Kokomo Tribune - Friday October 25, 2019

Western’s boys cross country team is semistate bound for the first time since 2014.

The Panthers qualified for the New Prairie Semistate by finishing fourth in the Culver Academies Regional on Saturday. The top five teams in the 10-team field earned semistate spots.

“Getting the team back to semistate was our No. 1 goal for the season,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “And while we’re happy to be heading back to New Prairie, we didn’t necessarily run our best race [Saturday]. There’s definitely room for improvement across the board.”

Warsaw won the regional title with an impressive score of 31. The Tigers’ top four runners had top-eight finishes. Culver Academies (83), Plymouth (84), Western (120) and Rochester (148) took the other semistate spots. Winamac (156), Manchester (157), Logansport (195), Eastern (223) and Lewis Cass (233) rounded out the standings.

Western was led by junior Brayden Curnutt, who was the individual runner-up. He covered the course in 16:46. Curnutt broke up Warsaw’s pack of runners at the front. The Tigers’ Jacob Kissling won in a time of 16:34.9.

“Brayden ran a great race,” Jewell said. “I think that may have surprised a lot of people, but it didn’t surprise us. He said last weekend he thought he was ready to run in the 16:40s.

“He was with the leaders most of the way and PR’d by 12 seconds. He felt he could have ran faster but the opening segment of the race was a little faster than what he’s used to. It will prepare him for what he’ll likely see at semistate next week.”

Western’s top five also included: Joseph Packard (19th, 17:34.2); Pete Bradshaw (21st, 17:40.5); Taylor Rathbun (43rd, 18:27); and Charles Conkle (61st, 19:14).

Brayden Richmond and Caleb Vogl led Eastern. Richmond was 13th in 17:20.9 and Vogl was 31st in 18:10. As two of the top 10 individuals on non-advancing teams, they qualified for the semistate as individuals.

Carroll’s Alec Smith (20th, 17:34.5) and Peru’s Alex Legg (30th, 18:05) are semistate bound as individuals.

For Cass, Bailey Scott led the way with a 32nd-place finish in 18:10.5. He just missed advancing as an individual, finishing one spot back of Eastern’s Vogl for the final spot.

Warsaw won the girls title with a score of 49. Culver Academies (75),

GIRLS RACE

Maconaquah’s girls team qualified for the semistate by finishing fifth.

Rochester (93), Manchester (134) and Maconaquah (143) took the other semistate spots. Western (161), Plymouth (173), Logansport (183), Carroll (189) and Lewis Cass (209) rounded out the standings.

Karli Miller and Zoe Seward led Maconaquah. Miller was eighth in 20:06 and Seward was 13th in 20:25. Also scoring for the Braves were: Haley Salinas (28th, 21:35); Rachel Eby (51st, 22:54); and Abby Heath (58th, 23:56).

The Lushin sisters led Western with Olivia finishing 23rd in 21:15 and Hannah finishing 26th in 21:29. As two of the top 10 individuals on non-advancing teams, they qualified for the semistate as individuals.

The other advancing individuals include: Carroll’s Chloe Goodrich (seventh, 20:03) and Isabelle Altic (27th, 21:33); Northwestern’s Lauren Longshore (ninth, 20:09); Cass’ Makenna Leicht (12th, 20:24); and Eastern’s Ella Kantz (30th, 21:37.5).