Greencastle cross country performs well

VEEDERSBURG¬ -- The Tiger Cub cross country team continued its fine running as the girls paced the Fountain Central Grand Prix with a win on Saturday. The boys also ran well, claiming second place.

"Due to scheduling events at the old course, the meet was moved to a new course surrounding the Fountain Central High School," cross country coach Garry Anderson said. "The new course was very flat and with several turns compared to the old course that had one extremely large hill, flat areas, wide turns, woods, a creek, narrow paths, etc. When the meet started I was concerned how each of our runners would respond to the new conditions. The temperature was very warm and the humidity was above 95 percent. This made racing conditions tough."

Despite the tough conditions, the Tiger Cubs performed at a high level. Corrie Romer and Brittany Love led the girls' team with a fifth and sixth place finish respectively.

"I was very pleased with the results for both boys and girls," Anderson said. "We had cautioned the team regarding hydration the entire week. They responded well by drinking plenty of water throughout the day and practice time each day last week and it paid off. Also this was their second meet this week with such conditions and I was hoping they would recover well enough to do a good job today."

Taylor Secrest for Greencastle was the head-honcho, finishing second overall with a time of 17:54. The invite hosted 17 schools for the boys and 15 for the girls. Indeed the high finishes of the purple and gray team are a good sign that this team can be regarded as one of the best in the area.

"This was the first time winning this meet for the girls and also the first time finishing second for the guys," Anderson said. "I felt for the first large meet of the season the girls competed well. They were racing and not just running to get through the race. Our times were not as good as the girls wanted but considering the temperature, humidity and being on a wet and soft course they did as well as could be expected. I want them to continue working and packing like this throughout the season."

Anderson said the boys' squad had I different challenge than the girls did and he was pleased with the way they handled the course and the weather.

"Theirs was a bit different in that they ran after the girls and the course was a bit softer, more trotted, and a bit slippery. I thought senior Taylor Secrest did an outstanding job from the sound of the gun until the finish. He raced very hard and very smart."

Anderson has mentioned before that his team is larger than normal and that leads to completion and generally more effort on the entire team's part.

"We were pleased to have our top seven nearly in the top 25 They were sophomore Clayton Wilson, senior Elijah Brattain, sophomore Cameron Lewis, sophomore Jacob Crawley, freshman Ben Gellman and freshman Preston Headley. They will have to keep working hard because they are being pushed in practice by a number of underclassmen that would enjoy taking their spot. With a few more meets under their belts this season and this group will make watching a meet a fun experience."

Greencastle's next meet is the McCutcheon Stampede on Aug. 30 at 9 a.m.

Results Fountain Central Grand Prix at Fountain Central High School on 8/23/14.

Girls Results:

Team Scores

Top Five Finishers:

Other Greencastle -

Boys Results:

12. North Montgomery 312

Other Greencastle:

33. Preston Headley - Greencastle 20:04