Andy Weatherford and Chelsie Haltom both wanted to win Tuesday's race badly

Andy Weatherford and Chelsie Haltom both wanted to win Tuesday's race badly.

Both reigning champions managed to pick up one more county victory Tuesday at South Putnam High School in the Putnam County Cross Country Championships.

For Haltom, the Cloverdale sophomore won the girls' race for the second consecutive year, with a time of 17:44, 17 seconds faster than South Putnam's Shannon Egold.

"When it's this hot out, on this course, I think (my time) is pretty good," Haltom said. "The Greencastle and South Putnam (runners) really pushed me, and I think that's good."

"Chelsie had some good competition. She was pushed, but that's good," Cloverdale coach Sam Brown said.

Despite picking up the individual title, Haltom could only lead the Clovers to a second-place finish as the Eagles picked up their second-straight county title with 24 points. CHS finished with 41 points while Greencastle had 65. North Putnam had no team score.

The Eagles had five runners make the All-County team this year. Following Egold, Cassie Davis placed fourth while Sarah Beasley was fifth, followed by Caitlyn Croan and Mary Earnest.

"We were hoping to be able to repeat," South Putnam coach Andy Wise said. "I thought, given the weather, we ran pretty well. But it was hot for everybody."

Greencastle was paced by Bethany Schroeder's time of 18:15, good enough for third in the race.

Brown said the Clover times were not as good as he had hoped, but he said the Eagles are a tough team to run against.

"South (Putnam) is loaded," Brown said.

North Putnam was led by Mackenzie Pearson, who finished 14th overall with a time of 20:37.

Like Haltom, Weatherford -- a GHS junior -- headed into Tuesday's race as the defending champion. He wasted no time laying claim to the 2005 county title, winning with a time of 16:35, nearly 30 seconds faster than second-place finisher, teammate David Brooks.

Weatherford had not run for two weeks prior to Tuesday's victory, after suffering a sprained ankle in a dual meet against South Putnam.

"I took 10 days off and was in the swimming pool," he said. "I had to prove it to myself.

"I think it's pretty cool. I've been waiting for this forever. I'm like suffering from withdrawal."

Weatherford's win was his third in a row in the county meet. He's the first runner to earn three-straight titles since former South Putnam standout Clayton McCammack.

Weatherford led the Tiger Cubs to another team victory Tuesday, as GHS finished with 21 points. South Putnam was second with 48 points while Cloverdale had 57 and North Putnam finished with 116.

Joining Weatherford and Brooks from Greencastle on the All-County team were Mark Jedele in third, followed by Camron Humphreys in fifth.

"A couple of our guys had really great days," Greencastle coach Mike Schimpf said, pointing out to Brooks and Humphreys. "It was good to see their times go down.

"We just did really well as a team. I thought we did really well."

South Putnam's Bo Jackson also made the All-County team, placing fourth overall while running with an injured ankle. Brad Eickhoff also made the All-County team for the Eagles, finishing seventh.

"I thought, for the most part, that we ran OK," SPHS coach Brian Gardner said. "I really admired Bo. He really gutted it out.

"Our times are getting there. We're peaking at the right time."

Cloverdale also had an All-County representative as Gerrit Graff placed sixth to lead CHS to third place.

"I can't complain," Brown said of the Clovers' finish. "This was not a bad evening."

North Putnam was paced by Michael Anderson's 20th-place finish with a time of 20:47.

Cougars' assistant coach Kevin Lutes said NPHS has improved steadily as the season as moved forward.

"This is one of the first meets we've run on rested legs," Lutes said. "But I think the heat got to (the runners)."

Schimpf added the GHS girls' team hoped to perform better Tuesday, but he was still pleased.

"They didn't do so bad," Schimpf said. "We had hoped to compete a little better with Cloverdale. We knew South Putnam was out of reach, but (our girls) gave it all they could."

All four county teams will compete in the West Central Conference Championships on Friday at South Putnam.

At South Putnam

Putnam County Cross Country Championship

Girls' Results

Team Scores -- South Putnam 24, Cloverdale 41, Greencastle 65, North Putnam (no team score)

Top 7 (All-County) -- Haltom (CHS) 17:44; Egold (SPHS) 18:01; Schroeder (GHS) 18:15; Davis (SPHS) 18:26; Beasley (SPHS) 18:29; Croan (SPHS) 18:39; Earnest (SPHS) 18:47

Other South Putnam -- 10. Franklin 19:38; 13. Puckett 20:18; 15. Robinson 20:43; 17. Bookwalter 21:02; 18. J. Canary 21:24; 20. M. Canary 22:08; 23. Birt 23:50.

Other Cloverdale -- 8. Baxter 19:11; 9. Lewis 19:21; 11. Mattocks 20:00; 12. Roberson 20:09.

Other Greencastle -- 19. Trigg 21:37; 21. Nichols 22:16; 22. Hayden 23:26; 24. Hazel 24:03; 26. Burton 29:58

North Putnam -- 14. Pearson 20:37; 16. Alles 20:51; Preecs (DNF); Sharpee (DNF)

Boys' Results

Team Scores -- Greencastle 21, South Putnam 48, Cloverdale 57, North Putnam 116

Top 7 (All-County) -- Weatherford (GHS) 16:35; Brooks (GHS) 17:03; Jedele (GHS) 17:24; Jackson (SPHS) 17:59; Humphreys (GHS) 18:50; Graff (CHS) 18:50; Eickhoff (SPHS) 18:51

Other Greencastle -- 10. Sanders 19:53; 13. Buchanon 20:11; 16. Lidaka 20;35; 17. Walker 20:36; 18. Barber 20:39; 27. Stevens 21:53; 30. Stinebrickner-Kauffman 22:26; 34. Edberg 22:42; 44. Bretscher 24:24; 47. Woodall 26:27; 48. Neuman 27:22; Murphy (DNF).

Other South Putnam -- 8. Shoffner 19:22; 14. Pruitt 20:26; 15. Weaver 20:30; 19. Northrup 20:46; 22. Parker 20:49; 25. Sherwood 21:26; 36. Gruener 23:12; 37. Ashcraft 23:245; 38. Parrish 23:26; 39. Gruener 23:32; 41. Johnson 24:00; 45. Redman 24:35; 46. Ames 24:38.

Other Cloverdale -- 9. Blair 19:44; 11. Randall 20:07; 12. Dean 20:09; 21. Mattocks 20:48; 23. Glassburn 21:02; 26. Fidler 21:28; 28. Elie 21:57; 29. Monds 22:14; 32. Stout 22:29.

North Putnam -- 20. Anderson 20:47; 31. Davidson 22:28; 33. Schreiber 22:35; 35. Stout 23:02; 40. Werner 23:32; 42. Roberts 24:04; 43. Cooper 24:15.

Next Meets -- All county teams will participate in the West Central Conference meet on Friday at South Putnam,