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GHS places four in top seven to win meet
GREENCASTLE -- Greencastle took four of the top seven placing in Tuesday's county cross country meet to finish first overall with 20 points. South Putnam was second with 45, Cloverdale third with 78 and North Putnam fourth with 105.
Ryan Stevens blistered the course with a time of 17:02 to lead the GHS charge. Tyler Hudson was second with a time of 17:35, with Nathan Eubank placing fourth with a time of 17:52 and Hunter Mitchell finishing fifth in a time of 18:12.
"We're always happy to win -- we love to win," GHS head coach Craig Callahan said. "I think we're walking away from this feeling positive, feeling confident -- we're ready for conference I think. We're going to make some tweaks and just really prepare this week for conference on Saturday.
"There were some guys who came out today and I don't think were as happy with their times as -- I think they had higher expectations for themselves, but what we've been saying, coming into a meet like this, where you have like the Greencastle Invite, some deceivingly long drawn out hills, you're going to run a little slower than you're used to. We'll chalk it up as a victory," he said.
Erik Norlin finished eighth overall in a time of 18:35, landing just outside of being named All-County. Callahan said he ran a great race, set a personal best time and did it in his rookie season as a sophomore.
Paul Bryan was 10th in a time of 19:11, with Matthew White finishing 13th in a time of 19:42. Seth Turner placed 27th in a time of 21:53 and Kade Fauber was 29th in a time of 22:29. Josh Mitchell was 37th in a time of 24:45 and Alex Dozier was 39th with a time of 28:46.
Callahan said dropping times is the name of the game for the Tiger Cubs at Saturday's conference meet.
"We're looking for our times to drop on Saturday," he said. "Today, we came in here saying we wanted to be close to PRs, but if we weren't beating our PRs, that fine, but Saturday has to be the day to be those PRs. Saturday has to be the meet of the year for us. We're looking forward to that.
"My guys are excited. It's fun because we're getting into the time of year where you start experiencing these tournaments -- there's just a different feel to it. It begins to mean more I think at this point in the season and I think you can see that in some of my guys. The intensity is starting to get there," Callahan added.
Looking ahead to Saturday, Callahan is expecting some big things across the board from his team.
"I think Ryan Stevens ran phenomenally well. He ran a 17:02 here, that's his new PR by a second. I look for him to come out Saturday and have a big day. I think my top five or six guys will have big days on Saturday," he said.
South Putnam was led by Hunter Barr in sixth place (18:22) and Shea Arnold in seventh place (18:33). Jorge Cavell was ninth in a time of 18:40, with Tanner Barr finishing 11th in 19:20. Mathew Lund was 12th in 19:36, Andrew Kelly was 15th on the day with a time of 19:53 and Larry Hurst was 17th in 19:58.99.
Trent Workman placed 18th in a time of 20:08 and Kinser Franklin was 20th in a time of 20:42. Trevar Ladd was 22nd with a time of 20:56 and Tyler Nield was 23rd in a time of 21:01. Matt Allen was 31st in a time of 23:06, with Gavin Jacobs placing 35th in a time of 24:06. Alex Kelly was 36th in a time of 24:27.
"I thought we competed and ran hard," head coach Brian Gardner said of his Eagles. "I think every one of our kids had personal bests on our course and we had some get personal bests for any time. I had several guys had the opportunity for the first time to letter today. You have to run 21-minutes on our course and some kids dropped over two minutes to get to letter time.
"For me, I was pleased with the way we ran. Obviously disappointed in the fact that we weren't able to win, but you have to give all the credit to Greencastle and their kids -- they ran a really great race," he said.
Cloverdale was led by Joe Rumley's third place finish in a time of 17:44. Teammate Aaron Whitlock was 16th in a time of 19:58.62, with Devon Nees placing 19th in a time of 20:28. Christopher Worthington was 24th (21:05), Ethan Maners was 25th (21:16) and Nick Cupp was 26th (21:52).
Garrett Brackin was 33rd for the Clovers in a time of 23:15, with Will Andersen placing 34th in 23:57. Jacob Williams was 40th in 29:59.
Cloverdale head coach was ecstatic with how her top runner ran his race as well as the performances of the rest of the team.
"I'm really pleased with the boys," Clover head coach Katie Mosley said. "They did a fantastic job. Joe finishing third was astounding. I was proud of him, he PR'd on this course, so that's nice to always have a PR on this course. He prepared this week like I've never seen him prepare for a meet before. I'm glad it paid off for him. He's a kid that deserved it.
"The other boys ran excellent as well. I think three of them had PRs today, which makes me laugh because they always complain about this course. They just did fantastic job. The effort was tremendous," she said.
The Cougars got a nice performance out of Dalton Spears, who finishing 14th in a time of 19:50. Trenton Dalton was 21st in a time of 20:53 and Jared James was 28th in a time of 21:55. Joe Mindiola was 30th in a time of 22:34, with Jared Preecs placing 32nd in a time of 23:14. Larry Jackson was 38th with a time of 28:42.
North Putnam head coach Kevin Lutes is looking at Tuesday as being a measuring stick for his team heading into Saturday's conference meet.
"I think they did well," Lutes said. "The kids didn't have the kinds of times they were hoping to get. One guy's having some abdominal issues and stuff like that. For the boys, I was just glad we could come out and compete as a team. Dalton Spear ran really well for us and just all the boys just gave their all.
"This gives us at least a good baseline to go by and move up from there," Lutes said.
The teams will compete at the West Central Conference meet Saturday at South Putnam. The meet begins at 10 a.m.
At South Putnam
Team Scores
1. Greencastle 20, 2. South Putnam 45, 3. Cloverdale 78, 4. North Putnam 105
Individual Results
1. Stevens (GHS) 17:02, 2. Hudson (GHS) 17:35, 3. Rumley (CHS) 17:44, 4. Eubank (GHS) 17:52, 5. Mitchell (GHS) 18:12, 6. H. Barr (SP) 18:22, 7. Arnold (SP) 18:33, 8. Norlin (GHS) 18:35, 9. Cavell (SP) 18:40, 10. Bryan (GHS) 19:11, 11. T. Barr (SP) 19:20, 12. Lund (SP) 19:36, 13. White (GHS) 19:42, 14. Spear (NP) 19:50, 15. Kelly (SP) 19:53, 16. Whitlock (CHS) 19:58, 17. Hurst (SP) 19:58, 18. Workman (SP) 20:08, 19. Nees (CHS) 20:28, 20. Franklin (SP) 20:42, 21. Osborn (NP) 20:53, 22. Ladd (SP) 20:56, 23. Nield (SP) 21:01, 24. Worthington (CHS) 21:05, 25. Maners (CHS) 21:16, 26. Cupp (CHS) 21:52, 27. Turner (GHS) 21:53, 28. James (NP) 21:55, 29. Fauber (GHS) 22:29, 30. Mindiola (NP) 22:34, 31. Allen (SP) 23:06, 32. Preecs (NP) 23:14, 33. Brackin (CHS) 23:15, 34. Andersen (CHS) 23:57, 35. Jacobs (SP) 24:06, 36. Kelly (SP) 24:27, 37. Mitchell (GHS) 24:45, 38. Jackson 28:42, 39. Dozier (GHS) 28:46, 40. Williams (CHS) 29:59