New Prairie Invitational

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, September 22, 2019

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

The yearly challenge of the New Prairie Invitational beckoned several local cross country squads Saturday, with Western's boys squad posting a strong showing.

The invite has three divisions for varsity squads and Western took sixth in the Class 2A race, which had 30 complete teams and two incomplete teams. Running in that same division, Eastern was 16th and Northwestern 26th.

For Western, Brayden Curnutt finished 19th in 17:38, followed by Joseph Packard (29th, 17:49), Pete Bradshaw (37th, 18:08), Taylor Rathbun (57th, 18:42), and Zac Cline (83rd, 19:20).

Conditions were hot, humid and windy, and Western coach Gary Jewell said that cost his runners on average approximately 30 seconds.

Jewell said the conditions were unpleasant "but that's our best finish we've ever had as a team since 2013. There were a couple teams that we beat that were ranked ahead of us in the power poll, which was nice, but I think we could have been a little bit better. I think we gave up some points through some areas. Overall we did pretty well."

Brayden Richmond led Eastern in 10th place (17:15), followed by Caleb Vogl (47th, 18:23), Owen Taylor (106th, 19:52), Porter Brovont (125th, 20:25), and Bradie Porter (176th, 21:47).

"Really proud of the way they fought through their race," Eastern coach Ben Cox said. "Good competition and a challenging course and I think the guys, they were racing the kids they needed to race and held their own against them."

Isaiah Kanable led Northwestern, taking 81st in 19:15, followed by Caleb Champion (127th, 20:26), Caden Lechner (129th, 20:27), Gunnar LaShure (142, 20:47), and Jace Cournoyer (154th, 21:04).

"We went into this race trying to get experience," NW coach Dave Stevens said. "A lot of my boys have never run at New Prairie. It's a very unique race. Our 1-to-5 gap [first runner to fifth runner] was the best we've had all year, so once again they're starting to pack up at the top which is a good thing.

"We're trying to close the gap between a couple of teams so we can get a shot at that fifth spot at the sectional."

GIRLS RACE
Maconaquah finished in ninth place in the 2A race. Rochester was the overall winner with 115, followed by Morgan Township (127), and Culver Academies (129).

The Braves were led by Karli Miller with an 18th-place finish in 21:19. Miller was followed by Haley Salinas (33rd, 22:10), Zoe Seward (36th, 22:17), Rachel Eby (78th, 23:53) and Abby Heath (108th, 25:06). Miller, Salinas and Seward all received awards for placing in the top 40.

Eastern finished 16th in the 2A race and Northwestern was 17th.

Ella Kantz led Eastern, finishing 30th in 22:02, followed by Victoria Leeder (63rd, 23:15), Emily Slaughter (90th, 24:10), Gracie McClain (129th, 25:54), and Alivia Salkie (142nd, 26:49).

"They really ran with some determination," Eastern coach Cox said. "A really strong field and kind of a tough day to run, but they really competed well and found the kids they needed to compete with."

Lauren Longshore led the Purple Tigers in 12th in 20:59, followed by Ella Deck (48th, 22:45), Katelyn Saul (125th, 25:48), Vanessa Mueller (130th, 25:55), and Kaylynne Fernandes (148th, 26:42).

"Lauren just ran an outstanding race," NW coach Stevens said. "The rest of the girls all ran well considering the majority of my team it was the fisrt time they've ever ran at New Prairie.

"Overall we closed the gap on a few teams we're going to race against at sectional for potential to move on [from the sectional to the regional], so I was really proud of that. What we call our 1-to-5 gap … was the smallest it's been all year."