Wilson easily wins WIC title, paces Cubs to crown

ELLETTSVILLE — Sophomore Emma Wilson of Greencastle turned in one of her best performances of the cross country season on Saturday, winning the Western Indiana Conference meet by more than two minutes.

Wilson’s finish, coupled with top-four finishes by the Kallem sisters, led the Tiger Cubs to the girls’ team championship.

Wilson navigated the tough Edgewood course in 18:36.7, crossing the finish line by two minutes and 1.7 seconds over runnerup Brooklyn Hey of Owen Valley.

Wilson was one of 10 Putnam County athletes to earn all-conference honors for placing in the top 15.

Senior Shelby Kallem of Greencastle was third overall in 21:21.8, followed by her sophomore sister Sydney in fourth place at 21:22.6.

Junior Arianna Pershing ran fourth for the Tiger Cubs, placing 17th overall in 22:35, and sophomore Seelye Stoffregen ran fifth for Greencastle in 22:55 to place 23rd.

Greencastle finished with 47 team points. Owen Valley was second in the team standings with 70, only placing one runner in the top 13.

South Putnam finished seventh as a team with 156 points, led by junior Ally Nichols in 14th.

Cloverdale and North Putnam did not have enough runners to be in the team competition, but sophomore Chelsie Edwards of the Clovers placed eighth overall in 21:39.7.

In the boys’ race, South Putnam senior Kieffer Vittetow fought off illness to finish fourth overall in 17:17.6, with Greencastle’s Clayton Wilson one spot behind in 17:20.2.

South Putnam was edged by West Vigo by one point for the team title.

Other county runners making the all-conference team were senior Logan Vandermark of South Putnam (seventh), senior Cameron Lewis of Greencastle (10th) and senior Chad Stevens of Cloverdale (13th), who overcame lingering shin problems to also make the top 15.

Here are the thoughts of the coaches:

Greencastle

“Fall weather is here and our athletes were excited to run in the good conditions,” co-head coach Mark Jedele said. “It was an aggressive start for both the girls’ and boys’ races, with many of our runners finishing their first mile faster than usual, which caught up with them in the later hills of the race.”

Jedele also noted that three Tiger Cubs finished their race with new personal bests for the conference course.

Co-head coach Craig Jordan thought the Tiger Cubs stepped up on the big day .

“With the meet changing locations 24 hours from the start of the race, I was initially a bit worried as to how our runners would respond,” he said. “But they handled the change well. The intensity was definitely up a few notches.

“I’m proud of the effort we gave, and I know that both sides are ready to lace up and run even faster to make it out of sectionals next Saturday.”

Cloverdale

“I am very proud of our runners,” coach Andy Tyler said. “Chelsie ran an amazing race. She showed a level of mental toughness that I hadn’t seen before.

“She really pushed through the pain and finished strong,” he added. “She is one tough kid.”

Tyler noted that Edwards accomplished her goal.

“We were shooting for the top 15,” he said. “I was thrilled that she placed eighth.”

Tyler thought all of his boys’ runners ran well.

“It was a great team effort,” he said. “Our top five did their job and Chad ran a very gutsy race. Chad’s goal was to make the top 15, and he went out and made it happen.”

Tyler noted that Stevens has continued to work hard despite his injury problems.

“Chad is one of the toughest kids I have coached,” he said. “His shins have been a wreck for half the season. He has never missed a practice, had to hit a bike during speed workouts and stays an extra 20 minutes every day to ice. I couldn’t ask for a better captain.”

Other Clovers also performed well, Tyler said.

“Nolan [Maners] has been coming on strong,” he said. “Eddie [Mannan] and Rylan [Hall] have really pushed one another here towards the end of the season. Ryan [Heavener] and Elliott [Williamson] fought through some adversity and Andrew Monnett ran a PR.”

North Putnam

“The majority of our kids ran their best times of the season,” coach Kevin Lutes said. “Caleb [Duncan] came out quick in the first mile, but was able to hold on to finish 27th overall.

“Kyle [Young] and Grant [Jarboe] lowered their best times as well.”

NP’s girls also had illness last week.

“Sydney [Sims] and Taylor [Hensley] both had to miss workouts last week due to being sick, but they gave all they had in their races,” Lutes said. “Sydney did a great job leading the girls today, and I thought Taylor ran well.

Lutes thought Kaelynn Abner and Amber Schubert both stepped up “dramatically” from their previous races.

“I’m proud of how we competed and am very much looking forward to sectionals,” he said.

South Putnam

Coach Brandon Welti thought Nichols had a great race in finishing 14th.

“Things just never seemed to click this season until the WIC meet,” he said. “She was focused and ran a smart race, keeping herself in a position to fight for and earn an all-conference spot. We’re definitely pleased with how she ran.”

Welti noted that Maddie McHugh has been his team’s No. 1 runner all season, and she unfortunately had a rough experience at the meet.

“Early in the race she fell down and hurt her knee,” Welti said. “Maddie’s goal changed from being all conference to simply finishing the race. Despite the injury, she still battled and finished in the top 20 which was good to see.”

Welti though Samara Young and Rachel Jones each did a great job of steadily moving up during the second half of the race.

“We’re happy with that second-half effort,” he said. “They both looked good and strong. Addi Blaydes ran well and did a good job of staying strong despite not feeling the best in the race.”

The Eagles also welcomed senior Lois Cheatham back from injury.

“She was able to finally race, and that was great to see,” Welti said. “She has been cross training most of the season due to a stress fracture, so we’re just glad she was healthy in time to experience a race.”

Welti saw many positives despite the one-point loss in the boys’ race.

“If we analyze the situation on meet day, we really shouldn’t have done as well as we did,” he said. “Our No. 3 runner, Austin Rumley, normally runs within a few seconds of Logan Vandermark, our No. 2. He hurt his back and has been out since Wednesday, and couldn’t run at the meet. Kieffer Vittetow was ill and actually collapsed and got sick at the end of the race.

“The team did a great job of stepping up to give themselves a chance at winning,” Welti added. “For us to finish within one point of the winner, that’s a pretty impressive feat for these guys.”

Welti felt Vandermark had his best race ever, finishing seventh with a big PR.

“He put himself in the top 10 early and raced really well throughout,” Welti said. “We can’t be happier with his race, and I’m really glad that his senior year has been going so well.”

Freshmen Karl Egold had a huge PR and steadily kept moving up throughout the race.

“He was really focused and finished just one spot outside of all-conference,” Welti said. “Michael Crossman was not feeling the greatest halfway into the race, but he did a good job of staying tough and hanging close to Karl.”

Welti also thought Dru Bottorff and Eric Hinkle had really good starts and ran well.

“When you look at the pre-meet rankings, I think five of our top seven finished way ahead of where they should have based on times,” he said. “So even though we lost by a point, we are actually really pleased with how they performed.

“Everyone is obviously disappointed by losing, especially since it was so close, but all things considered this was a great race for our team.”

In the middle school meet, local entrants were again led by Brady Koosman and Abigail Nees of Cloverdale.

The individual winners of the Putnam County meet last week also placed highest in the conference meet, with Koosman taking seventh in the boys’ race and Nees placing eighth in the girls’ race.

Girls’ varsity race

Team scores — Greencastle 47, Owen Valley 70, Edgewood 88, Cascade 132, Northview 140, West Vigo 142, South Putnam 156, Indian Creek 170, Sullivan 216, Brown County 233 (North Putnam and Cloverdale did not field full teams)

Top 15 (all-conference) — 1. Emma Wilson (G) 18:36.7, 2. Brooklyn Hey (OV) 20:38.4, 3. Shelby Kallem (G) 21:21.8, 4. Sydney Kallem (G) 21:22.6, 5. Caroline Edmondson (Ca) 21:26.5, 6. Kaylee Meyer (E) 21:30.7, 7. Madelyn Brown (WV) 21:37.0, 8. Chelsie Edwards (Cl) 21:39.7, 9. Tia Jones (N) 21:39.8, 10. Paige Abel (E) 21:40.3, 11. Izzy Dawson (IC) 21:43.8, 12. Celine Hornick (E) 21:56.8, 13. Chloe Whicker (Ca) 21:57.1, 14. Ally Nichols (SP) 22:00.1, 15. Samantha Godwin (OV) 22:07.1

Other Greencastle runners — 17. Arianna Pershing 22:35, 22. Seelye Stoffregen 22:55, 25. Sydney Lewis 23:25, 33. Mika Mozawa 24:08, 41. Katie Haynes 24:20, 75. Abigail King 29:14

Other South Putnam runners — 19. Maddie McHugh 22:45, 27. Samara Young 23:30, 41. Rachel Jones 24:26, 56. Addi Blaydes 27:13, 63. Lois Cheatham 29:01

Other Cloverdale runner — 86. Ashleigh Nepote 32:00

North Putnam runners — 62. Sydney Sims 26:53, 70. Taylor Hensley 28:18, 82. Kaelynn Abner 20:34, 87. Amber Schubert 35:15

Boys’ varsity race

Team scores — West Vigo 66, South Putnam 67, Brown County 85, Greencastle 96, Edgewood 119, Indian Creek 166, Cloverdale 167, Northview 182, Cascade 204, Owen Valley 257, Sullivan 284 (North Putnam did not field a full team)

Top 15 (all-conference) — 1. Austin Haskett (E) 16:20.5, 2. Wyatt Wyman (BC) 17:10.6, 3. Brady Page (WV) 17:17.5, 4. Kieffer Vittetow (SP) 1:17.6, 5. Clayton Wilson (G) 17:20.2, 6. Job Lawson (BC) 17:26.8, 7. Logan Vandermark (SP) 17:29.5, 8. Sean Johnson (Ca) 17:31.1, 9. Damon Kesler (WV) 17:39.3, 10. Cameron Lewis (G) 17:49.4, 11. Tyler McNabb (N) 18:11.9, 12. Sean Bowman

Other Greencastle runners — 19. Ben Gellman 18:45, 30. Preston Headley 19:22, 32. Justin Berrish 19:30, 55. Donovan Asbell 20:50, 67. Tylan Jones 22:11

Other South Putnam runners — 16. Karl Egold 18 :33, 17. Michael Crossman 1:37, 23. Dru Bottorff 19:00, 28. Eric Hinkle 19:13, 40. Blake Clearwaters 19 :56, 52. Adair Bock 20:32, 53. Alejandro Villar 20:34, 66. Andrew Carr 21:14, 67. Daniel Johnson 21:25

Other Cloverdale runners — 28. Nolan Maners 19:12, 36. Rylan Hall 19:35, 39. Eddie Mannan 19:47, 52. Ryan Heavener 20:36, 62. Andrew Monnett 21:34, 72. Elliott Williamson 23:20

North Putnam runners — 27. Caleb Duncan 19:07.4, 57. Kyle Young 20:39.5, 85. Grant Jarboe 24:02.8

Girls’ middle school race

Team scores — Edgewood 28, Brown County 65, Cascade 113, North Clay 115, Owen Valley 131, South Putnam 148, Cloverdale 153, Greencastle 217, North Putnam 229, Sullivan 216, Brown County 233

Winner — Annalyssa Crain (E) 11:12

South Putnam top 7 — 19. Lilly Vittetow 13:24, 26. Lilyan Barker 13:47, 30. Sarah Jones 13:55, 36. Catherine Hodge 14:07, 37. Josie Teipen 14:08, 43. Ally Menke 14:24, 56. Kylee Scott 15:17

Cloverdale top 6 — 8. Abigail Nees 12:42, 20. Ella Szczerbik 13:25, 22. Lily Monnett 13:29, 45. Kiersten Wade 14:29, 58. Chloe Couch 15:20, 65. Ruthie Mann 16:09

Greencastle top 7 — 10. Kennedy Trigg 12:55, 48. Michalya Dinn 14:37, 50. Haley Timcheck 14:47, 54. Olivia Headley 15:15, 55. Brooke Boswell 15:17, 62. Sammie McCoy 15:52, 63. Elle Patterson 15:55

North Putnam top 7 — 27. Anna Haste 13:51, 35. Ember Keck 14:06, 39. Grace Elmore 14:14, 61. Katie Fry 15:41, 67. Alaina Chew 16:49, 68. Gracie Summers 17:00, 69. Bethany Miller 17:45

Boys’ middle school race

Team scores — North Clay 32, Owen Valley 75, Cloverdale 111, Edgewood 137, Sullivan 142, Cascade 155, North Putnam 173, Brown County 177, South Putnam 197, Indian Creek 212, Greencastle 263

Winner — Thomas Chapman (N) 11:08

Cloverdale top 7 — 7. Brady Koosman 11:29, 9. Nathaniel Nees 11:36, 19. Isaac Maldanado 12:03, 25. Eli Kelley 12:21, 51. Max Kaufman 13:02, 63. Levi Hilton 13:15, 72. Carson Hall 13:42

North Putnam top 7 — 15. Zach Huff 11:52, 22. Caden Storm 12:15, 34. Ellis Lyons 12:40, 50. Brayden Monnett 13:01, 52. Nic Hensley 13:02, 55. Corie Stancombe 13:07, 71. Jacob Farrington 13:41

South Putnam top 7 — 20. Lee Haywood 12:06, 28. Eli Smith 12:29, 31. Brent Wiggins 12:36, 57. Brady Robinson 13:10, 61. Bryce Wiggins 13:13, 62. Tyler Adams 13:14, 68. Clay Cash 13:34

Greencastle top 7 — 29. Ian Frank 12:34, 48. Charlie Menzel 13:00, 54. Justin Evans 13:07, 59. Cole Hutcheson 13:11, 73. Daniel Dinn 13:45, 74. Stuart Nicholas 13:55, 77. Evan Harris 14:43