MARION INVITATIONAL

Boys Race

Western finished 14th in the 14-team elite race.

“We ran shorthanded. Our fourth man wasn’t there,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “Honestly, we didn’t have any business being in an elite race. We probably should have been in the small school race. ... But I told the guys it was good to get out of the fishbowl and go swim with the sharks in the ocean so they can understand what that’s like.”

The Panthers’ top five runners were: Josh Everetts (16th place, 16:33); Josh Scott (103rd, 18:26); Alex Taylor (104th, 18:42); Tyler Lechner (112th, 19:11); and Nate Nicholson (114th, 19:46).

Jewell noted the race went out fast.

“Josh Everetts came through the first K in 3:02. That’s 15:10 pace and he was sitting in about 20th place,” Jewell said. “It was good for him to experience that because he’s going to see that later on. That’s his best time.”

In the large school division, Kokomo was seventh out of 20 teams. The Kats’ top five runners were: Ethan Sharp (12th, 16:49); Max White (32nd, 17:20); Coy Brandon (46th, 17:40); Colten Pearce (68th, 18:06); and Max McHaney (76th, 18:10).

“We set a season best of 17:36 for our team time and had our lowest gap time of 1:21,” Kokomo coach Ricke Stucker said. “The heat and humidity slowed the runners’ times, especially as the day progressed.”

In the small school division, Northwestern took 12th place and Eastern was incomplete.

Northwestern’s top five runners were: Spencer Hutchins (30th, 18:16); Craig Closson (79th, 19:52); Corey Menning (84th, 19:56); Owen Munson (91st, 19:59); and Gavin Schmidt (105th, 20:32).

“Ten of my 13 guys who ran all set a best — personal, season or course. I’m proud of their performance,” NW’s Stevens said.

Eastern’s runners were Josh Reprogle (93rd place, 20:01) and Seth Snyder (178th, 24:03). Cox noted both had solid performances.

Girls Race

Maconaquah (76), Western (121) and Northwestern (1139) finished 1-2-3 in the small school division of the meet, which was held at Indiana Wesleyan University. Eastern (364) was 17th. There were 21 complete teams.

Eastern’s Carly Jones was the individual winner. She covered the course in 20:03.

“I’m really happy for Carly,” Eastern coach Ben Cox said. “She ran a really smart race.”

Madison Winegardner led Maconaquah with a fourth-place finish in 20:38. Haley Wimmer (ninth place, 21:03), Olivia Windegardner (10th, 21:04), Bailey Hays (18th, 21:49) and Bekah Shinn (49th, 22:59) rounded out Mac’s top five.

Western’s top five runners were: Natalie Nicholason (14th place, 21:35); Logan Buck (29th, 22:17); Erin Knepley (32nd, 22:22); Emma Marley (33rd, 22:23); and Allison McMinn (34th, 22:28).

“They did a nice job,” Western coach Joni McCracken said of her runners. “Our pack running definitely paid off for us. We kind of let Natalie go just to see where she could be and she obviously had a very good race for a freshman, especially in a larger race like this.”

McCracken noted Buck also had a strong day.

“Overall, we did great. We still need to make a lot of progress. We’re going to have to work hard to get to where they want to be.”

Northwestern’s top five runners: Casey Lechner (23rd, 22:03); Jensen Freeman (25th, 22:04); Sophia Yager-Motl (35th, 22:30); Kate Bilkey (38th, 22:40); and Rebecca Sims (43rd, 22:49).

“Just an outstanding race,” NW coach Dave Stevens said. “They had to run at 11 o’clock and that’s rare for the varsity to run that late. They did a good job of handling the heat and working together as a team. My top five girls were only separated by 45 second — that’s an outstanding pack. That turns into big places at big meets and they showed that [Saturday] by taking third place.”

After Jones, Eastern had: Sydnie Hill (67th, 23:46); Molly Hapner (68th, 23:47); Kaylee Gebhart (153rd, 27:48); and Catie White (178th, 36:17).

“I wanted Sydnie and Molly to work together and it paid off for both of them,” Cox said. “Sydnie set a season best and Molly PR’d by almost a minute.”

In the large school division, Kokomo was 16th. The Kats’ top runner was Cinnamon Andrews (49th, 22:43), which coach Chad Salinas noted was a season-best by 41 seconds.

“It was a very hot [and] humid day to run, but there were many teams and much competition that helped our young ladies run some season best times,” he said. “Freshman Breanna Roberts ran a personal best time of 23:08 which is 1:09 faster than she has ran this season. I am very proud of Breanna and the hard work that she is putting in.

“I think by the end of the season, Breanna and Cinnamon will continue to push each other to a possible opportunity to make it out of sectionals individually.”