BOYS XC

MARION INVITE

Western's Josh Everetts posted the top local finish in Saturday's Marion invite at Indiana Wesleyan University, crossing the line in 16:18 to take third place in the large school purple race.

"Josh was up there in the top two or three the entire way," Western coach Gary Jewell said. "He had a nice race. The course at Marion runs very fast, it was good competition, and we finally got some great weather. You couldn't ask for much better weather in early September."

Also for the Panthers, Andrew Granfield was 50th in 18:15, Alex Taylor 52nd in 18:20, and Tyler Lechner 53rd in 18:21. Nate Nicholson took Western's fifth spot (108th, 19:52), while Zach Zentz (111th, 19:54) and Hunter Purtee (112th, 19:56) were right behind.

"We had 13 guys that had season best and out of that six were PRs," Jewell said. "Overall, I think we ran pretty well."

Kokomo finished 20th out of 22 teams in the elite division.

Justin Taflinger paced the Kats, finishing 86th in 17:25. Also for Kokomo were Corey Dea (115th, 17:53), J.C. Roberts (127th, 18:04), Alex Ward (144th, 18:28), and Nigel Lenoir (166th, 19:37).

"All had season best," Kokomo coach Ricke Stucker said.

Maconaquah finished ninth out of 24 teams in the small school gold race. Tyler Dietzel led the Braves, taking sixth place (17:05). He was followed by Fletcher Williams at 45th (18:46), Jacob Edwards at 82nd (19:49), Caleb Winegardner at 97th (20:08), and Eric Edwards at 98th (20:26).

Northwestern placed 16th in the gold race with a 373.

Spencer Hutchens finished 66th in a time of 19:23. Gavin Smith was 74th (19:38). Jacob Myers was 75th (19:39). Corey Menning was 86th (19:58). And Mitchell Harrell was 116th (20:34).

"We had 10 guys run, nine of the ten set either a season best, course best or personal best, and the one guy who couldn’t had the flu all week and he only missed by a few seconds," Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. "Very good showing by the guys."

Eastern competed in the gold race, with Josh Reprogle landing the Comets top finish at 61st in 19:06. Macaiah White was 137th at 21:08, while other Eastern runners were Seth Snyder (21:45), Nick Hillman (29:11), and Ethan Shook (31:43).

"Four of the guys had PRs," Eastern coach Ben Cox said. "Really nice to see those guys starting off strong."

Peru was 19th with 474. Isaiah Hollis had the top Tiger finish at 19:16 for 64th place. Seth Anderson (99th, 20:09) followed, and Kelly Hanaway (107th, 20:22), Levi Cunningham (121st, 20:45) and Trey Sturgill (141st, 21:12) rounded out Peru.

GIRLS XC

MARION INVITE

Northwestern posted the top local finish, taking 14th out of 24 schools in the elite division with a 376. Maconaquah was 15th with a 378, and Western followed in 17th with a 465.

"Against this competition the girls ran really well," Tigers coach Dave Stevens said. "I was proud of their attitude when they went in. This is a jump [in class] and I said this is what we have to do if we want to do well for the rest of the season and that’s all it took. They were determined to go out there and run their best."

Casey Lechner was 67th in 20:28 to lead Northwestern. Kate Bilkey was 79th in 20:44. Nicole Crocker was 80th in 20:46. Lauren Longshore was 93rd in 21:12. And Madison McGriff was 110th in 21:35.

Mac was led by Kate White, who finished 42nd in 19:57. Madison Winegardner followed in 54th with a time of 20:18, Haley Wimmer was 74th in 20:37, Bekah Shinn 120th in 22:02 and Bailey Hays 138th in 22:30.

For Western, a trio of sophomores had the top Panther finishes. Natalie Nicholson was 66th in 20:27, Emma Marley 87th in 20:55 and Megan Hampshire 113th in 21:44. Rounding out the Panthers were Allison McMinn (122nd, 22:07) and Logan Buck (163rd, 23:34).

Western coach Joni McCracken also noted that Olivia Lushin was 16th in the JV race with the third-best Panther time at 21:39, and Bronwyn Getts was 38th in 22:40.

"We're definitely not an elite team," McCracken said. "We knew going into it that the competition was going to be phenomenal."

Kokomo competed in the large school purple race, with Bre Roberts posting the top Kats finish at 59th place (23:29) and Cinnamon Andrews finishing 113th (24:43).

Eastern competed in the small school gold division, placing 17th with a 402. Molly Hapner had the top Comet showing, finishing 38th at 23:00. Other finishes for Eastern were Olivia Vogl (73rd, 24:55), Miranda Addison (110th, 27:26), Catie White (117th, 28:18), Katrina Witt (122nd, 29:16).

"This course is pretty fast, so I'm not surprised we had five PRs," Eastern coach Ben Cox said. "It's a confidence booster."

Peru's Jaelin Richardson finished in 13th place at 20:56. Following her were Jazzmyn Bayless (67th, 24:36) and Cristina Fowler (142nd, 31:22).