Menu
Tiger Cubs land 7 runners in top 10 at WCC Meet
Greencastle's boys' cross country squad didn't get a clean sweep like they did last Tuesday evening.
They did, however, claim seven of the top 10 spots en route to claiming the WCC title at South Putnam High School, finishing 22 points better than second place Cascade.
Matt Shephard won the race with a time of 16:34 for the Cadets, who took first and third place on the day. Monrovia's Cameron Nowrouzi placed fifth.
That wouldn't be nearly enough as the Tiger Cubs were led by Ryan Stevens' second place finish, with Tyler Hudson placing fourth. Greencastle took spots six through 10 with runs from Nathan Eubank, Elijah Brattain, Paul Bryan, Taylor Secrest and Hunter Mitchell.
It was an impressive run for Greencastle, summed up best by head coach Craig Callahan.
"We're thrilled to be WCC champions. The guys ran great again today. It's hard to run at South Putnam in consecutive races because this course is challenging; it wears on runners, but we've prepared really well and raced great," Callahan said.
"I'm impressed we had all seven guys in the top ten - All Conference - but what I'm most excited about is the fact all my guys we're within a minute of each other. We did that at County Tuesday night and again at Conference. That's when you know you're racing well."
Callahan went on to commend his No 1 and 2 runners.
"Ryan and Tyler ran a great race. It's nice to see Ryan go sub 17 on this course, and I wouldn't be surprised to see Tyler do the same Tuesday night at the sectional."
"It was fun watching Ryan race against Musson and Shepard, and Tyler race against Cameron from Monrovia. All of them are great runners," Callahan added.
"Getting all guys in the top 10 wouldn't have been possible without Taylor and Hunter racing their hearts out. They both PR'd Tuesday night at County, and again here they ran so well. Taylor is running out of his mind right now. I'm really happy with the way he's competitively racing guys for position," he said.
Cloverdale was paced by Joe Rumley and Jourdan Smith, who finished 11th and 13th, respectively. Head coach Rod Mann was impressed with the whole squad's performance.
"I thought this was the first time that the boys competed this year. It couldn't happen at a better time. I was pleased with them. I'm really pleased with Devon Nees. He got his best time of 19:25, and all of seven of them really competed today and I'm very proud of them," Mann said.
South Putnam head coach Brian Gardner wasn't as enthused as he was Tuesday about the run, though he was happy for fifteenth place finisher Evan Potts.
"I'm disappointed in a few things but we had Evan Potts run his best time ever and Lane Franklin ran the same as what he did on Tuesday. Matt Lund went lower than he did on Tuesday as did Tyler Nield," Gardner said.
"When you've got three of your top four guys running their best races and one running the same time, you've got to be okay with that. Place wise, we're disappointed that there was three points between us and Cloverdale."
"Cloverdale ran well today. You'd like to think that there were some places to make up those three points. Our times went down today, so you can't ask for much more than that," Gardner added.
North Putnam's Dalton Spear finished fourteenth, but head coach Kevin Lutes said his squad seemed to be elsewhere mentally.
"The boys didn't perform at their peak today. I don't think their minds were totally in it all the way, which we'll get taken care of for next week. It seemed like they were a little distracted," Lutes said.
"Training wise, we're right where we need to be for the end of the year. As a coach, you always want to see if they can still get better."
With the sectional on Tuesday, it was important for all the coaches to regroup and reassess their squads and see what they could accomplish.
"I'm looking for everyone to not only race and get their best times, but race better than they have. The good thing about us being here the last two weeks is that there shouldn't be any surprises course-wise," Lutes said.
"We'll go over the last two races on Monday and see where we can find more time and where we need to focus. Our second mile, for the most part, all of the guys kind of drifted off. With competition like this, they really need to have a game plan in their minds."
"You're always looking to get out of the sectional. With Avon, Brownsburg, Plainfield and Greencastle, along with Cascade, if today's results are any indication, we're going to have to run well," Gardner said.
"Even if we run well, we may not have an opportunity to get out, but it's another chance for a young group to go out, compete and drop time."
"It's going to be tough. Hopefully we get one out in Joe Rumley, but it's going to be a tough one. This is a tough sectional to get out of," Mann said.
"We're ready for sectionals. It's time to race against some of the bigger schools again and see how we stack up. I really think we're going to race well Tuesday night after all the success we've had at County and Conference. Our confidence is high," Callahan said.
In the middle school race, Greencastle took the top three spots in winning the meet over second place Cascade. Jacob Lewis won the race with a time of 11:48, with Jacob Kessler placing second and Ben Gellman finishing third.
Clayton Wilson took seventh and Logan Beck ran tenth to round out the scoring for the Tiger Cubs. Cloverdale's Nick Blundell placed eighth to make the all-WCC team.
At South Putnam High School
West Central Conference Boys' Cross Country Meet
High School
Greencastle 24, Cascade 46, Cloverdale 91, South Putnam 94, North Putnam 125, Monrovia Inc.
1. Shephard (CA) 16:34; 2. Stevens (G) 26:52; 3. Musson (CA) 16:58; 4. Hudson (G) 17:05; 5. Nowrouzi (M) 17:17; 6. Eubank (G) 17:26; 7. Brattain (G) 17:29; 8. Bryan (G) 17:37; 9. Secrest (G) 17:44; 10. Mitchell (G) 17:51; 11. Rumley (CL) 17:53; 13. Smith (CL) 18:36; 14. Spear (NP) 18:39; 15. Potts (SP) 18:44; 18. Franklin (SP) 19:03; 19. Lund (SP) 19:19; 20. Nees (CL) 19:23; 21. Nield (SP) 19:28; 22. Osborn (NP) 19:43; 25. Worthington (CL) 20:11; 27. Harris (SP) 20:16; 28. Cupp (CL) 20:36; 30. Mindiola (NP) 20:52; 33. Mason (NP) 21:53; 34. Salyers (NP) 22:17
JV
South Putnam 27, Greencastle 28, Cascade Inc.
1. White (G) 19:42; 2. Evens (SP) 20:31; 3. Lewis (G) 20:33; 4. Bunten (SP) 20:37; 5 Fruits (CA) 20:38; 6. Grzesiek (G) 21:01; 7. Allen (SP) 21:09; 8. Ladd (SP) 21:17; 9. Freeman (SP) 21:23; 10. Dozier (G) 21:58; 11. Mozawa (G) 22:05
Middle School
Greencastle 21, Cascade 39, Cloverdale 95, South Putnam 108, North Putnam 113, Monrovia Inc.
1. Lewis (G) 11:48; 2. Kessler (G) 11:23; 3. Gellman (G) 12:22; 4. Stader (M) 12:33; 5. Shepard (CA) 12:38; 6. Collier (CA) 12:42; 7. Wilson (G) 12:45; 8. Blundell (CL) 12:46; 9. Durham (CA) 12:53; 10. Beck (G) 12:56; 17. Mason (NP) 13:46; 18. Clearwater (SP) 13:49; 21. Monnett (CL) 14:04; 22. Bugh (SP) 14:05; 23. Nordmeyer (NP) 14:10; 24. Webster (NP) 14:11; 29. RT Mann (CL) 14:51; 31. Vandermark (SP) 15:04; 35. J. Mann (CL) 16:04; 36. Pitts (SP) 16:15; 37. Nichols (CL) 16:16; 38. Crum (SP) 16:17; 39. Sarr (NP) 16:42; 50. Edwards (NP) 19:57