NEW PRAIRIE SEMI STATE

Kokomo Tribune - Sunday, October 27, 2019

BY TRIBUNE STAFF REPORTS

The Western boys team, the Maconaquah girls team and another 11 local individuals wrapped up their cross country seasons on Saturday at the New Prairie Semistate.

The Western boys squad finished 16th out of 20 teams and the Maconaquah girls took 18th out of 20 squads. The top six teams and the top 10 individuals on non-advancing teams qualify for state.

Brayden Curnutt led Western’s boys, taking 60th in 17:10.2. Joseph Packard followed in 73rd (17:22.7), Pete Bradshaw was 87th (17:27.7), Taylor Rathbun was 140th (18:15.7), Cade Shook was 154th (18:38.4), Charles Conkle was 170th (19:41.4), and Zac Cline was 175th (20:39.7).

“I think we ran about as well as we could,” Western coach Gary Jewell said. “We were fortunate that it didn’t start raining until just before the girls race started.”

The boys race was cool and windy. Western’s boys finished with a team score of 398 and in a combined time of 1:32.15. Crown Point won the boys meet with a score of 93.

“We achieved nearly all our team goals for the race,” Jewell said. “We beat our expected finish place by one, scored under 400 points, and had our best cumulative time of the year.

“Brayden really went after it. He was still in the top 20 at the two-mile mark, however he faded badly over the last mile. I think he got passed by about 10 guys over the last 200 meters. I can’t fault his effort though. It’s hard to make up all of that lost training time while he was recovering from his injury after track season.

Western has no seniors.

“Pete, Taylor and Cade all set personal bests. I think this sets us up well for next year,” Jewell said..

No local individual qualified for state. The last advancing spot went to the 20th-place runner.

Eastern’s Brayden Richmond was the fastest local on the boys side, taking 55th in 17:08.4. Teammate Caleb Vogl was 150th (18:29.9).

Comet coach Ben Cox said he was “really proud of both Brayden and Caleb. They both raced really well. Brayden finished about 90 places better than last year, which is really excellent. We wanted him to race like he had a chance and he did. He didn’t make it out and that’s fine, but he ran the race that we wanted him to run.

“I think Caleb looked strong all the way through the race and his finish was especially good.”

Carroll’s Alec Smith was 104th (17:41.5). Peru’s Alex Legg was 129th (18:03.2).

GIRLS RACE

Maconaquah had a team score of 433 in the girls race. Karli Miller led the Braves and was the fastest local, taking 46th in 20:11.3. Zoe Sweard was 67th (20:33.7), Haley Salinas was 97th (21:05.7), Abby Heath was 166th (23:18.7), and Kaitlyn Nice was 177th in (28:23).

No locals advanced to the state meet. The last individual advancing spot went to the 20th-place runner. West Lafayette won the team competition with a score of 93.

Cass’ Makenna Leicht was 52nd in 20:17.5. Carroll’s Chloe Goodrich was 53rd, also in 20:17.5. Northwestern’s Lauren Longshore was 59th (20:27). Western’s Olivia Lushin was 101st in 21:09. Western’s Hannah Lushin was 119th in 21:32.9. Eastern’s Ella Kantz was 123rd in 21:35.8. And Carroll’s Isabelle Altic was 158th in 22:33.9.

“[Kantz] had I think her strongest overall race of the year,” Eastern coach Ben Cox said. “The way she raced was right. She’s been racing consistently this year and to be able to race consistently [Saturday] as well is a big step for her.”