HOOSIER CONFERENCE MEET

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, October 6, 2019

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

West Lafayette recorded a perfect score of 15 to win the 10-team Hoosier Conference meet at Northwestern. Western was second at 74 points, Northwestern sixth with 177, Cass seventh at 189, and Tipton ninth at 191.

Brayden Curnutt led Western in sixth overall (17:30), followed by Joseph Packard in seventh (17:35), Pete Bradshaw in ninth (17:36), Taylor Rathbun in 21st (18:17), and Charlie Conkle in 31st (19:07).

Times for the lead runners were slowed because the leading pack of approximately 10 runners took a wrong turn and had to reverse course. That accident affected Curnutt, Packard and Cass' Bailey Scott.

"While it didn't necessarily change the [team] outcome it certainly changed the [individual] results," Western coach Gary Jewell said. "Brayden and Joseph would have been in the top four. That's part of mental toughness is coming back from that. Brayden, he did a good job, he just got nosed out at the line by West Lafayette's fifth man. When it happened, Joseph was just catching the pack. They probably lost a good 12 to 15 seconds. That allowed West Side's pack to catch back up. The upside is it allowed Pete Bradshaw to get in the top 10.

"What we really wanted to accomplish was we wanted to get under 70 points and we got 74. If we hadn't had the problem halfway through the race I think we probably could have had a shot to get under 70."

Scott led Cass with a 10th-place finish (17:38). Brody Brack led Tipton, taking 16th (17:59).

Isaiah Kanable led Northwestern in 27th (18:59), followed by Caden Lechner in 28th (19:04), Caleb Champion in 29th (19:05), Jace Cournoyer in 43rd (19:32), and Gunnar LaShure in 50th (19:57).

"Really, really pleased with a sixth-place finish for such a young group," NW coach Dave Stevens said. "I think they're getting ready to making a run and possibly advancing to regional, especially with that pack of three guys together."

GIRLS RACE

West Lafayette put up a score of 27 to win the 10-team Hoosier Conference meet at Northwestern. Western was fifth (141), Cass seventh (174), Northwestern ninth (216) and Tipton 10th (264).

Lauren Longshore finished 13th to lead Northwestern (20:59), followed by Ella Deck in 25th (22:02), Katelyn Saul in 56th (25:06), Adri Freeman in 60th (26:01), and Kaylynne Fernandes in 62nd (26:14).

"We had a couple under the weather but they gutted it out and ran as hard as they could," NW coach Dave Stevens said. "This is one of the toughest girls [conferences] there is, so sometimes when you finish eighth or ninth you're a lot better team than you think you are. There's four or five teams that are probably going to win their sectionals, maybe win their regionals."

McKenna Leicht led Cass with a 10th-place finish (20:40), Olivia Lushin paced Western, taking 16th (21:16), and Cathryn Reily led Tipton in 46th (23:30).