South Putnam wins Cougar Co-ed Cross Country Invite

South Putnam runners (from left) Jessica Jones, Caitlyn Lady, Julianna DeLano and Hannah Jones compete in the Cougar Co-ed Cross Country Invitational at North Putnam on Tuesday. DeLano was part of the winning squad. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

ROACHDALE -- The recent hot weather has added to the drudgery of the early-season cross country schedule, making Tuesday's Cougar Co-ed Cross Country Invitational even more important than usually.

Unlike most cross country meets, where boys and girls compete in separate races for separate team scores, the Cougar Co-ed combines the sexes into one race.

"Since we're a team that a lot of times doesn't field both full teams, (NPHS assistant principal) Jason Chew came up with this meet several years ago as a way where we can actually compete as a team," North Putnam coach Kevin Lutes said. "Once it started going it was fun. Our athletic director did a great job of getting the course marked out.

North Putnam's Michael Roach comes around a bend at his home course during Tuesday's cross country meet. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN)

"We had several teachers out here who are just great for the running program who helped us out. Once it got going it went pretty smoothly, thanks to all those people."

The South Putnam group of juniors Berndt Freeman, Tyler Vandermark, Madison Egold, Ariel Higgins, sophomore Julianna DeLano and freshman Kieffer Vittetow won the event with a score of 66, beating out groups from West Central Conference schools North Putnam, Cloverdale, Cascade and Monrovia.

"I think they enjoy the fact that even though it is a 5K, it's at least different enough where it's not just like another typical meet," SPHS coach Brandon Welti said. "At the same time, with these guys being divided up on team one and team two, it allows them to compete with each other a little bit more so we have a bit of a friendly intra-squad competition as well.

"It's two really nice elements. I like the idea of the race."

To find a winner, the scores of each indivudual place are added together. Each team took its top two male scores, its top two female scores and its next best overall score, then summed the five.

Following South Putnam's team one, second place went to Cascade One, third to Cloverdale One, fourth to Monrovia, fifth to Cascade Two, sixth to South Putnam Two, seventh to North Putnam and eighth to Cloverdale Two.

The cooler weather conditions and firm ground made for a fast race, which Freeman won in a time of 17:01.

Cloverdale senior Bret Brumfield (18:12) was fourth, Vittetow (18:26) sixth, Ethan Maners of Cloverdale (18:27) seventh, Tyler Nield of South Putnam (18:28) eighth, Nick Blundell of Cloverdale (18:38) ninth and Logan Vandermark or South Putnam (18:41) tenth.

Monrovia's Kenna Hunter (20:16) was the top female finisher, placing 18th overall. South Putnam junior Madison Egold (21:09) followed closely behind and finished 21st.

Higgins (22:25, 27th), Clare Plamondon (Cloverdale, 22:45, 29th) and Alexandria Land (North Putnam, 25:07, 36th) were the next-best finishers for their schools.

"The kids really like this meet," Lutes said. "It's the only one of this type that we do."

In addition to the change-of-pace format, the meet also gave the teams a chance to see how their WCC competitors were shaping up and help the athletes see how much they need to improve.

"Everyone is looking fit already," Welti said. "All the schools looked pretty strong out here tonight."

For Cloverdale, improvement largely means getting healthy. The team has been battling illness and a few injuries.

Brumfield and several others have been ill with a cold and Riley Canfield injured her ankle during Tuesday's race.

"Once we get everybody healthy we'll be alright, but until then we're just going to have to push through it," CHS coach Andy Tyler said. "(This race) gives kind of a different look to them, and they're actually competing with each other because we had more than one team. ... I like the format. It's a nice break."

The teams are still a few weeks from reaching peak condition and training, but meets like Tuesday's help the athletes stay focused, have fun and compete.

The Clovers have a big race at Martinsville on Saturday beginning at 9 a.m.

South Putnam returns to the course on Wednesday, Sept. 11 when it hosts Danville at 5 p.m. and North Putnam is off until Thursday, Sept. 12 at North Montgomery at 5 p.m.

Cloverdale runners Laura Worthington (left) and Riley Canfield (center) compete in the Cougar Co-ed Cross Country Invitational on Tuesday. (Banner Graphic/GRANT WIEMAN

At North Putnam
2013 Cougar Co-ed Cross Country Invitational
Team scores
1. South Putnam-1, 66; 2. Cascade-1, 78; 3. Cloverdale-1, 86; 4. Monrovia, 87; 5. Cascade-2, 116; 6. South Putnam-2, 117; 7. North Putnam, 131; 8. Cloverdale-2, no score.

Individual results
1. Freeman, SP1, 17:01
2. White, CA1, 17:38
3. Thompson, MON, 17:49
4. Brumfield, CL1, 18:12
5. Edmundson, CA1, 18:13
6. Vittetow, SP1, 18:26
7. Maners, CL1, 18:27
8. Nield, SP2, 18:28
9. Blundell, CL1, 18:38
10. L Vandermark, SP2, 18:41
11. T Vandermark, SP1, 18:44
12. Gomez, CA2, 18:47
13. Kinney, CA1, 18:57
14. Roach, NP, 19:29
15. S Fox, CA2, 19:44
16. H Fox, CA2, 20:08
17. Williams, MON, 20:14
18. Hunter, MON-G, 20:16
19. Byrd, CL2, 21:06
20. Salyers, NP, 21:07
21. Egold, SP1-G, 21:09
22. Straziscar, NP, 21:16
23. Monnett, CL2, 21:52
24. Koller, MON-G, 21:54
25. Price, MON-G, 22:00
26. Meek, MON, 22:13
27. Higgins, SP1-G, 22:25
28. Thornburg, CA1-G, 22:43
29. Plamondon, CL1-G, 22:45
30. H Whicker, CA1-G, 22:47
31. DeLano, SP1-G, 22:58
32. H Jones, SP2-G, 23:17
33. J Jones, SP2-G, 23:31
34. Lady, SP2-G, 24:14
35. C Whicker, CA2-G, 24:49
36. Land, NP-G, 25:07
37. Worthington, CL1-G, 25:27
38. Batts, CA2-G, 25:34
39. Dean, NP-G, 28:03
40. Detro, NP-G, 29:05
41. Nees, CL2, 29:06
42. Combs, CL2-G, 30:01

** Italic indicates member of winning team