Northwestern Cominational

Kokomo Tribune - Wednesday, August 19, 2015

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

Boys Race

Western raced to its ninth straight victory in the meet, which features three separate 3K races (1-2 runners, 3-4 runners, 5-6-7-plus runners). Western’s top five individual times totaled 54:20. Pioneer was second (55:25), Maconaquah third (55:58), Northwestern fourth (59:51), Carroll fifth (59:56), and Tipton sixth (1:05.20). Eastern and Taylor were incomplete.

A Western runner won each of the three races. Josh Everetts cruised to victory in the 1-2 race, finishing in 10:13. Alex Taylor won the 3-4 race in 10:50, and Nate Nicholson won the 5-6-7 race in 11:17 to cement Western’s time.

“We were 23 seconds faster on our cumulative time this year than we were a year ago, and the funny thing about that is only one of our guys who scored [Tuesday] scored a year ago, and that’s Josh Everetts,” Western coach Gary Jewell said.

“Nate Nicholson probably had his best race of his career so far and he’s only a sophomore. You see guys that are making improvements already from last year to this year. Nate improved by 1:25 over what he did a year ago and I think that was a big surprise.”

Tyler Dietzel was Maconaquah’s fastest runner, finishing third in the 1-2 race in 10:37. Spencer Hutchins was fourth in that race in 10:43 to lead Northwestern.

John Cooper was 10th in the 1-2 race in 11:10 to lead Carroll. Eastern was led by Joshua Reprogle, who was 11th in the 3-4 race in 12:30. Braxton Downs led Taylor, finishing 27th in the 5-6-7 race in 14:04.

Spencer Hutchins had Northwestern’s top time. He ran a 10:43 in the 1-2 race, finishing 10th.

“All 11 runners captured personal and course best,” NW coach Dave Stevens said. “We have a lot to look forward to.”

Girls Race

Maconaquah won the meet, which features three separate 3K races (1-2 runners, 3-4 runners, 5-6-7-plus runners). Maconaquah’s top five individual times totaled 63:06. Western (67:56), Northwestern (68:45) and Kokomo (77:44) rounded out the top four.
Eastern’s Carly Jones was the overall winner, taking first in the 1-2 race in 11:49. She outpaced Maconaquah runners Olivia Winegardner and Madison Winegardner were second and third.

“We worked really hard in track on her race strategy in the 3,200 and [Tuesday was a] very similar distance,” Eastern coach Ben Cox said. “She executed a very similar race strategy. It was nice to see. The girls in second and third, the Winegardners from Maconaquah, they’re really good runners. Carly likes running against them because it makes her better.”

Reagan Ritchie had Western’s top time. She ran 13:21 in the 1-2 race, finishing eighth. Freshman Natalie Nicholson had the Panthers’ second-best time, 13:31 in the 3-4 race. She finished third.

“We had seven people running within 30 seconds of each other. That was a really good spread,” Western coach Joni McCracken said. “We were happy with that because we’re going to need to do some pack running this year.”

Cinnamon Andrews highlighted Kokomo’s fourth-place finish with a 12th-place run in the 1-2 race. She had a time of 14:11.

“I’m very pleased with the level of competitiveness that this young team displayed in our season opener,” Kokomo coach Chad Salinas said.

Casey Lechner had Northwestern’s top time. She ran to a fifth-place finish in the 1-2 race with a time of 12:48.

“We had an outstanding night,” Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. “It was a nice third-place finish, but they all want to do better.”