CULVER INVITE

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, September 24, 2017

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

Western's girls cross country team was the top area school with a 12th-place finish and a score of 329 in the open division at the Culver Academies Invite Saturday.

Northwestern placed 14th (348) and Kokomo was 23rd (725) in the open division. Overall winner was LaPorte with a score of 47.

Olivia Lushin led Western with a 29th-place finish (21:51). Hannah Lushin came in 55th place (22:39), followed by Natalie Nicholson (67th, 22:58), Emma Marley (98th, 23:42) and Alivia Ford (106th, 24:06).

Northwestern was led by Lauren Longshore with a 16th-place finish (21:11). Casey Lechner was next at 23rd place (21:23), followed by Sophia Yager-Motl (73rd, 23:06), Andri Freeman (120th, 24:37) and Kaylynne Fernandes (158th, 27:31).

"Overall, it was the hottest cross country meet that I have ever been to," Northwestern coach Dave Stevens said. "The girls stood up to their meet very well. Both Longshore and Lechner each got medals."

Taylor Walden led Kokomo with a time of 25:29 for 140th place.

"We had our toughest week of practice yet, and I knew we would struggle to run fast times with the unseasonably high heat and humidity," Kokomo coach Chad Salinas said. "All of our girls are going to have to run much better to finish where we would like to over the next two weeks [with NCC meet and sectionals coming up]."

In the closed division race, Eastern placed 16th with a score of 406. West Lafayette took the top spot with 64 points.

"It was difficult competition with difficult conditions in the heat and humidity," Eastern coach Ben Cox said. "But, I was pleased with our racing strategy though."

Ella Kantz led Eastern with a 50th-place finish in 22:51. Katrina Witt was next for the Comets in 62nd at 23:51, followed by Victoria Leeder (71st, 23:38), Molly Hapner (75th, 23:40) and Lisa Lundkvist (195th, 31:04).