Logansport Invitational

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, August 21, 2016

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

Boys Race

Western's Josh Everetts posted the top individual finish at Saturday's Logansport Invite, while Kokomo took the top team score.

Everetts ran to a 16:53 1st-place finish at the Berry Patch as Western finished second overall with a score of 77 behind the Wildkats top finish of 56.

"Josh had a nice race, the course ran a little slower [Saturday]," Western coach Gary Jewell said. "Kokomo surprised us. They put four guys ahead of our second guy. We know what we need to do now, and we expect to see improvement."

Justin Taflinger paced Kokomo's strong showing, placing fifth in 18:03. Cory Dea followed in eighth (18:18), J.C. Roberts crossed the line in 18:27, while Max White finished 11th in 18:33. Alex Ward placed 23rd with a 19:25.

For Western, Alex Taylor crossed the line 12th in 18:37. Tyler Lechner was 16th (18:54) with Andrew Granfield finishing in the same time for 17th. Hunter Purtee was 35th at 20:06.

"It was Alex Taylor's first race of the season," Jewell said. "He was injured last year, but he picked up right where he left off. We did okay for the first 5K of the season. We're going to get better."

Host Logan finished third in the event with a score of 90. Lewis Cass was fourth (102) and Maconaquah finished fifth (105).

Cass' Cail Brown crossed second individually in a time of 17:08, while Maconaquah's Tyler Dietzel was third at 17:46.

Also for the Braves, Adam Rood was 14th (18:47), Fletcher Williams 19th (19:17), Jacob Edwards 34th (20:07), and Caleb Winegardner 35th (20:07).

Winamac was sixth as a team (127), Tipton seventh (176), and Northwestern eighth (211).

Individually for Northwestern, Spencer Hutchens was 34th at 20:06, Jacob Myers 44th (20:34), Gavin Smith 46th (20:40), Corey Menning 52nd (20:54) and Evan Witter 58th (21:10).

"All in all, I'm happy with their performance, really proud of how the guys ran," Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said.

Rounding out the teams were Peru in ninth (213), Eastern in 10th (271) and Pioneer was incomplete.

Peru's Adam Garner took 13th in 18:43. Also for the Bengal Tigers, Isaiah Hollis was 30th (20:01), Seth Anderson 67th (21:38), Trey Sturgill 74th (22:02) and Nathan Moore 89th (23:21).

For the Comets, Josh Reprogle finished 31st (19:43), Macaiah White 71st (21:25), Seth Snyder 85th (23:08), Alex Morrow 86th (23:14), and Ethan Shook 112th (37:10).

"I really like where Josh is starting out," Eastern coach Ben Cox said. "I've got high hopes for him to get even better as the season goes on."

Girls Race

Maconaquah took the top team spot out of 11 squads with a 47 at the invite, with Kate White finishing fifth overall in a field of 99 runners at 20:44 and Madison Winegardner following right behind in sixth place (20:52). Haley Wimmer was ninth in 21:47, Bekah Shinn 11th in 21:58, and Bailey Hays 17th in 22:23.

Northwestern followed in second with a score of 58 behind several strong runs. Casey Lechner finished seventh overall with a time of 21:00, while Nicole Crocker crossed in 21:43 for eighth place and Madison McGriff was 10th in 21:55. Lauren Longshore was 15th in 22:21, while Sophia Yager-Motl finished 20th in 22:34.

"Great team effort top to bottom. All of our girls who ran did exceptionally well," NW coach Dave Stevens said. "Outstanding day. I'm very proud of them. We came out fast and they stayed up in front like they were supposed to."

Stevens noted that freshman Kaylynne Fernandes took the top spot in the JV race.

Cass was third in team scoring with an 84, followed by Western in fourth (89), host Logan in fifth (103), Winamac sixth (150), Tipton seventh (185), and Eastern eighth (217).

Molly Hapner posted the top individual finish for the Comets, finishing 40th in 24:27. Olivia Vogl followed in 51st (25:54), Catie White was 83rd in 30:33, Vivie White was 96th in 34:33, and Grace White was 100th in 41:51.

Kokomo, Peru and Pioneer were incomplete.

Breanna Roberts posted the top time for Kokomo, finishing 44th at 25:21.

Peru had three runners compete, with Jaelin Richardson finishing 14th overall in 22:10, Jazzmyan Bayless crossing 76th (29:37), and Cristina Fowler finishing 94th (33:02).