Greencastle boys' takes top spot at WCC meet, GHS girls' earn second place finish

Tuesday, October 9, 2007

Saturday morning saw runners congregate at South Putnam to compete for the West Central Conference championship. Greencastle came in first in the boys' race, recording 42 team points. In the girls' race, Greencastle was the top county finisher with a second-place finish and 61 points.

Greencastle's Ben Wilson readies for a turn during the WCC meet at South?Putnam on Saturday. Wilson finished in second place with a time of 18:14.

In the boys' race, Greencastle's Ben Wilson finished in second place with a time of 18:14, while teammate Jordan Lewis finished fifth with a time of 18:33. Ryan Gillespie was sixth with a time of 18:34 and Nick Stevens finished in ninth-place with a time of 19:01.

"The guys ran well," Tiger Cub coach Mike Schimpf said. "These guys are a young team and they were able to step it up this year. I've not talked all year about the guys we had last year. We had some really good runners, but these guys stepped up and that's something I'm really proud of."

South Putnam's lone top-10 runner was Dylan Hayes, who finished in seventh-place with a time of 18:48.

For the girls', Putnam County had seven representatives in the top 10.

South Putnam's Shannon Egold concentrates on her stride during Saturday's WCC meet at South Putnam. Egold finished the day with a first-place time of 21:16.

South Putnam's Shannon Egold finished ahead of the pack with a time of 21:16 and teammate Lauren Haynes finished in ninth position in a time of 23:11.

"They ran well. I don't think I could have asked any more from them," South Putnam girls' coach Andy Wise said. "What we talked about before the race was get to the end of the race and if you say you could have done better, then you didn't run a good race.

"Shannon (Egold) is the first conference champion South Putnam has had for the girls. First conference champ -- that's amazing," he added.

Greencastle collected the remaining four positions with Sara Culler finishing in second-place with a time of 21:56, while Laura Weatherford placed third in a time of 22:03. Kaitlyn Murtagh finished in seventh-place, recording a time of 22:47.

"I thought they did outstanding. We're crippled, we're sick and they performed like champions. I came here this morning and I thought if we could finished third, I would be very happy and to come in second -- that was very nice," GHS head coach Garry Anderson commented.

Jenna Lewis of Cloverdale finished in fifth place, clocking a time of 22:15.

"Jenna (Lewis) has been tremendous all year. She runs where we expect her to run and she's done a great job," CHS head coach Sam Brown said.

Cloverdale saw its top runner, Chelsie Haltom, have to sit the end of the season with stress fractures in her legs, but her coach was quick to point to her leadership and sacrifice.

"She ran with them at the beginning of the season and to give that for your team is something special," Brown emphasized.

Brown also noted the running of Ashley McCallie, who has battled injuries all season and finished in the 22nd spot.

The story of the girls' race had to be South Putnam's Cassie Davis. Normally finishing in the top of the field, Davis fell behind early and looked to be having difficulty with the course. After finishing the course, she was immediately helped to a chair by her coach and trainer. After the race it was revealed that Davis had ran the race with stress fractures in both legs. Another fact about Davis' race, even with the beginnings of stress fractures, her time of 26:58 was under South Putnam's letter time.

South Putnam boys' coach Brian Gardner acknowledged the performance of his top runner but wants to see more out of his team going into sectional.

"I'm really Proud of Dylan Hayes," Gardner commented. "We're going to have to run better. For us to get out of sectional, we have to run better."

North Putnam fielded an incomplete boys team and the girls' team finished with a total of 161, but coach Kevin Lutz was more than please with his team's effort.

"I was proud of everybody. They did their best. We had some kids run faster than they had before. I was just really proud of everyone who showed up," Lutz said.

Greencastle, South Putnam and North Putnam will compete in the sectional at 5 p.m. at South Putnam Tuesday, while Cloverdale will compete in the Brown County sectional at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

At South Putnam

Boys' results

Team Scores

Greencastle 42, Cascade 68, South Putnam 69, Monrovia 78, Speedway 87, Cloverdale 158, North Putnam INC.

Individual results

Holt (CAS) 17:31, Wilson (GHS) 18:14, Hacker (CAS) 18:24, Wampler (MON) 18:30, Lewis (GHS) 18:33, Gillespie (GHS) 18:34, Hayes (SP) 18:34, Fisher (SPW) 18:54, Stevens (GHS) 19:01, Dirlam (MON) 19:04, Bates (SPW) 19:13, Martin (SPW) 19:19, Heavin (SP) 19:23, Eickhoff (SP) 19:27, Royal (MON) 19:28, Rosales (CAS) 19:29, Northrup (SP) 19:34, Shoffner (SP) 19:35, Barr (SP) 19:44, Woodall (GHS) 19:46, Standeford (MON) 19:51, Fuehrer (CAS) 19:56, Noblet (SPW) 20:01, Quisenberry (NP) 20:09, Smith (GHS) 20:22, Walker (GHS) 20:34, Rivera (CAS) 20:39, Chambers (CHS) 20:41, Speck (MON) 20:45, Benge (NP) 21:26, Arnold (CHS) 21:33, Olczak (SP) 22:06, Dean (CHS) 22:45, Raney (MON) 22:55, Preecs (NP) 23:09, Wilson (SPW) 23:15, Charbonaeau (SPW) 23:16, Monds (CHS) 23:17, Stout (CHS) 23:25, Cooper (NP) 23:31, Melton (CHS) 25:57, Denton (CAS) 26:11.

Girls' results

Team scores

Monrovia 55, Greencastle 61, South Putnam 71, Cascade 82, Cloverdale 104, Speedway 152, North Putnam 161.

Individual Results

Egold (SP) 21:16, Culler (GHS) 21:56, Weatherford (GHS) 22:03, Musson (CAS) 22:10, Lewis (CHS) 22:15, Arnold (CAS) 22:32, Murtagh (GHS) 22:47, McNelis (MON) 23:01, Haynes (SP) 23:11, Nowrouzi (MON) 23:15, KNEIPER (MON) 23:16, Spear (MON) 23:40, Lund (SP) 23:49, Hildenbrand (MON) 24:01, Porter (MON) 24:08, Mattocks (CHS) 24:15, Lyon (SPW) 24:23, Hedley (CAS) 24:25, Dillon (MON) 24:37, High (NP) 25:01, Thompson (SP) 25:06, McCallie (CHS) 25:23, Williams (CHS) 25:25, Trigg (GHS) 25:42, Martinez (GHS) 26:00, Baggeson (CAS) 26:10, Canary (SP) 26:29, English (CAS) 26:48, Davis (SP) 26:58, Centeno (NP) 28:28, Birt (SP) 28:42, Liddett (SPW) 29:12, Trackwell (SPW) 29:14, Diakaby (SPW) 29:15, Salyers (NP) 30:16, Tawney (SPW) 32:48, Parent (NP) 33:35, Monnett (CHS) 35:10, Preecs (NP) 37:52.

Next meet -- Greencastle, South Putnam and North Putnam will compete in the sectional at 5 p.m. at South Putnam Tuesday, while Cloverdale will compete in the Brown County sectional at 5 p.m. Tuesday.

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