Western boys, NW girls win titles in combo meet

Kokomo Tribune - Wednesday, August 17, 2016

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

The Panthers and Purple Tigers came away winners Tuesday in the season-opening Northwestern Combination cross country meet.

Western won the boys half in the 3K meet, posting a time of 56:17. Maconaquah finished second in 57:15, followed by Northwestern (61:40), Carroll (64:48) and Eastern (73:13).

Josh Everetts won the 1-2 race in 9:57 and Panther teammate Andrew Granfield was fifth in 11:06 to finish off Western’s victory. Western’s Tyler Lechner had earlier won the 3-4 race in 11:00 and Zach Zentz was fifth in 11:55. Western’s trio of Hunter Purtee (12:19), Jason Hampshire (12:26) and Ethan Akers (12:35) finished fifth, sixth and seventh in the 5-6-7 race.

“We were actually 19 seconds down after the 5-6-7 race so we had some catching up to do,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “Tyler ran a great race in that 3-4 race. It’s great to see how much he’s progressed in the last year. Josh Everetts pretty much ran away from the field in the 1-2 race, which we thought he would.

“We more than made [the 19-second deficit] up. We were plus 42 after the 3-4 race, that was Tyler and Zach Zentz.

“Hunter was our fifth man,” Jewell said, noting how important it was that his fifth runner help keep the team in contention. “He did what I asked him to do, I said stay in the race.”

Maconaquah had a strong showing in the 1-2 race with Tyler Dietzel (10:35) and Adam Rood (10:48) taking second and third. Maconaquah runners swept the top four spots in the 5-6-7 race.

Northwestern’s Spencer Hutchins took seventh in the 1-2 race with a time of 11:28.

“We had three guys set PRs,” NW coach Dave Stevens said.

Eastern’s Josh Reprogle was 10th in the 1-2 race with a time of 11:45.

“Josh dropped 45 seconds off his time from this race last year,” Eastern coach Ben Cox said. “I like where his fitness is at right now at the beginning of the season.”

In the girls half of the meet, Northwestern posted a time of 64:16 to edge Maconaquah (65:07) for the title. Western (67:32) was third.

Stevens was thrilled with his Tiger squad. Madison McGriff (12:25) and Casey Lechner (12:26) finished second and third in the 1-2 race, Kate Bilkey (12:44) and Nicole Crocker (12:50) finished second and third in the 3-4 race and Sophia Yager-Motl (13:51), Lauren Longshore (13:53) and Lauryn Fackler (14:16) finished second, third and fourth in the 5-6-7 race.

“Of the girls who ran, we had 12 PRs. My top 10 girls all had PRs. Just an outstanding effort,” Stevens said, pointing to the Tigers’ pack running as the biggest highlight. “They all ran together and it was really neat to see.”

Maconaquah’s Kathryn White won the girls 1-2 race with a time of 12:23.

Eastern’s Molly Hapner and Olivia Vogl finished 11th and 12th in the 1-2 race.

“It was a good effort for everyone,” Cox said. “For a lot of these kids, it was their first cross country race so that’s always a challenge. They learned a lot and we learned a lot watching them.”

Kokomo’s Brianna Roberts finished seventh in the 3-4 race to lead the Kats.

“I was very proud of Bre’s performance as she cut over 30 seconds off of her time from last season’s race,” Kokomo coach Chad Salinas said.