who finished in second place] are running a lot faster. Davenport dropped two or three minutes from over a year ago. and Bradshaw ran a nice race."

Northwestern came in second place overall with a time of 54:09.

The Tigers were followed by Carroll (55:19), Tipton (55:23), Pioneer (56:53), and North Miami (59:55).

Zach Duranto was tops for Northwestern with a fifth-place finish in the 1-2 race. Shad Jakes was next with third-place finish (10:39) in the 3-4 race, and Josh Perry (10:43) was second in the 5-6-7 race.

"I was happy with the guys. We had 12 of the 14 set personal bests," Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. "Duranto ran very, very well. lakes did a nice job, and Perry finished in second place. His time would have been good for the 3-4 race"

Eastern's Lewis Duke finished second in the 1-2 race in 9:38.

GIRLS RACE
Eastern posted its fourth straight team victory in a total team time of 62:48. Northwestern was second followed by Western in third in 68:05. Taylor finished seventh in 79:09.

Individually, Northwestern's Taryn Thor broke course and meet records for three kilometers. winning the 1-2 race in 11:01.

Eastern's Avery Ewing took second behind Thor in 1128, and teammate Jessie Sprinkles followed in third at 11:43.

Carly Jones finished first in the 3-4 race in 12:37, followed by teammate Kaylie Forgrave in second place at 12:50. Elyssa DeAngulo finished ninth in the 5 6-7 race to round out Eastern's top five.

"I was very pleased with our effort [Thursday] night," Eastern coach Brandon Mink said. "The girls than ran did an excellent job. We had Avery and Jessie both move into the top 10 all-time on that course, and both have reallyimproved from last year. I was very impressed with them Carly stepped up and race, and Kayle was running in her first ever cross race and did and awesome job for us. Elyssa  was over a minute faster than her best time last year. And we did a great job working as a team. It's hard to follow up where we we’ve been at in the last few years, but our girls are keeping the tradition alive so I’m proud of them."

Stevens was happy with his squad.

"I was proud of the girls," Stevens added. "Thor ran a fast time of the day 11:01, which is a school record in the 3,000 meters. Kindra Gingerich ran very well in the 1-2 race. Rachel Johns, Jensen Freeman, Karly Sprouse and Nichole Crocker ran in seven seconds of each other."

Johns time was 13:30, followed by Freeman and Sprouse each with 13:36 times, and Crocker's time was 13:37. Freeman also won the 5-6-7 race.