Panthers show speed at TU Invite
RACING: : Western’s Joseph Packard, shown in the Northwestern Combos on Aug. 21, finished 12th in 16:54 Saturday to lead the Panther boys to a fourth-place finish in the Taylor University Invite. Kelly Lafferty Gerber | Kokomo Tribune

Kokomo Tribune August 17, 2018

By TRIBUNE SPORTS STAFF

Western’s boys cross country team finished fourth in a field of 16 squads at the Taylor University High School Invitational on Saturday. Top-ranked Fort Wayne Concordia won with a score of 25, followed by Lawrence North (83), Indianapolis Pike (97) and Western (142). Tipton was 12th (297) and Maconaquah 13th (351).

Joseph Packard led the Panthers, finishing 12th in 16:54. Brayden Curnutt was 15th (17:06), Pete

 

Bradshaw 23rd (17:37), Taylor Rathbun 49th (18:18) and Zac Cline 60th (18:46).

“Our top eight all ran personal bests,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “Joseph broke 17 minutes for the first time ever and Brayden was not that far back. I thought we ran well. It was a good day to run: conditions were great; competition was fantastic.

“We went in there with a goal of, first we want to run fast, and second is we’re going to be seeing Eastbrook again in a couple weeks at Maconaquah and they ended up sixth overall. We were pleased with that.”