CROSS COUNTRY PREVIEWS: South Putnam boys aim for sectional progress; Cloverdale consolidates under new coach Green

South Putnam

The Eagles often found themselves nipping at North Putnam’s heels at boys’ events throughout the 2022 cross country season, a place behind the Cougars at each of the county, conference and sectional meets, but will look to surpass the northern county school as the 2023 season moves along.

South Putnam head coach Brandon Welti said the summer was a solid one for the team and early practices were showing that work off.

“It’s been going OK,” Welti said. “For the most part, we have a small team but we’ve had a pretty good summer.

“The kids have been putting in the miles and we’re off to a decent start.”

The Eagle boys return regional qualifier Keaton Chew as a senior with several other experienced runners returning in seniors Evan Hinkle and Emilio Gallegos, junior Noah Couch and sophomores Gabe Feltner, Isaac Boyce, Landon Chew and Gunner Roach.

“Our boys are doing well,” Welti said. “Gabe had a really good track season and a good cross country season as a freshman and is close to Keaton, which gives us a strong 1-2.

“Evan is a senior and had arguably the best summer for us. He’s in good shape and also had a good track season, so we feel pretty good about our first three runners.

“The next few spots are up for competition between our sophomores and junior,” Welti added. “We’re in good shape, ahead of where we were last year, and while the team may not be as competitive in the biggest meets, locally we’ll be all right.”

Sophomore Elise Kendall leads the girls’ squad after qualifying for the regional as a freshman with seniors Stevie Keenan and Caroline Hodge out alongside sophomore Molly Trammell.

“Elise should be our top girl runner, having been a regional qualifier last year,” Welti said. “Even with the new regional setup, it’s still a goal to qualify again.

“She is quiet and focused as a runner; if you tell her what to do, she’ll do it and she’s coming off a great summer and track season. We have two seniors in Stevie and Caroline, the latter a first-year runner, and both are good examples of the kind of attitude you need in a small team.

“Both work hard, are good at balancing academics and athletics and are good examples for the other girls,” Welti added.

Changes to the cross country state tournament see South Putnam switch to the Terre Haute North Sectional, one similar to the track sectional, the move leading to a different set of expectations this season according to Welti.

“We have a lot of individual goals,” Welti said. “We always want to get PRs and would like to see a couple of boys and girls qualify for the regional.

“The boys want to qualify as a team; I’m not sure they’re completely aware of what that will take but it’s nice to see them committed and working hard toward that goal. It may be a long shot but it’s something they’re striving for and we’ll see as the season goes along how realistic that goal is.

“The girls don’t have a lot of team goals as we don’t have a full team yet,” Welti added. “We want to get one together and then see what they can accomplish, whether it’s all-county runners and that sort of thing or more.”

Cloverdale

A senior-heavy Clover squad managed to reel in a fourth-straight county title on the girls’ side but that will be a streak that ends without a lot of recruiting between now and the end of the season.

Cloverdale has five runners currently for new head coach Aleksey Green to work with, though the new skipper was excited to be in the position to work with whoever was out.

“I ran for Shakamak and Indiana State and this is my second year at Cloverdale, so I wanted to get involved in coaching,” Green said. “I reached out to (Cloverdale athletic director James) Wade and the varsity was open.

“I wanted to help the kids in any way that I could and pass on what I’ve learned.”

Green added those who had been out during the summer were already seeing the fruit of that labor in the opening week of practices.

“I’ve had a few that have shown up consistency and there has been a lot of growth since the middle of June,” Green said. “They’re getting in long runs, workouts and are starting to get in some pretty hefty mileage.

“They’ll be in better shape when the season starts than even they think they will.”

Senior Olivia Hemmerling is the only current girl running for Cloverdale while the four boys are all underclassmen in sophomores Spencer Nees, Evan Barnett and Mason Paauwe alongside freshman Joseph Patton.

“The kids have been very positive,” Green said despite the current number situation. “I have been transparent with them as I work in the elementary and middle school, so I don’t know the high school students as well, but I have said we are a smaller team yet they are still out at practice, working hard and are excited, which is going to carry over.

“We want to cultivate a sense of family, a sense of hard work and other characteristics I want to instill in this team. We have a great core to do that with and build off of in future years.”

While trying to fill out the roster is a work in progress, Green said the group was affable and regardless of whether they can find the right numbers, the new coach said there was enough out to get the groundwork laid for future seasons.

“I tell the kids that they are people before they are runners, so I want them to be good individuals first, represent the school well and be better than they were last year,” Green said. “This year, I want to see a lot of personal growth.

“If we focus on that side, the team will be better and achieve more than people expect that we will.”