GHS boys advance to regional

Wednesday, October 11, 2006

Greencastle High School will send its boys' cross country team to regional competition Saturday after being the only Putnam County team to place in the top five of the South Putnam sectional Tuesday.

GHS's Andy Weatherford won his fourth sectional title, racing through the 5,000-meter course in 15 minutes, 52 seconds. He led the Tiger Cubs to third place overall behind first-place Plainfield and second-place Brownsburg. Avon finished in fourth place, followed by Danville, rounding out the top five teams, which automatically advance to Saturday's competition at Brebeuf in Indianapolis.

South Putnam ranked sixth while North Putnam scored ninth and Cloverdale 10th in points.

Greencastle Coach Mike Schimpf said he was pleased with the boys' team.

"We were trying to race for the win, and for a while there, our five were ahead of their (Plainfield's) five," he said.

Mark Jedele was Greencastle's next finisher in fifth place. Ben Wilson ran 11th, followed by Ty Buchanan in 20th, Camron Humpreys in 27th, Jordan Lewis in 28th, and Austin Woodall in 33rd.

"I think this Saturday, their times will come down," Schimpf said.

For South Putnam, Brad Eickhoff was the top finisher in 24th. Fellow Eagle runners were Andrew Northrup in 39th, Tyler Shoffner in 41st, Tyler Heavin in 42nd, Jon Weaver in 55th, Dylan Hayes in 59th, and Heath Pruitt in 64th.

"We didn't run our best race," Coach Brian Gardner said, "but at the end of the day, we had a successful year. The kids competed hard."

It was the last meet for senior Pruitt, Gardner said, so next year promises to be one of growth for the returning team members.

North Putnam's top finisher was Kenneth Benge in 38th. Kasey McLaughlin crossed the line in 45th, and senior Max Schreiber placed 48th, followed by Kenneth Quisenberry in 53rd, Dalton Harbison in 63rd and Korey Cooper in 78th.

Coach Jason Chew said he feels the Cougars worked hard to get to this point of the season, and he said he feels good about next year's team. It was the final race as an Eagle for senior Schreiber.

Chews also congratulated the Greencastle, South Putnam and Cloverdale programs for their successful seasons.

Cloverdale Coach Dan Brown said his boys team ran a good race.

Craig Blair was the top finishers for the Clovers, crossing the line in 26th. Other Clover runners were Gabe Mattocks in 56th, Ryan Dean in 61st, Kyle Chambers in 62st, James Fidler in 68th, Zach Waycott in 75th and Nick Monds in 77th.

The Greencastle team will travel to Indianapolis Saturday to compete in the regionals at Brebeuf.

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