GIRLS XC: Howard County season preview

Kokomo Tribune August 17, 2017

Western’s girls cross country team looks poised for another big season.

The two-time defending Logansport Sectional champion Panthers return six of the seven runners from their 2016 postseason lineup.

The Panthers kicked off the new season Tuesday with the Northwestern Combination meet. They ran to the team title.

“We had a great summer of training,” Western coach Joni Neer said. “It’s always nice to get back into competition to remember why you kept getting up at 6 o’clock in the morning to run all summer long and not sleeping in like most of the rest of the kids. It was good to get into competition.”

Western is led by its junior class of All-Hoosier Conference honoree Natalie Nicholson, Emma Marley and Megan Hampshire.

“Those three have been a great nucleus for our team,” Neer said. “They’re the ones who have kind of led the charge and stepped up the game for us the last couple years.”

The Panthers also return seniors Logan Buck and Bronwyn Getts and sophomore sisters Olivia and Hannah Lushin.

In last year’s sectional, Nicholson finished sixth, Olivia Lushin was seventh, Marley was 12th, Hannah Lushin was 13th, Buck was 22nd and Hampshire was 23rd. (The graduated Allison McMinn was 16th.)

In the Culver Academies Regional, Nicholson was 14th and Olivia Lushin was 20th to lead the squad.

Neer is happy to add freshmen Alivia Ford, Sarah Manuel and Emma Kahn to the mix after they trained all summer with the returning runners.

“They just jumped right in and have clicked with all the girls,” Neer said. “I think they’re definitely going to make an impact on the team. ... Some of the younger girls are going to need to step up and take the places of some of the girls who are not able to train or compete right now.”

The Panthers also have freshman Spencer Holder and foreign-exchange students Anastacia Halken (Denmark) and Cati Conrad (Germany).

The Panthers are shooting for a sectional three-peat. They also are targeting improved showings in the regional and New Prairie Semistate. Last year, they were fourth at regional, 16 points out of second, and 20th at semistate.

“The girls are definitely confident, but not too relaxed to not know that we have some competition from the other schools and we have targets on our backs,” Neer said. “We don’t have an easy road ahead of us and we know that.”

NORTHWESTERN

The Tigers are looking to a veteran core of runners to lead the way.

Junior Casey Lechner and sophomores Lauren Longshore and Adri Freeman helped the Tigers finish third in last year’s sectional. Lechner ran to an 11th-place finish, Longshore was 15th and Freeman was 27th.

Coach Dave Stevens also returns seniors Ally Bunch and Josie Marcum, junior Sophia Yager-Motl and sophomores Sarah Heaver, Kaylynne Fernandes, Mikayla Phillips and Raleigh Brown.

“The girls have a lot of experience coming back and they are helping the newcomers to understand our system,” Stevens said.

Juniors Ellie Hendrickson and Caterina Pol Beltran round out the squad.

Stevens points to “another trip to regional as a team and maybe semistate” as goals for his team. The Tigers have finished third behind Western and Maconaquah in each of the past two sectionals.

EASTERN

The Comets are hoping a mix of returning runners and promising newcomers leads to improved results after finishing sixth in the Hoosier Heartland Conference and eighth in the sectional last year.

The Comets have 10 runners in camp.

“We’re a stronger team than last year,” coach Ben Cox said. “The large number of kids on the team really has everyone excited to compete and we have a good team dynamic.”

Seniors Olivia Vogl and Katrina Witt and junior Molly Hapner give the Comets good experience. Hapner was runner-up in the 2016 Hoosier Heartland Conference meet and a team-best 26th in the sectional. She qualified individually for the regional where she finished 41st.

Sophomore Victoria Leeder and freshman Ella Kantz lead the newcomers. Leeder ran in middle school, but missed her freshman season because of medical reasons.

“I’d like to see Molly repeat as a regional qualifier this year. She ran really well at the meet last year, and was in a position to advance to semistate halfway through the race. Another shot at that would be exciting,” Cox said. “Ella Kantz may also have a chance to move on to the regional.

“I’d also like to see the team be more competitive in the HHC and sectional than last year.”

KOKOMO

The Wildkats start fresh with an entirely new team after finishing 10th in the sectional last season and ninth in the North Central Conference meet.

“Five of our seven runners have no cross country experience, but they are hard-working and determined to maximize their potential,” Kokomo coach Chad Salinas said.

“We will have to learn on the run this season. We have no returning runners from last year’s cross country team.”

The Kats have high hopes for senior Taylor Walden, a former Western runner who was a key contributor to the Wildkat track squad last spring after moving to Kokomo.

Freshman Madison Collins and sophomore Josilynn McNeil also have shown plenty of potential in the preseason. Four more runners hoping to impact the varsity are juniors Liesl Elkin and Tyasia Burks, and sophomores Jordeen Call and Bricely Picasso.

“As a team, our Lady Kats are striving to build our endurance and mileage over the first half of the season,” Salinas said. “Our girls are really excited to gain experience and challenge themselves with each meet. We have some solid individual goals for senior Taylor Walden of making the all-NCC team and making it out of the sectional and regional to the New Prairie Semistate.”

TAYLOR

Sophomore Carly Brewster is Taylor’s lone runner.

“I am very impressed with her work over the summer and hope to see that pay off some pretty drastic drops in time,” coach Matt Carlile said.